<p>Regarding Berkeley vs. USC, Berkeley has a better academic reputation in most subjects and may be a better social fit, although you will find partiers and very pre-professional students at both schools. Berkeley has an active and obvious Greek system, but only about 11% of undergraduates are in it (versus 17% for USC).</p>
<p>However, Berkeley does not give a lot of financial aid to out of state students. Run the net price calculators at each school if that is a concern. There are merit scholarships, but getting big ones is pretty hard (e.g. Drake for mechanical engineering majors). USC has a reputation of having more large merit scholarship opportunities, including National Merit ones.</p>
<p>You will be applying to UT Austin and perhaps other Texas public universities as safeties (your class rank of 1/517 means automatic admit to all of them, although the caution is that automatic admission to a campus does not necessarily mean automatic admission to a desired major or division, such as engineering at UT Austin)?</p>
<p>I just wanted to throw in that I’m a white Texas gal who’ll be heading up to St. Olaf this fall. I also happen to be a committed Christian and politically liberal. A couple things you should know: St. Olaf financial aid is definitely committed to providing everything you need to attend school there. They offer several academic scholarships and their highest covers half of tuition. I also wouldn’t consider it a conservative school–moral, yes, but definitely liberal/moderate leaning.</p>
<p>^I read the entire Bible before. I also lived in different parts of the country, including the rural Northeast and large cities and met with people of different political spectrum and Christian denominations. </p>
<p>Just because someone asks to elaborate doesn’t say anything about that person’s opinon or position. It’s a question, not a statement. I asked so others can understand him better. Get it?</p>
<p>@Bluebayou : USC is definitely toward the top of my list because of the half-tuition scholarship they give. It also seems like a really diverse place, and I feel like I’d be able to fit in well there. I’ve always really enjoyed California, so I’m really happy with the location even if it’s not in the nicest part of Los Angeles. The more I read into Cal, the less practical it seems. I think I’ve been disillusioned by its prestige/pretty campus. Maybe Dartmouth is a little to party-heavy/greek for me. I really appreciate your input by the way, and I’m flattered by the list of suggestions you gave to me(Stanford is my absolute dream school).</p>
<p>@swish : I really think I would enjoy william and mary, but, like Cal, financial aid is probably impossible there. If Virginia had laxer domicile laws I’d apply there in a heartbeat, but I doubt my parents are willing to take out loans for a school they haven’t heard of. </p>
<p>@ucbalumnus : Berkeley certainly isn’t practical, and I feel USC or even UT would probably work out better in the long run. UT is just so familiar though, I don’t really feel like I’d be excited to go there. </p>
<p>@410627 : I think we’re probably pretty similar people, haha. I really appreciate your input, and I’m definitely applying to St. Olaf in the Fall. (No application fee! :))</p>
<p>@Annasdad: Amen.</p>
<p>@Sam Lee: I’m sorry if I misunderstood your question from earlier. I hope that what I posted earlier helped clarify that, and to further clarify I’d just like to say that my Faith is much more important to me than my politics.</p>
<p>Hopefully I can help out since I’m from the Milwaukee area in Wisconsin. Northwestern was my dream school and UChicago was my second choice. Northwestern offers free transportation to home sporting events and free admission to them. They really just want you to interact. I felt like Northwestern had a really involved student body and despite being ranked lower than UChicago, Northwestern has more prestige in the Midwest. They both have great campuses, however, Chicago’s is more scenic.</p>
<p>Anyway, I didn’t get accepted to either school, so I will be attending USC next year. I’m extremely excited to finally have some nice weather. You may be overlooking the terrible weather we have in the winter up north. It pretty much hinders any outdoor activities. I visited USC after all my other visits and I was pleasantly surprised. USC has a nicer campus than any other college I visited. Its surroundings aren’t equally desirable, but I can get over that. Personally, I would only choose Northwestern and Chicago over USC because they are only two hours from home. It seems like I’ll have the best experience at USC. I do think USC will give you need based and merit based financial aid. My friend from Texas got $20,000 in need based aid even though his dad makes over 100k a year. USC also has more international students than any other school in the country, which I think is pretty neat. I lived in Germany for three years myself.</p>
