As a California resident, I have recently been taken of the NYU waitlist and have been admitted to NYU’s College of Arts and Sciences. Since I have already committed to UCSB, do I take this offer? My desired major for both colleges is Neuroscience. Please give me some advice, is this a good opportunity to take the NYU offer? Thank you!
Full disclosure, I went to UCSB and am transferring out, so I’m definitely biased.
NYU vs SB really depends on your family’s ability to pay/ your financial aid situation. If you’re going to be taking on significant debt to attend NYU, I’d take UCSB’s in-state tuition. Given that two schools offer around the same quality of education (US News ranks UCSB at #34 and NYU at #29) I personally don’t think NYU justifies the price tag. Of course, you should look up the departments at SB/NYU to compare professors/research opportunities in your field of study.
As far as quality of life goes, NYU’s location definitely beats SB for me (I disliked that UCSB is far from any big cities and there’s not a lot going on in Santa Barbara). If you like to surf and go to the beach, SB is the place for you. I wasn’t into the laid back beach vibe and had trouble feeling at home there.
Here are other options to think about/transfer advice:
- You could attend SB for a year to save money and if you don’t end up liking the school, transfer out (if you can keep your grades up.) NYU would likely accept you again with a 3.6+.
- Attend community college. CA residents have the amazing opportunity to go to community college for two years and transfer to schools like UCLA/Berkeley + other private schools.
UCSB would definitely be cheaper in-state but NYU has an incredible neuro program with tons of research opportunities
Thank you so much! The tips are so good and helped a lot! I will pick UCSB. Thank you!