I don't know where to go for university. Please help! UCLA, UCSD, UCSB, UCI, or CP SLO for EE

So I’m a transfer student that just got most of my admission decisions recently (still waiting on USC, my top choice). I got into UCLA, UCSD, UCSB, UCI, and CP SLO for electrical engineering but I don’t know where to go. There are pros and cons to a lot of them, which is why I’ve been really confused about where to go for the past few months. Here’s some of them

UCLA

Pros: Great engineering program, Great student life (love the athletics). Great food, UCLA name. Very nice location. Great campus.

Cons: lol honestly it’s because I need to take COMP SCI 32 and I don’t remember anything from the COMP SCI 31 prerequisite equivalent that I took at my community college. My friend also carried me starting around the arrays chapter, so he literally carried me for 85% of the class lol. I’m scared that I’m going to get screwed over so :/. Not sure if its possible to retake that class at UCLA. UCLA is also Kind of broad? Like USC and UCSD have specific course plans/routes that lets you specialize in a certain field but UCLA doesn’t have that AFAIK

UCSD

Pros: Great engineering program, Got into Sixth College and I heard everything is brand new since they moved it, Have some friends that go there already, Can enter specialized “routes” in their ECE program. For example, I can take specific classes for Electric Circuits and Systems or Computer Systems Design.

Cons: “UC Socially Dead” lol I kinda want a social life. Or rather, as much as I can get as an EE major, Heard its VERY theory heavy and that students shouldn’t expect to actually be taught the material

Cal Poly SLO

Pros: VERY good engineering program that employers like because of the learn by doing motto they have. Because of this, there’s a lot of internship and job opportunities so its fairly easy to secure a job right after graduation, which is really APPEALING. Unfortunately…

Cons: Compared to the UCs, it’s more expensive lol. I’ll need to pay an estimated $16k after financial aid is applied at SLO while at the UCs, I only need to pay an estimated $10k. So Cal Poly is $6k more than the UCs. I also saved up enough money to pay off at least 1 year at the UCs while still having some spending money for myself. Assuming I’m at the schools for 2 years, I’ll need to pay an estimated total of $22k ($32k-10k) at CSUs and $10k ($20k-10k) at the UCs for two years. That’s a lot so I’m not sure if I can afford that unless I take a lot of loans… This is the main thing holding me back from Cal Poly. My family is pretty poor and I don’t really want to put a financial burden on my parents. Another con is that more than 50% of the school is white lol i want some diversity

UCI and UCSB

I dunno, I mean I guess they’re good but not as good as the schools I listed above? A pro is that student life is pretty good at both of these schools but that’s it lol

So yeah, those are the pros and cons of the schools. I really don’t know where to go. If anyone can help make my decision easier, that would be great.

Thank you!

To clear up something, the net costs I listed in the SLO section is after the financial aid has been used up. The 10k I’m subtracting is the amount I saved so far and intend on using to pay for college.

You do not mention costs of UCLA and USC if you get in. Doe your math Include a federal student loan? As a EE you would make a good starting salary so a small amount of debt would not be a major issue. What is the appeal of USC, your first choice?

@bean01262020 Aside from your cost considerations, you appear to have unanswered questions that would be best resolved by going to the sources. For example, with UCLA, reach out to academic advising–are you permitted to re-take the class, can they (UCLA) provide a more detailed course plan? With SLO, ask the admissions officer to address your diversity concerns. How responsive they are to you may almost be as important as the answers that they provide in helping you to determine “the right fit.”

@NJdad07090 I did mention UCLA. Will be about $10k. Im expecting around the same for USC but I haven’t received anything yet. My math does not include any loans. Its just from grants. I like USC mainly because of the small classes, small campus and good student life. I went to visit in January and I really liked the school so.

@73743666 I will do that. Thank you!

@bean01262020 - sorry I missed the UCLA number, if you think USC or UCLA would cost you about 10K , you can take a 5500 fed loan I think to cut that cost down and work a summer job to make up the rest, 20K in debt for a USC or UCLA degree seems worth it to me as a investment in your future. I would follow @73743666 advice and call the schools, good luck and let us know where you end up.

@NJdad07090 Thank you! After thinking about it some more, there’s a good chance I will pick UCSD over UCLA if I don’t get into USC. Hopefully its the right decision lol

@bean01262020 - you have great options and really the truth is not where you go , but what you do there.