<p>did your regret it?</p>
<p>Yes:</p>
<p>Upenn (23k scholarship), Princeton, and NYU Stern (20k scholarship)</p>
<p>I have come to have slight regret, but not so much as to chose any of those above three over Berkeley.</p>
<p>I can’t believe you turned down princeton/upenn for berks. but to each his/her own. (though i didn’t really like princeton)</p>
<p>Batman, would you really go for Princeton over Berkeley for a price difference of 100k-120k? Cause I don’t think that’s practical or reasonable given Berkeley’s quality that isn’t really that substandard compared to Princeton.</p>
<p>“I can’t believe you turned down princeton/upenn for berks. but to each his/her own. (though i didn’t really like princeton)”</p>
<p>Well, I can tell you that you are not the only one 
kinda getting sick of this. From now on, I’m going to say that I was rejected everywhere else and had no other choice ‘cept Berkeley. So after this post, everyone just forget about me ever posting anything about getting into Princeton/UPenn. I’m serious. </p>
<p>Princeton, honestly, I applied mainly to see if I had the ability to get into an HYP school and to make my parents happy if I did get in. I know from the start that with my personality, I wouldn’t be able to be happy at Princeton. It’s just too goddam awful. So to kind of prevent my parents or anyone else from changing my mind, I did not even apply for financial aid. </p>
<p>UPenn was my top choice along side of Berkeley. Yes, Batman, I know you probably think I’m the biggest idiot for turning down the ivies, but still. I didn’t want to get caught in that ivy pretentiousness. I don’t want to add that term “ivy” to my name as if it is part of my identity, isolating myself from everyone else who didn’t go to an “ivy” school. Plus if I go to Penn, I’ll have to deal with being pulled toward the business sector because Wharton is such a domineering part of the school. I don’t want to go into business at all. </p>
<p>I was also looking to graduating early as to save my parents some money. My parents have done so much for me already, and I don’t want to burden them. I don’t want to go into details on this (I have my personal reasons) and if my dad ever sees this he’ll probably beat me over the head because he told me not to factor in money in my college choice–he would support me no matter what :’( (I love my daddy :)). </p>
<p>Now Batman, you are really going to get a kick out of these following lines 
I don’t believe that a school would make me succeed in life. I don’t want to go through life passively. That’s so dull. I believe the only thing that could bring my success is my own blood and sweat, something that no school, ivy or non-ivy can bestow upon me. I didn’t even want to give myself that option/temptation of using “ivy” as crutches; I want to push myself to the limit. I can do that at Berkeley because if I screw up/slack off, I’d have nothing to cling onto (not even a flashy name on my resume), so my only option is not screw up/slack off. </p>
<p>Plus Berkeley’s a gold mine when it comes to opportunities. I just have to go and seek them out. </p>
<p>Anyways, sometimes when I’m feeling insecure, I feel like I should have gone with UPenn. But in the end, I always come back to Berkeley! </p>
<p>Please don’t call me idealistic, naive or too open minded. This is how I am and I refuse to change. </p>
<p>Oh and Happy mother’s to anyone who’s a mommy! I gotta go and make my mommy her yummy breakfast! :)</p>
<p>this is so stupid… it doesnt matter where you go, what matters is WHAT you do where you are. so stop telling these people they must be the stupidest people for choosing berkeley, which i mean REALLY isnt that bad of a school, over the ivies. Going to an ivy does not guarantee success. what happened to doing what makes you happy ?</p>
<p>rml, there are going to be people who regret it and those who don’t. isn’t that fairly obvious? i don’t want to sound like a dick but yeah, i’ve heard both stories myself.</p>
<p>Yes CalBearTH, it’s so true 
I’ve always believed that. + Berkeley is a great school despite a few downers. However, Batman is entitled to his own opinion; you do have to give him that. I’m just trying to explain my reasons for chosing Berkeley, hoping that he won’t find me too insane upon hearing that, cuz I get the vibe that he really thinks I’m loony… </p>
<p>haha anyways, no matter what he thinks, I’m still coming to Berkeley August…(umm…btw when is our first day of college anyways???..) !! YAY!!! hope to see you there CalBearTH! :)</p>
<p>I turned down Cornell and Rice for Berkeley. Both would have cost almost twice as much as Berkeley.</p>
<p>I have no regrets. :)</p>
<p>Good for you KitKatz, a lot of people would have just gone with the prestige. I can’t believe you applied to Pton without requesting aid, lol.</p>
<p>My friend turned down Gtown, Brown, Pomona, and Cornell for Berkeley. Even when the costs were all in the $20-30K range. We love california too much! :)</p>
<p>lol kitkatz, sorry to tell you that im not going to berkeley this fall. im going to ucla. although i was thinking of going to berkeley at first, ucla just seemed a better fit for me overall.
