College Selection Help: First Gen! Berkeley v. Irvine v. LA v. UW v. Harvey Mudd

College Search & Selection
1

Hello!

I am so lost when it comes to the college application process – first in family to go to college – and I’m trying to figure out how to work out everything for the first time.

For clarity, I’m looking to go into Biomedical Engineering and go into a MD/PhD program. Given the chance, I also would love to study Francophone Studies and Public Policy (as to maybe go into diplomacy / public policy if graduate studies don’t work out).

Assuming finances are not an issue (i.e. outside scholarships / full-ride / financial aid make cost differences negligible), I’d love to know your thoughts and rankings on the following acceptances and waitlists I’ve been given solely based on academics, networking, social life, etc. Again, I’m really lost with this whole process, so any help would be so, so appreciated.

Harvey Mudd College: Presidential Scholarship Program (potential full-ride) / Harvey S. Mudd Merit Award [planned: Computational and Mathematical Biology]

University of California, Berkeley: College of Engineering [Bioengineering], Regent’s Scholar

University of California, Los Angeles: Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science [Bioengineering]

University of California, Irvine: Henry Samueli School of Engineering [Biomedical Engineering: Premed], Regent’s Scholar

University of Washington: Undeclared Engineering (planned Bioengineering), Purple and Gold Scholar, Honors College

I’m still waiting on a couple more schools, but the following schools I was waitlisted at:

California Institute of Technology

Johns Hopkins University

Thank you again!

2

Considering your interests in engineering and French studies, Harvey Mudd is the best fit for you.
Most Engineering programs are very specialized (and sometimes students can be uncomprehending with classmates who want to minor in humanities).
HarveyMudd was specifically created for students who are very very strong in STEM, are ‘techies’ AND love humanities, social sciences, etc.

3

If you have been admitted to the colleges, what are the net prices after financial aid grants and scholarships at each one?

4

My husband graduated from Mudd with a humanities concentration in French (major was Physics and he eventually got his PhD from Caltech). I graduated from CMC (Bio/Math double) and I only took a few classes at Mudd but loved the faculty for the Bio classes I took. I now own a software company and hire from a regional engineering focused school (Colorado School of Mines) and I’m always fascinated at the fact that most of the Mines kids, they take so few humanities courses. I love that HMC requires more humanities from all of its students. If Mudd is affordable and you have the chance, I’m a huge fan of the Claremont Colleges. Congrats on your options!

5

We’re not seeing your net costs, but I think that within the Claremont system, you’d have more flexibility than at the UCs to navigate among pre-med, engineering, and humanities. The consortium gives you the best of two worlds (undergraduate focus of a LAC, plus the course selection … up to a point … of a research university).

6

Run your numbers here: http://www.finaid.org/calculators/awardletter.phtml Don’t forget to include the cost of travel two or three times each year - or in the case of JHU, the cost of local housing, etc. for any breaks when you don’t travel all the way home.

7

for asks on costs – to give you a clear idea on where I am, I’m near LA, so travel to UCI/LA/HMC (or even Cal) is not bad for me (i.e. no crazy flight costs). given my own financials, scholarships for each school, etc, it looks like each school would cost anywhere from 13 to 16k for me. I’d have to continue working to support family and such, so while money is an issue, I’d like to just consider the merits of attending each school. I love all of these schools – just wondering on some ideas of what would be best for each school.