My daughter is pretty sure she wants to study environmental studies, though is not sure if she will concentrate on more the science or the policy side of things. These are her admission results:
Accepted: UC Berkeley, Irvine, Davis, UW, U Western Washington, Univ of Seattle, Lewis & Clark, Fordham, U of Vermont, Northeastern, BU (guaranteed transfer).
Waitlisted: UCSD, UCSC, George Washington, Cornell
Rejections: UCSB
She has narrowed her choices down to Berkeley and Northeastern (NUin program). Can anyone help her with information that could help her choose? Her thinking so far:
Berkeley – Her admittance came as a surprise. She knows the campus well, as we live nearby and she has a sibling there. The big draw is the excellent reputation the university has, etc.
Northeastern – This was her first choice until UCB came through. She would be excited to be part of the NUin program and would love to spend the first semester abroad (probably Greece). The coop program is a huge draw, as is Boston. She is keen to learn about other parts of the country.
She does not care about weather being cold or hot.
Do you need to take on any debt at all for either university?
Does your daughter have a preference?
Environmental science is not the same thing as environmental studies. Personally I have a much easier time understanding the value of environmental science.
My D22 has a similar issue right now! She is also environmental studies and is deciding between Northeastern (NUin), UW-Seattle and UCDavis. NUin is a big draw for my daughter also! She is excited to study abroad her first semester. We are from Arizona and she would love to be in Boston as well. But also loves her other options. Good luck with your daughters decision!
There’s a lot to love about Northeastern, but the full-pay cost is more than double the in-state cost of Berkeley, and Berkeley’s reputation is at least as strong if not stronger. I would take a very hard look at what kind of co-ops the environmental studies majors are getting. There are certainly a lot of great internships that a Berkeley student can get in that field. She could still study abroad. Unless you’re getting aid that narrows the cost differential, I’d feel dubious about paying so much more for Northeastern to basically package experiences that can be had many other ways, especially if you have six figures left over to work with!
Thankfully we do not need to take on debt. She is unsure if she has a preference on college, but in terms of location she would rather be in Boston. We agree that environmental science has more value.
Why has she crossed off UVM? Burlington is a great little city and there is lake, mountains, lots of outdoor possibilities. Lewis and Clark is another experience entirely versus Northeastern. Curious why the list has ended up with these two.
Northeastern has really risen in recent years, I guess because of the coop.
Yes, those are wonderful schools. Along the way my daughter figured out that she wants to be in an urban setting in a slightly bigger school. She has a sister at BU and loves Boston from what she has seen. She is keen to get out of the Bay Area, but is having a hard time taking UCB off her list!
Environmental studies is presumably a more social science oriented major (as opposed to a natural science oriented major).
Here are UCB career survey numbers from https://career.berkeley.edu/survey/survey for two “environmental science” and two “environmental studies [social science]” majors:
