How do I deal with rejecting my first choice for financial reasons? (Brown vs Berkeley)

You can’t borrow 10 k each year on your own. You can only borrow the federal student loan maximums. Above those figures, your parents will either have to co-sign private loans, or they will have to take out loans themselves.

Don’t do this to your parents. Please.

And when people ask you “Why didn’t you go to Brown?” just look them in the eye, and say “Brown is terrific, and I really was interested in it, but in the end, it was unaffordable for my family.” Which is the simple truth.