<p>Is this for real?</p>
<p>"my parents are not willing to pay the tuition for any of the 3 accepted schools further than a year unless I transfer into some decent school like UC Berkeley or one of the IVYs… "</p>
<p>The schools you got into to are very prestigious. Many believe that UCSD and UC Irvine are actually superior to Berkeley and many of the Ivies in Biology/Bio engineering. Berkeley doesn’t even have a med school! It must partner with UCSF. I think that your parents need an education themselves with regards to what an acceptable school is in today’s real world.</p>
<p>Many Ivies are ridiculously insufficient in engineering. For example, few companies recruit engineers from Harvard. Why? Because when it comes to some majors they aren’t even ranked.</p>
<p>Just like real estate is about location, location, location. College is all about major, major, major. Choose the major and THEN find the college with the best reputation for that major. For example, UCSD is surrounded by the bio tech industry and the school is deeply engaged in related studies and research. UCI is associated with a med school and hospital. One of only a handful of schools in CA that have this.</p>
<p>Your parents need to be made aware that their preconceptions of what is a good or bad school is hopelessly out of date.</p>