<p>Hey guys, I'd really appreciate some help. I'm currently choosing what undergraduate college to go to, and my choices are USC Marshall, Berkeley, Georgetown MSB, and NYU Stern.</p>
<p>In terms of the intangibles, some things about myself are that I'm not overly concerned with the social life, but at the same time I don't want to be around a bunch of people who ONLY study (which is what I feel Berkeley is like). I'm not completely sure exactly what branch of business I want to go into, but im probably leaning towards something in Finance. I'd also be fine going to the east coast or staying on the west coast for college, but in the long run I'd like to settle down in California, and probably in SoCal.</p>
<p>Another thing I should mention is that USC and Berkeley are both 30k a year for me, but Georgetown and NYU are both 60k a year. So it would literally cost me twice as much to go there. If I really really want to go to GTown or NYU, my family can probably make it happen. But that still leaves open the issue of if it's WORTH it.</p>
<p>Here are my thoughts so far:</p>
<p>1) USC: Supposedly has very good connections and job opportunities. The things I'm worried about are that it isn't anywhere near as good education-wise as the other schools, its business school isn't as good, and I feel like its biggest strength is film, not business. However, I would be able to stand out and definitely be near the top of my class, which I assume would be advantageous for both job recruiting out of college and also for MBA applications? Also, I feel like the extra time I would have with the easier workload would allow me to develop my ECs more.</p>
<p>2) Berkeley: Seems like it has a very high quality business program and the education is just really good in general. But I just don't really like the vibe and atmosphere that go along with it too, because it seems like most of the people there are only concerned with studying and grades, and they sort of get away from the entire concept of learning and college. Overall I just like the atmosphere the least out of the four. The other thing too is that I'm concerned that I'll be so caught up in just getting into Haas that I might lose sight of the entire reason of going to college - to learn. While I consider myself at least decently intelligent, I don't have a robotic, grind-it-out sort of personality, so would I be able to compete with the people at Cal who are willing to just study all day for grades? But I feel that if I were able to succeed, that work ethic would help me for the rest of my life.</p>
<p>3) Georgetown: Seems like a combination of USC and Berkeley, which is why it's my favorite out of the choices. The only problem is that it costs literally twice as much, but 60k a year is pretty significant. Also, because I want to end up living on the west coast eventually, it seems sort of risky to go all the way to the east coast to get experience, just to end up coming back here. I know it will help me grow and ill probably get the best quality of education and life there, but is that worth so much extra money.</p>
<p>4) NYU: I had actually eliminated this until earlier today. I feel like it has the least to offer because if I want to pay that much and go to the east coast, I might as well go to Georgetown. The only advantage is that from a purely business perspective, it probably has the best connections. But I don't really want to live in NY anyway, so I'm not sure.</p>
<p>Overall, at the moment, I've basically eliminated NYU already just because I feel like if I'm going to go to the east coast and spend that much money, I should take georgetown. But between Berkeley and USC, I am really at a loss. I've done a ton of research over the past couple days comparing the programs, but everyone seems to have a different opinion about it. </p>
<p>I'd really appreciate some feedback and advice from you guys, especially since I only have two days left to make my decision. Thanks!</p>