I’m at the point where the most selective and elite schools I’m qualified for are publics like UC berkely, UCLA, and U michigan for example. I’m most likely not going to my state school(Umass) which is an average school. This means I’m going to be spending 30k-40k a year probably. The way I see it
Private:
small class size
I imagine nicer facilities and such
Public:
large class size
a lot more smart people that didn’t want to pay 40k for private so went to there in state university
Anyone have any thoughts on where I should direct my attention
If cost is important to you, don’t apply to public UC schools since you’re not a Cali resident. Those tend to be pretty expensive for out-of-state people.
Other than that, it’s really your personal preference (on what you’ve listed for either), so you should decide where to direct your attention.
Total cost of attendance for the public schools that you mentioned is around $55,000-60,000 per year. I think the first thing you should do is ask your parents what they can afford. If you have siblings who will also be in college at the same time as you, that may help you get FA, depending on the school and your parents financial situation.
As long as the money isn’t an issue, those schools are good. Top publics have strong research opps, better alumni networks, and usually top faculty compared to a lot of privates.