<p>I don't expect DD to come home (if she is in Cal) every weekend ;); but many kids we know there visit their families at least once a month; and I do hope to see her visiting on the long weekends and/or on those of my or little one's birthdays (her dad's birthday falls on major holiday, anyway) ;), unless something really exciting or important is going on on campus. Or for some of the little one's major events (like, play or dance recital). Also, she is unlikely to come home on Spring Reccess from Princeton, but hopefully, could do that from Cal.</p>
<p>And her music/choir performances ... oh, yes, they were such a big part of our life, that sudden lack of them will feel like a huge ... emptiness.:( Cal IS better in that sense. </p>
<p>mamenyu, what kinds of majors DO "dim bulbs" choose in Berkeley? :)</p>
<p>Fares to Newark are very reasonable for the most part. D can often travel for <$300. She comes home less and less as time goes by.</p>
<p>But that's another story. They do grow up, and I have told both my kids that the criteria for them choosing a mate is that they choose someone who will be happy to live near me:). I am a great babysitter...</p>
<p>If you are going to be visiting Berkeley with your daughter, don't miss the most wonderful ice-cream store in the world (or one of them, anyway) -- Ici, on College Avenue near Ashby. (Started, like many of Berkeley's best, by a Chez Panisse alumna.)</p>
<p>Fares to Newark are very reasonable for the most part.
D can often travel for <$300. </p>
<br>
<p>Whenever we look, they are always >300.;) Sometimes, tickets to NYC (JFK or LGA) are <300 and to Phila they are cheapest ... but it's a hassle to go from Phila to Princeton without a car (4 trains). How easy it is to get to Prnceton from JFK or LGA without renting a car?</p>
<p>BTW, we have never been good at catching the best deals in air travel. First, we look at fares too early and see them getting cheaper, so we wait some more ... and miss. Always end up with the last-moment prices. How far in advance is the optimal time to get a bargain on air tickets around beginning and end of the school year, Thanksgiving and Christmas?</p>
<p>myau-Airline prices have gone up considerably, and probably won't be coming down. The only way I know to get a bargain price to the east coast from ca is to travel at less desirable times, or accept a connection with a bit of a layover-unless you have frequent flyer miles. I put every expense I can on my American Express card, from groceries to gasoline, which helps a bit when I fly back east.
I wouldn't consider flying into New York to go to Princeton. You want to go to Newark. Newark has a lot of flights, and you won't save any money by flying into New York and then having to get from NY to Princeton by train or shuttle.
I also doubt that you will find a bargain during either the Thanksgiving or Christmas break, no matter when you book it. You may want to just figure that into your costs.</p>
<p>I think you can do Philadelphia Airport to Princeton in only three trains, if you're willing to pay for Amtrak. But the four-train route is cheaper, and works fine. That's only two more trains than it takes to get there from Newark, which is much closer, and much easier than the trip from LaGuardia or Kennedy would be.</p>
<p>The other thing to check out are the Chinatown busses. If they stop in Princeton, that makes Philadelphia International even more viable (one train into the city, then bus to P).</p>
<p>Continental is your friend to Newark. I find fares are best about 30 days prior. D avoids coming home for Thanksgiving as she has family on the East Coast.</p>
<p>Being her usual self, DD called me today from Cal (where she is visiting right now) and told me she is becoming even more confused than ever before: she really likes it there, too ... just when my husband and me decided to fully support her desire to go to Princeton. ;) Now I wonder, should I act more "mature" and "far-sighted", than she is and still encourage her to go Princeton ...</p>
<p>BTW, since Princeton doesn't accept transfers and Cal does, I told her that choosing Cal now she might miss the unique opportunity and regret it later, while choosing Princeton she loses almost nothnig (except the difference in the cost ;)); if for whatever weird reason she doesn't like it there, she can easily transfer to Cal from there. Of course, I doubt she would ;), but still, just in case: is it REALLY easy to transfer to Berkeley from Princeton? Will the fact she was accepted to Cal before play any role (positive or negative) in her chances for succesful transfer? Could she get Regents (or any other merit) Scholarship again? ;) How much the transfered students' experiences in Cal are different from those of students who came there from the very beginning of their undergraduate career?</p>
<p>You can never be sure that she could transfer back to any UC -- I've known many who tried to transfer back to various UC's and were unsuccessful. But I also know a student who chose Stanford, reapplied every year to Cal (where she had been offered a Regent's Scholarship) and was admitted, and then turned it down, ultimately graduating from Stanford. Hopefully your daughter would not be that indecisive!<br>
I think the Regent's Scholarship would not be renewed, though. On the other hand, is she likely to want to transfer from Princeton? It seems doubtful.
If I were you, at this point I would let her make a decision on her own, with the understanding that you would support her in either decision.</p>
<p>I know a number of kids who have transferred to Cal from the Ivies and U Chicago. I think that good students who have done well at other elite schools but want to save some money, be closer to home, or whatever have excellent chances for getting in. From what you've written about your daughter, I don't think that worry about a transfer acceptance at Cal should be a factor.</p>
<p>As for transfer experiences being different, again I would not worry. Cal has a lot of transfers. I don't know about the scholarships, except to say that I know a number of transfer students who receive full rides.</p>
<p>Good luck! You have a lot to think about, and your choices are all good.</p>
<p>It is very, very difficult to transfer into a UC, particularly Berkeley, from an out-of-state institution. Top priority for transfers goes to students coming from community colleges; next after that are other California students. Also, many majors are impacted (oversubscribed) and can be closed to transfers.</p>
<p>BTW, are California students who went to study out-of-state and then try to transfer to UC, still considered CA residents (because their tuition-paying parents still reside in CA)? Or will they need, in case of transfer, pay out-of-state tuition? And what happens to their residence status if after graduating from out-of-state institution they go to Cal's graduate school?</p>
<p>Merely going to college in another state usually doesn't change your residency status. If it did, then every OOS kid who came to a UC school would be considered a California resident--and the UCs will tell you that ain't so.</p>
<p>Used to be, anyway, that after a year, an out-of-state student qualified at the UC's as a resident. It may have changed. This is all information that is probably online at the UC website.</p>
<p>After visiting Cal DD is really confused and undecisive. Somehow, she estimated her chances of thriving socially at Princeton as about 80% and in Cal - as 95% (don't ask me how ;)). Could people here tell more about any distinctive types of people's mentalities at Princeton? Which are more easily found - nerdy or preppy types (she thinks her ideal type of crowd would be somewhat UChicago-like)?</p>