<p>Drinking is pretty heavy in the Midwest, but faith is a lot more prominent. I think all of those school are great choices. Sorry I’m such a disorganized writer.</p>
<p>And it is hard to get accepted to any of those schools. I have a 3.7 GPA, 34 ACT, and 6 AP classes (4 pending and 2 5’s) and got rejected from NU, Chicago, and Middlebury.</p>
<p>No worry, my response was directed to annasdad, not you. </p>
<p>I asked mostly because I wonder if you’d fit into very liberal places like Berkeley where you may be challenged for your less liberal views on certain things, whatever that may be even overall, you think you are pretty liberal.</p>
<p>packattack23: First of all, congrats on the USC acceptance! It seems like a great school, and I can’t wait to visit next month. A lot of my family lives in the L.A area, and I can assure you, the weather is amazing year-round. Plus the beaches and skiing/snowboarding opportunities are really accessible. It’s definitely one of the best places in the country to live for 4 years. I’m seriously considering USC, and I will be applying in the fall. I like the midwest too though, we’ve visited Chicago including both schools there (I honestly came away with a better impression from Northwestern, it just seemed more laid back and accepting. However, I really admired UofC’s campus and educational tradition, so I’m not ruling either one out just yet). As far as the weather goes, I’m a little inexperienced in the winter department, I’m not sure texas winters really count considering daily highs this January were typically in the high 60s-low 70s range. I kind of see it as an adventure though. </p>
<p>All other readers: Did any other schools pop into your head as you read about me? I’ve really enjoyed hearing suggestions from you guys (i.e Davidson, St. Olaf, W&M). Just let me know, I really appreciate it.</p>
<p>Apply to both Northwestern and UChicago-- there’s no way anybody here can know for sure if you’re right for either one. Only you can decide for yourself based on your visits if you can see yourself there.</p>
<p>"@Bluebayou : USC is definitely toward the top of my list because of the half-tuition scholarship they give. It also seems like a really diverse place, and I feel like I’d be able to fit in well there. I’ve always really enjoyed California, so I’m really happy with the location even if it’s not in the nicest part of Los Angeles. The more I read into Cal, the less practical it seems. I think I’ve been disillusioned by its prestige/pretty campus. Maybe Dartmouth is a little to party-heavy/greek for me. I really appreciate your input by the way, and I’m flattered by the list of suggestions you gave to me(Stanford is my absolute dream school)."</p>
<p>Well, you sound just like my DS, who applied to S, C, D and USC in 2006. 7 years ago I might not have even considered USC for my very smart, quiet intellectual son [ U of Chicago was considered by all who knew him as THE place for him] . But when we visited USC , we were impressed. USC is one of the best U’s for really smart students these days, not just because of the scholarships, but because of everything else that they offer-small Honors class for top students [ and there are a lot of NMF’s there] , top profs who love to teach and work with students, multiple intense research opportunities in every area, a diverse population of motivated, smart kids , great weather all year round, and it is nice that it is relatively close to home, instead of clear across the country.
DS did not even apply to any UCs 7 years ago[ we had gotten wind of the statewide UC cutbacks that soon happened] and was accepted everywhere he applied except Stanford[ deferred and finally rejected by his dream school] , decided against Dartmouth for the same reasons as you stated, and went to USC on a full tuition scholarship. He did take a little detour to Chicago the first semester of his Sophomore year, realized that it was not where he wanted to be, and happily transferred back to USC, where he graduated with Honors .
He is now at CalTech, doing his PHD. USC was a great experience for him, and having a big scholarship was just icing on the cake.
Be SURE to apply before their Dec 1 scholarship deadline and you might be lucky enough to win one of the 140 full tuition scholarships too!</p>