<p>I'm a student from Seattle, Washington (which means bigger tuition) and I REALLY REALLY REALLY want to go to Berkeley. It's honestly my number 1 choice and my parents know that. They promised me that they would "make it work" if i got in, but they're backing down now because it's expensive. We're not poor (150,000+) but my parents are super cheap. </p>
<p>So they want me to go to the University of Washington honors program, which is nice but it's NOWHERE near as nice as Berkeley. They've given me the red carpet: Honors program, freshman direct admission to the business school etc. </p>
<p>But, I need real arguments that don't have anything to do with "pretty campus" "nice people" "liberal feeling" "cool town (SF)" "i want it". You get the idea. Please help?? :)</p>
<p>I hate to put this on you, but you should probably listen to your parents and go to University of Washington. It’s a decent school and Berkeley just isn’t worth $150k+.</p>
<p>Number 1 public university in the country. Top in its field in many programs and departments. </p>
<p>Ask them why they aren’t arguing that you should attend community college to save even more money? Since the answer is quality of the education and preparation for life, they should be able to see that the same logic should be used to help decide on Cal vs UW. </p>
<p>If you can convince them to visit on Cal Day, that may help make your case, plus they will see the obvious fit for you. Maybe show them the several parking spots reserved for people with NL parking permits - Nobel Laureate - and they can begin to see the kind of professors you will have have access to on campus.</p>
<p>150k income is far from poor, certainly. But it’s also not so high that I’m confident saying she should shell out extravagant OOS fees just for Berkeley. I mean, sure it’s a good school, but no top school is worth it if your family can’t really afford for you to attend.</p>
<p>with that income level, even if the OP was accepted to Harvard, the same issue would arise. Unless given a merit scholarship, as compared to the much more common ‘needs based’ scholarship, pretty much any good school is going to cost a small fortune for that family. Instate tuition is the only way to cut it down (other than forcing the OP to community college or to skip a college education entirely).</p>
<p>ridiculous international prestige - #3 in the Academic ranking of world universities
bill clinton, the dalai lama, and bill gates have all given speeches at berkeley this year
read the wiki page for the numbers of nobel prize winners/crazy research things here
do you have any idea what you’re majoring in?</p>
<p>Convince them to see as an investment. Ask your father what investment he has made? What about one that he can predict? Like his own talented son!! Eventually it will help your career and make you happier. :)</p>
<p>Thanks guys, really appreciate it I’ll do some more research. At the same time, they dont really recognize the rankings because they feel like they’re all based on the graduate studies. Might be true but Berkeley is still a great college.</p>
<p>Even though parents have good intentions, sometime costs can cloud their judgment. If you are keen on UCB, have a discussion with them why they think UW is better? Give your point of view, ask them to check out CalDay and justify why you like Berkeley more.
Below link may help:
[Academic</a> Ranking of World Universities (ARWU)](<a href=“http://www.arwu.org/]Academic”>http://www.arwu.org/)</p>
<p>Thanks to everybody! I got a ton of information on Business Week which just about confirms the value of a Haas education (in job placement - 90% compared to 55%) and average starting salary (55000 compared to 46000).</p>
<p>Loans get paid by themselves in the end…
But i actually have to get in the Haas school, which i heard is competitive.</p>
<p>What does it cost you to attend 4 years of UW’s honors program? What do they offer in the honors program? If it’s substantially cheaper and they offer good advising (ie, help you get research positions/internships), that seems to be a good option.</p>
<p>It’s only about 20 grand w/ room and 13 without room. And the advising is good, but the advising in the Haas school is probably great also because they’re focuses on a very small group of kids (800?)</p>
<p>remember that you’re not automatically accepted to Haas. The selection process is quite competitive. I also can’t fully justify shelling out that much money for Berkeley undergrad. You should be saving your money for grad school. That’s what really counts.</p>
I’ll do some more research. At the same time, they dont really recognize the rankings because they feel like they’re all based on the graduate studies. Might be true but Berkeley is still a great college.</p>