<p>I got accepted to both schools, but I've ultimately decided to go to Irvine.
This decision feels so strange to me, but I feel as if I'm making the right decision based on a variety of factors.</p>
<p>Someone told me that Irvine was “the Berkeley of the south”…my son turned down Irvine for Santa Cruz, it was a better fit so, hang in there.</p>
<p>I did. Do what you want to do. Who cares what other people think.</p>
<p>I’m still curious to hear your thought process on this. I’m not condemning you or any of that, I respect it, but still wondering what your reasons were.</p>
<p>I actually made the same decision, currently a junior at UCI when I could have gone to Berkeley. Every school is not the right fit for every student, I felt I would fit in better here at UCI, and I really feel like I made a great choice, I don’t regret it at all now, though at the time I did feel a bit weird and had second thoughts like you mention. Since you’ve made your choice, have fun with it, enjoy your time at UCI. If you spend all your time thinking about shoulda woulda coulda at berkeley you won’t have a good time at UCI.</p>
<p>Oh wow, I feel like this is my sister here, lol.</p>
<p>Um, my sister is turning down Cal for UCI. The most important question is: Do you like Irvine? Because if you don’t, it really doesn’t matter if you come here. You have to like the campus and see yourself happy here. Otherwise, you should have gone to Cal.</p>
<p>My sister got accepted into the Business Administration program, which IMO was more secure than Berkeley’s program. My sister was mainly interested in accounting, and being in the BA program guaranteed that she would be taking a full set of accounting classes with her major (she’s doing BA with an emphasis on accounting). From what we know, the BA program was pretty hard to get into as well. On the other hand, at Cal she realized that she would need to be at the top of her class at Berkeley for even a chance to get admitted into Haas. If she didn’t get into Haas, she’d have to settle for a regular economics degree. We spoke with the departments and admissions counselors, and they told us that while it’s possible that economics majors can enroll in accounting courses, they often have to be wait listed and will have trouble getting into smaller classes. This was pretty disappointing to hear from Berkeley.</p>
<p>Had my sister decided to major in something in Engineering or humanities (like Sociology, English, History, etc.) I would’ve suggested she go to Cal since she would have probably needed to go to graduate school anyways and humanities classes are pretty easy at Cal and because Berkeley engineering is pretty elite. But if my sister had decided on life/physical sciences, I would have suggested Irvine since Berkeley’s chem and bio classes are excellent at weeding out the weak.</p>
<p>My sister’s case is unique though. Had she not been accepted to the Business Admin program and had priority to her accounting classes, I possibly might have suggested she go to Cal. But considering her goals, the stress of not knowing if you’ll get into your major or not getting the classes you’ll need overweighs any fun or awesomeness that Cal may have to offer.</p>
<p>Don’t feel bad though. I have a few cousins that turned down UCLA and Cal for UCSD and UCI. They’re both pharmacists now. In the end it doesn’t matter where you go, but it matters what you do.</p>
<p>And for the record, I’m a UCLA alum who also got accepted to UCI, but to this very day I have some regrets of choosing UCLA over UCI. While I am happy at UCLA, a part of me wishes I had chosen UCI because a) I liked UCI so I would’ve been happy there too, b) I had a full ride there (d’oh…don’t ask), c) There’s a good chance I would have just done better there than here at UCLA…just saying. But who really knows?</p>
<p>I’m sure you’ll be happy in the end OP. PM me if you have any questions/concerns.</p>
<p>No, yes turn down cal so ppl on the waitlist can get in!</p>
<p>Sent from my GT-I9100 using CC</p>
<p>My friend is turning down UCLA to go to CSULB.</p>
<p>Thank you everyone for your support!
It constantly feels awkward when I tell people I’m choosing Irvine over Berkeley.
It’s nice to know people have experienced the same situation in one way or another.</p>
<p>Yes! You’re definitely not alone. :)</p>
<p>@moey: Are you going through the same thing? :D</p>
<p>A surprisingly large number of my friends did it. It often boiled down to money (UCI gave us money and Cal didn’t or we lived in the OC area and we could live at home).</p>
<p>another factor, for me, was the area around Berkeley. I had a friend who transferred up to Berkeley and let me stay with him when i visited. Because he was a transfer, he had to live off campus. Looking outside his house (which was in a residential area), I saw drug dealers throughout the night. he told me a few stories about how he’d been mugged, etc. In retrospect, I should have realized that plenty of kids go through 4 years of Cal without bad stuff happening, but it was a factor in my decision (plus the money). </p>
<p>For the record, the smart and intelligent kids i knew in high school are still smart and intelligent, regardless of where they went to school. And I several of my friends from high school, whom i thought were pretty stupid, haven’t magically become smarter because they went to UCLA or Berkeley. (Or even Stanford…). Although it seems like they’re getting better job opportunities/pay. </p>
<p>
There’s a name for those students trying to get into Haas… Haas-titutes. </p>
<p>
If anything, that’s all the more reason to go Berkeley. It means the value of your degree is worth more. It puts a (much?) higher floor on how competent the person holding the degree is.</p>
<p>Not currently, but I went through it myself in the past… Now I am about to graduate from UCI. I know a few other friends at UCI who chose it over Berkeley too! </p>
<p>In retrospect, I don’t doubt my decision at all. I love it at UCI and have had so many memories and opportunities here that I most likely would not have had at Berkeley. </p>
<p>I know experiences differ depending on the person. But if you truly see yourself at UCI more than Cal, then it definitely isn’t a mistake to choose UCI if the school will make you happier!</p>
<p>@moey: That makes me feel much better about my decision. Also, congratulations on graduating!</p>
<p>On a sidenote, a wide range of parents, such as my own, would have disowned you. Just an fyi :)</p>
<p>A lot of people on the uci facebook page has turned down UCLA, UCB, Carnegie melon, UCSD for UCI</p>
<p>i did because Berkeley was too far and it smells like weed over there. so irvine it is…</p>
<p>@purple: Can I have the link? Please and thank you!</p>
<p>@olly: I agree. It does smell like that a lot there!</p>
<p><a href=“https://www.facebook.com/groups/UCI2016/[/url]”>https://www.facebook.com/groups/UCI2016/</a></p>
<p>Thank you!</p>