would have been nice meeting you haha</p>
<p>^ YAY for ducky and her friend !!!</p>
<p>lol…neither could my parents for that matter hahaha I’m so sneaky…
lol</p>
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<p>and same goes to you.</p>
<p>lol i only made my username like that because i was legitimately thinking of going to berkeley for a while haha</p>
<p>I turned down Cornell and Chicago for Berkeley, but considering I plan to do computer science (which is stronger at Berkeley) I don’t really regret it.</p>
<p>My roommate took it over Columbia, his main other choice for one thing – then again, he lives and breathes EECS. </p>
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<p>None of my roommates or I even considered Princeton in the slightest, actually. I’m possibly one of the few guys who basically decided against Ivy Leagues before even applying. The only Ivy League that looks pretty good to me is Harvard, and like I said, didn’t apply. </p>
<p>Princeton’s a great school, but I’d definitely not give up CA weather or the money to go there given the choice here and now to transfer, for instance. The quality of education at Berkeley can suck in the massive lower division classes I keep bashing, but when you get past that, it’s very nice actually in many majors. I hear biology, for instance, is not one of these majors. But I’ve had small classes all the way through for my major, and I also feel like I’ve not really had to worry about any courses <em>but</em> my major courses at UCB. My breadth requirement classes, I can sort of just blow off.</p>
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<p>Well, it does matter where you go to an extent, for various reasons I have come across, but I understand what you’re saying. But given two schools where you have equal opportunity to shine, yes it’s what you do. I can’t speak for other majors, but I see that the opportunities in my major are boundless. One of the best things about the UCB math department is that it’s so big, which means there’s tons and tons of stuff going on. Couple that with some of the wildest, brilliant minds churning out top notch work that I can’t understand and you have a really inspiring environment. </p>
<p>Calbear, I hope you get to meet Terence Tao – my friend visited UCLA for graduate school and said it was one of the biggest pleasures to meet him. Is ending up coming to Berkeley though. </p>
<p>He’s a good buddy of mine, and may be some of you incoming frosh’s GSI next year, so watch out !!</p>
<p>I turned down Johns Hopkins and Cornell for Berkeley. Although I did get into the BME program at jhu, i decided that it wasn’t the place for me after i visited. I felt that Berkeley was a better match :). </p>
<p>"He’s a good buddy of mine, and may be some of you incoming frosh’s GSI next year, so watch out !! "
Which courses is he GSI’ing for?</p>
<p>First off, I’m not calling anyone crazy or stupid for not going to this or that despite my statement. Hell, I didn’t even apply to any Ivies or East Coast schools because frankly, I didn’t care much for them, their names, or their prestige.
Now I don’t know what P or Upnn’s undergrad is like, but what I can say is that after two semesters, Cal is really starting to irritate me (in regards to school, not opportunities, social life and whatnot). Seeing as how you have not even attended this school yet, I hope your experience is better or at least you get better GSIs and all that jazz. </p>
<p>And really, telling me that schools don’t matter when thinking about a career is a lie. However, Berkeley is already one of the more well known universities, so “unfortunately,” you are going to have the option of using a name for crutches. </p>
<p>Now Batman, you are really going to get a kick out of these following lines I dont believe that a school would make me succeed in life. I dont want to go through life passively.
I’m going to assume that you’re assuming I’m some kid that just looks at schools by ranks and then want to go there just so I can relax. Trust me when I say that I know what the hell hard work is and how much I want to get out of my life back home. As aforementioned, I’m just not seeing the shining light this year at Berkeley that I had hoped to see when I first came here though. </p>
<p>My friend turned down Gtown, Brown, Pomona, and Cornell for Berkeley. Even when the costs were all in the $20-30K range. We love california too much!
Pomona is in California. So…yeah.</p>
<p>Check this out</p>
<p>[I</a> CHOSE BERKELEY OVER ______!! | Facebook](<a href=“http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=55834855364&topic=10162]I”>http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=55834855364&topic=10162)</p>
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<p>So why exactly are you irritated in regards to school if it isn’t opportunities, social life, etc?</p>
<p>I was joking. Sorry. I won’t joke around with you anymore. </p>
<p>“Now I don’t know what P or Upnn’s undergrad is like, but what I can say is that after two semesters, Cal is really starting to irritate me (in regards to school, not opportunities, social life and whatnot). Seeing as how you have not even attended this school yet, I hope your experience is better or at least you get better GSIs and all that jazz.”</p>
<p>Alright fair enough. But you always seem so bitter and utterly negative about having to go to Berkeley…like it’s the worst thing that’s happened to you. That kind of peeved me. But you have your own reasons and I shouldn’t say things such as that when I don’t know your situation at all. So I apologize for putting my words out in such a way. I didn’t mean to be offensive. </p>
<p>“And really, telling me that schools don’t matter when thinking about a career is a lie. However, Berkeley is already one of the more well known universities, so “unfortunately,” you are going to have the option of using a name for crutches. “</p>
<p>Um honestly, in my experience and also according to my goal, the prestige of a school doesn’t seem to matter all that much, especially for undergrad education. I’m speaking about myself in the context of my own situation. I should have said it clearer that I plan to go to grad school right after, and not land myself in a job. That makes a big difference. If I’m looking at a grad school, it honestly doesn’t matter all that much the prestige of the overall school, but rather the prestige of professor(s) one is doing research with. </p>
<p>Berkeley’s not a crutch. Not even close because I am not an EECS/chemistry/Haas/other sciences major. I’m majoring in the humanities. Granted, Berkeley is better than a lot of other schools, but among my pool of choices, it looks rather bland, especially for a BA. Like sakky and a few others like to point out, some humanity majors even work as head cashiers…now you certainly don’t find Princeton/UPenn humanity majors (even the ones who barely obtained their degree) working as head cashiers. I did not aim my words at you, Batman. I’m sorry if it appeared as if I were attacking you and calling you lazy. I was joking/sarcastic–sorry i was tactless. I simply inferred that it’s easier to get a degree at Princeton/UPenn, and even the worst Princeton/UPenn graduates would have more ease getting by in life (if plans for grad school fails) than their Berkeley counterparts. </p>
<p>I’m sorry that Berkeley is not going so well for you I really hope it gets better. and thank you for your well wishes. :)</p>