Hey everyone,
Coming into these past few weeks I thought it’d be pretty clear-cut which school I’d go to based on my hierarchy of schools (UCLA, UCSD/UCI, UCB, then UCSB)
But with the Regents scholarship at UCI, I’m having trouble deciding between UCI and UCLA. I know I definitely want to go to grad school after, and the Regents denotation on my transcript plus a less competitive atmosphere (=high GPA) at UCI are major pulls for it.
However, UCLA has much more resources and money, plus I’m an athlete and I think general resources available in terms of athletic clubs and the overall atmosphere is better there.
UCSD is now a little out of the running because of limited major selection. They didn’t have Materials Science and Engineering there, so I applied for Mechanical Engineering there instead.
I’m also low income, so I’m receiving the maximum awards possible, leaving me at around 7-9k a year in self help costs according to FinAid estimates. So price isn’t a huge factor, but since Regents gives UCI an advantage there, the cost isn’t entirely out of the picture.
Can anyone in/was in a similar situation weigh in? Any misconceptions I’m perpetrating here?
Also, for anyone curious, UCB is pretty low on my list because of the school’s atmosphere, especially given the political climate of the times. I’m a pretty chill person and don’t really want to be in a super tense, activist, pitchfork-wielding place. Also, Cal is supposedly very, very competitive.
I’d really appreciate hearing anything you guys have to say.