Hello, I have been admitted to UC Berkeley for EECS for the Fall and would be paying OOS tuition. With scholarships and all, room and board would be around 30K a year.
Cornell on the other hand, for ECE I am pending acceptance but would probably get a full ride being need blind (very low efc).
Do you think the 30K would be worth over Cornell.
I want to clarify I am a Junior transfer meaning I would be paying it for around 2-3 years.
Thanks for your responses.
Alex
CLARIFICATION: Tuition+Room and Board= 30k
“Do you think the 30K would be worth over Cornell.”
Um, heck no. Why would it be?
And do you know for sure that you’ll get those scholarships from Cal?
Because of EECS being the signature program at Cal.
By scholarships I meant my offered FinAid.
absolutely NOT!
You seriously need to get your head examined if you think that CAL is worth paying $30,000 more [per year!!] than it would cost to get a degree from Cornell!! 
And they say that kids that get into top schools are smart. Seriously, Cornell Full Ride. Stop there, go no further. Congratulations!
ECS at Berkeley is a top program, sure (among many other programs at UCB.) Engineering/CS is also a top program at Cornell. They are certainly in a handful of the top programs in the country. Why would you pay 30k a year extra for the same, Say UCB is #1 and Cornell #2 would you still think it is worth paying so much more? No it is not. What if UCB is #1 and Cornell is #10? No it is not. The depth of excellent top ranked CS programs in the US is deep. Cornell is an elite program in every way. As an undergraduate there is nothing you can learn or do at Berkeley you can’t learn or do at Cornell. As a low income family, it is even more important that you not be foolish in analyzing this and have a lot of debt for no good reason. If indeed you can even borrow that, which sounds impossible. At Cornell you will have a school with a lot of extras that you don’t have to pay for. And a top notch Career Center. If money was all the same we could have another discussion but this situation is a no-brainer.
Congratulation you must have been a terrific candidate. That means you can do well wherever you go. Don’t forget this is more about you. The resources are there.
I have no idea how you could possibly pay for Cal OOS if you do have a low income. Use your brain for something besides Comp Sci. You’re obviously smart. Think THIS problem through. Think of how much of your annual income would be needed to cover $30K/year. Is that tenable?
What does “pending acceptance” mean?
If you are accepted to Cornell and you do get a full ride, as you speculate above, then it’s a no-brainer. Cornell is a fantastic school and graduating without debt is the ideal situation.
Did you get accepted into any other schools with merit or financial aid money? 60k in loans to attend Berkeley is not a good decision.
^ Good point. I missed the pending acceptance.
Not only would it be crazy to go to Cal over Cornell when the aid is soooo much better at Cornell, as you said, YOU ARE LOW INCOME, so you don’t have the means to pay the $30k per year. WHO would be paying that $30k per year??? If you mean loans, they WHO would be qualifying and cosigning those big loans? (would be a very naive person).
I know that EECs at Cal is a big deal, but so is going to Cornell. I would never choose Cal over Cornell when the cost is that much different. That is crazy.
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I am thinking of transferring to Cal next fall and have decided that if its possible I will be a part time student and work full time during my first year.
My questions are these two:
Also to add, both my parents work and live overseas, therefore don’t file taxes in the US.
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NO, you won’t have time to work full time while at Cal…and you wont’ get residency either.
I’m pretty certain that you can’t keep fin aid as a part-time student.
“Pending acceptance” means that you are on the wait list"? If so, don’t get your hopes up too high for Cornell. (But if you do get in with good financial aid, go there.)
$30,000 per year appears to be the net price with maximum out-of-state financial aid at Berkeley. But students who can get that level of financial aid are extremely unlikely to be able to afford that much.
What other options do you have at what net prices?
Berkeley just cross off the list…it’s too expensive and you can’t afford it. No ifs ands or buts about that. If you can make it into Cornell with a nice FA package, BY ALL MEANS, GO THERE. But if that option doesn’t go through, what schools do you have to fall back on?
Berkeley OOS is unaffordable. Cross it off.
If you don’t get into Cornell (or if you are admitted but it is not affordable), then either stay where you are (presumed to be affordable) or take a gap year and reapply. That you were admitted to Berkeley indicates that you are a strong candidate. You should be able to be admitted at least to one place that you can afford to pay for.
how is this even a question
lolwut. you out of this world. but srsly, if you’re accepted, go to cornell. top 5 cs and dat financial aid.