I got accepted to Berkeley’s EECS program last week as an out of state student. It is absolutely my dream school: in terms of curriculum, location, political climate, etc.) However, as an OOS, I’ll be paying the full $60,000 a year. Is this worth it, even for a top engineering school like Berkeley?
Also, I’ve heard a lot about how the UC system is having financial troubles and that opportunities are very limited? Would this impact me if I wanted to get research/internship positions?
As a parent of 2 college sons, my personal opinion is that no school is worth $240K. What do your parents say? Since you are only able to take out $27K/4 years in student loans, the bulk of the money burden will be on your parents. If you have the stats to get into EECS at UCB, you must have some other very good schools on your list that would give you some FA (need-based and/or merit) that would be comparable to UCB?
UC’s are always looking to get the extra tuition $$ from OOS students, put this should not impact your chances for research and internships. You would still need to pursue these opportunities since they will not be handed to you outright at pretty much any school you attend.
$60,000 is a lot for ANY school. Privates have $$ to give to OOS where a Cal doesn’t. If you are comparing apples to apples, tuition wise, Cal should definitely be in the mix.
You wont be receiving any money from the state of California.
The opportunities, however, are very good because California has a lot of good internships in the private sector.
If you can afford it, then go for it, but if you have to take out loans, it is not worth it.
As a future engineer, if you plan on working for a government subcontractor, for the big pay (Northrop, Lockheed, GA, Boeing, etc.) they DO check your credit scores, along with everything else during your security clearance. It would not look good if you had a quarter of a million dollars in loans.
Your prospects would be dim for any company that contracts with the government, if you were in significant deb,t because the confidentiality of information could be compromised.
I feel the same contradiction. I am also OOS but got accepted into EECS at Berkeley. Although I will be in 250k debt + 30k-40k in interest due to loans, would the payout after college outweigh such costs? From what I see, most people with a bachelor have a starting salary of about 80k. Thus you can pay your loans in a few years. However is this advisable?
Calculate again.
Monthly payment for $250K loan with 7% annual interest over 6 years is about $4200, over 10 years is about $2900.
Let’s say you’re making $100K/year. That is about $60K after tax. Can you survive with $5000/month before loan payment?
You should not take out 250K in loans for any school. NO matter how good…
I’d say the value depends on your family situation. Keep in mind that OOS tuition is used to subsidize in-state students so you will not see the full value of your tuition dollars. @HardCoreAsian , your parents would have to co-sign any loans you took out, and if for whatever reason you could not repay it. The proper questions to ask are how else could the same amount of money be used for a higher return, or could the same results be achieved with a lower investment?
$250K for a state school is insane. Go someplace cheaper or that gives you aid. You’ll regret that student loan debt for decades.
The thing is, I CAN pay 250k for a school like Berkeley w/o incurring any student debt, but I’m trying to decide if I SHOULD pay that much. I have a full-tuition offer from a top 20 private and a half-tuition offer from another, but they aren’t excellent engineering schools (I mean they’re good, but I perceive Berkeley to be in its own league with MIT and Stanford for engineering). So I’ve kinda been thinking that if someone would pay 250k to go to Stanford or MIT for engineering, is there something about Berkeley that would make them not want to pay that much.
Also, I assume there will be research and internship opportunities, and I understand that I will have to work very hard to compete and hunt them down, but are they more limited than they would be at a smaller private? And especially with the size of the EECS department, are there usually many people trying to get research with the same professors?
Also, a little unrelated, but if I do decide to go there and I want to switch my major to a different one in the engineering school, is that a difficult process? What about switching to a major in a different school altogether?
I think you got that right. My niece started at Stanford and my D at UCB the same year. I’d say the two schools are comparable. The support (not necessarily the quality) at Stanford, I think, is better. But if you are outgoing and assertive, you don’t really need that extra support at UCB.
There are plenty of people paying $250K to go to UCB. Note that most people say it’s a bad idea to borrow $250K for UCB, not necessarily bad to spend $250K for UCB.
In my opinion, it’s bad to borrow $250K for any undergrad school.
There are plenty of research and internship opportunities at UCB, at least not less than at a smaller private school. According to my D (a former undergrad and a current grad at EECS), if you’re good and willing to work hard, you’ll find good opportunities there.
I found this from a post of an EECS grad student regarding research opportunities at UCB: “It’s normally (at least in my experience) easier to get started on research by attending workshops, talks, and bootcamps (the Simons institute, for instance, hosts one or two at the beginning of each semester) than through classes, since a) you get a chance to hear about what research they’re doing before you ask them if you can do research with them, b) going to those makes you stand out more than going to a class, which a few hundred other students are also doing, and c) you get to interact with a lot more people who might have research opportunities, since there are probably going to be a fair number of people working on research who might have room for an undergrad in the audience as well, rather than just the one person lecturing in front of the room.”
@baroqueboi : take the full tuition scholarship at the top 20 college. Of course the state of California would be very happy if you spent that money to attend UCB.
@baroqueboi Switching from the engineering school to a different school (such as L&S) is easier than going the other way 'round. If you can afford to go to any of the schools you were admitted to and will not incur any debt, go to the best school you can. If Cal wasn’t worth the full OOS tuition, it wouldn’t be receiving so many applications from those kids to attend.
You guys can’t be degrading UC Berkeley because of it being a state school… It’s better than half the ivys
Trust me, not casting shade here. It’s a great school - you know the grades kids get there are hard earned (not known for grade inflation).
“It’s a great school - you know the grades kids get there are hard earned (not known for grade inflation).”
You know, I think it’s more like grade deflation. LOL
@StevenToCollege Yeah, I was trying to softball it in, but you aren’t getting handed A’s just because you managed to get in. It’s getting in AND getting through.