<p>I have been accepted to all three schools. I am a non-traditional student but, I'm not sure that aspect makes a huge difference to me. I'm looking at prestige and value or ROI vs cost. I realize I'm leaving out quality of education but for the sake of the post, I have to assume that the education is going to be "OK" with all three. Being a non-traditional student, I don't have 40 years left to work to pay back a massive debt; I have 20 years. I am going to end up needing a masters and the field I'm pursuing is industrial/organizational psychology. Berkeley and UCLA have pretty much offered me a full ride. Columbia, even with their "scholarship", I'd still be 50K in debt before even starting grad school. I realize that the decision may already be obvious but I loathe the idea of passing up on an ivy league opportunity. I live in CA already so the move would be easier to either of the UC's than Columbia. I do appreciate any opinion you may have. Thanks</p>
<p>Hmm… truthfully, go with Berkeley and transfer to Columbia if you aren’t satisfied. I totally get that Columbia is like impossible to get into and you want that on your resume. But have to visited? I went there 2 weeks ago and experienced a huge cultural shock (from Cali too).</p>
<p>Because of your special circumstances and the fact that you are sure that you will be getting masters, I would pick Berkeley or UCLA. Though incomparable to Columbia (well, UCLA at least), both are very prestigious institutions and you should have no problem getting into a top tier graduate program from either. </p>
<p>It’s been quite some time sine Iv’e been to NY. I wish i had disposable income to the point where I could just visit. The tough thing is, if I do go to Columbia, I would have to go back again before I moved for orientation. What did you find the biggest shock in comparison to CA? </p>
<p>You’re an adult now. Make an adult decision.</p>
<p>Jkeil911 You came into someone’s thread to post that crap? Yeah, I’m an adult but want the opinion of people who might actually have been to these schools. I’m guessing from your lack of creativity or contribution you have not so, stay out of my thread.</p>
<p>During my short stay to visit Barnard, I wasn’t able to see much but I think I saw enough. The thing is, almost everyone there is well off and have educated parents. I am low-income + first gen so I definitely felt out of place, it didn’t bother me though but it might bother others. And its NYC you will most likely spend more money than planned and that 50k debt can easily turn into 60k. </p>
<p>I have a full ride to UCLA and though Barnard was my #1 choice, I will most likely attend UCLA (my last choice because CAL was my 2nd). Then transfer to Barnard or Columbia junior and senior year so I don’t accumulate too much debt. My financial aid for Barnard was much better than yours to Columbia after 4 years I would owe 32k and am also planning to attend grad school. Truthfully any amount of debt is a lot compared to free. </p>
<p>I don’t know what to say. I just realized that I would be happy anywhere. I definitely liked the people at Cal the best but the idea of the fun and exciting college experience that UCLA offers was also tempting. In the end, I just choose the school that gave me the most money. I suggest you pick the school that is giving you the most money if you don’t have strong preferences like me 
</p>
<p>I think Berkeley is at least as prestigious as Columbia. Its good to have an Ivy name on the resume, but UC Berkeley is arguably comparable to Stanford and MIT. So, save your money for grad school. </p>
<p>Go to Berkeley. As a GS student you would not be be getting an ivy league “opportunity” because you are not getting Ivy league funding. See: <a href=“Paying It Forward: Student Debt at GS - Bwog”>https://bwog.com/2013/05/18/paying-it-forward-student-debt-at-gs/</a></p>
<p>You would be in the same position at Columbia that out-of-state students are at Berkeley – essentially being charged a premium over other students based on your status… At Berkeley its based on state of residence, at Columbia it’s based on age. But the bottom line is that you can’t afford to attend Columbia. Part of the benefit of an Ivy League education is that graduates emerge with very little debt - see <a href=“How Aid Works | Columbia Financial Aid and Educational Financing”>http://cc-seas.financialaid.columbia.edu/enhancements/</a></p>
<p>Calmom, GREAT information!. I can’t say thank you enough for sending me that article. While I was aware of many of these aspects, it certainly paints a complete picture to see it all laid out like that. Thanks</p>