<p>Hi guys! OK so a little about me~fairly ambitious teen, got full scholarship at USC as well as Regents at UC Berkeley. Parents have reassured me that money is not an issue, that I can go to either. So. I have a bit of panic anxiety disorder as well as OCD, so I spent the larger part of the past two weeks in a stupor, unable to decide, panicking and basically making myself quite ill. My stress doesn't peak like this often at all, but I suppose partially due to that, I selected USC because it's the "safe" option-close to home, near my parents, and also, less competitive/stressful than UC Berkeley.
However since making the decision I've been falling apart. I guess I like many aspects of UCB better? I like that students at UCB are very innovative, starting initiatives and clubs that are so revolutionary and inspiring I'd die to be a part. I like the surroundings of UCB, the town of Berkeley. I like the strength of the academics, the gorgeous libraries.
At USC I know I have benefits. Dorming options are somewhat nicer, campus is nice, class sizes are smaller, school overall is smaller, more individualized attention? I don't know if you could tell but I started getting very lukewarm lol when talking about USC. I feel like I might not fit in at USC? I looked up the clubs and there aren't many that I'm interested in aside from sports-oriented ones :/
God. This is just so difficult :/ My mom is getting so stressed because of my stress and I just can't operate.
I feel like I want UC Berkeley but I'm scared of getting lost there. It's such a big change, and so many things could go wrong? Not sure what to do :/
Thanks for reading guys :)</p>
<p>Hi op, congratulations on your wonderful choices.
So, do you look better in blue or red?</p>
<p>Kidding.
Presume you have visited both, maybe even spent the night with a student on campus? If you have time, do that. When do you need to decide? These schools are very different. We know lots of students at both, lots of alums from both.</p>
<p>@LongRangePlan haha…i did spend nights at both and preferably by tomorrow morning.</p>
<p>In my opinion, you can not make a wrong decision here. So, it really just comes down to which school feels the most comfortable to you. Me, I’d probably pick USC, since it is paid for. And the weather is better. </p>
<p>I dont know its just that stuff is always happening at berkeley 
students are quite innovative, it seems.</p>
<p>You might have felt just as much anxiety if you had picked Cal, you would then the worrying about the things you don’t like about Cal and thinking of the things you do like about USC.</p>
<p>Given that you have OCD and a panic anxiety disorder. there is a lot to be said for being near home. You can take a weekend there now and then if you need to. And college work is more stressful than high school, so it is not the worst thing to be at a school where you can do well without being a slave to your studies.</p>
<p>This actually shouldn’t be an issue as anxiety and OCD can be medically treated to the point you don’t really have to worry about them in most cases. If you are being treated and they aren’t under control, there’s a real case to be made for staying close to home - but if you aren’t being treated, I suggest you do so, as there are big things coming up in life that will be much more enjoyable without the panic attacks and OCD getting in the way.</p>
<p>Isn’t it after the fact now and decision dates are past? One thing you might do to manage yourself is to tune in to learning how not to live in the past. When decisions are made, look forward, not back. Try some of the books out now about mindfulness. You are not alone in having choices that aren’t clear cut and having to give up some opportunities to take another one. I know kids who have had to do that just now too, that’s just how life works. You can take great satisfaction that you have made a smart financial choice. Don’t worry about it now. Enjoy your summer. When you start school, after you get settled into your classes you can look around and find interesting things going on at USC that appeal to you. Large colleges usually have more things going on than you can ever hope to have the time to get involved in and USC is no exception.</p>
<p>I hope everything goes well for you, regardless of the decision you make. Just realize that there’s not really much of a wrong decision in this case. It seems to me that you’re leaning toward UC Berkeley more, however. Personally, I’d like to be at an environment in which I would have things to do to relieve some stress since college is typically stressful.</p>
<p>You are probably hard wired to worry and doubt. So accept the fact that no matter which of the two you choose, you will probably feel some regrets. just remember the same would be true if you had picked the other school. That is just how you are not how the schools are. In contrast to the post above, anxiety disorders are not easy to treat and medication does not usually adequately control anxiety. There are disorders for which medication works wonders. Unfortunately anxiety is not one of them. Anxiety is usually a chronic condition that needs to be managed for the life span. The good news is that it is rarely fatal and it does not have to be debilitating but it does need to be managed. Next, trust your gut. If you don’t think you can handle the bigger campus, then don’t put yourself in that position. Trust yourself. </p>
<p>It sounds like you have buyer’s remorse, which is very common. Before you decide on colleges, there are endless possibilities - everything looks good! After you decide, it’s common to feel like maybe you picked the wrong choice and to start seeing all of the wonderful things about the other school(s) you could’ve picked.</p>
<p>But USC is a great university. The students there are likely just as innovative and creative as the students at UCB - students at most universities begin clubs and initiatives. USC is also academically a very strong school and likely has very nice libraries, too. And USC is in LA, so it’s not like it’s a slouch wrt location, compared to Berkeley.</p>
<p>I’m not being treated yet My mom scheduled an appointment for sometime this month but that’s absolutely true. I should have pushed to get treated earlier…now I feel like I royally screwed up. Anyway…I do have a bit of time to finalize my decision (called the university and asked). I’m just so confused and I feel like the fact that I’m drawing this out so much suggests I wouldn’t fare well being plunged in Berkeley’s rather grueling environment…</p>
<p>Glad to hear you’ve got the appointment. But treatment will take a long time, and it is a chronic condition. Expect to not see any real change for months, and you’ll still be on meds for pretty much the rest of your life. The idea is to take the edge off, not eliminate the anxiety completely. You basically want it to stop adversely affecting your life, not change your entire personality. But it will make a dramatic difference, I know it did for several members of my family. Good luck.</p>
<p>USC treats its full scholarship winners like royalty!! And all you have to do to get opportunities or help there is to ask. </p>
<p><a href=“http://undergrad.usc.edu/research/”>http://undergrad.usc.edu/research/</a></p>
<p>[DS was a USC Trustee scholar , won a Discovery Scholar Award when he graduated for outstanding independent research and is now pursuing his PhD at Caltech] </p>
<p>Take 10 deeeeeep breathes, accept that you are a very lucky student !!![ your are being PAID to go to a top college] enjoy your summer, get treatment started for your anxiety disorder ,and embrace the wise decision you made. And when you arrive on campus participate in any and all Trojan Scholars Society (TSS) activities!</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.usc.edu/programs/ugprograms/aif/abroad.htm”>http://www.usc.edu/programs/ugprograms/aif/abroad.htm</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://www.usc.edu/programs/ugprograms/aif//scholars”>http://www.usc.edu/programs/ugprograms/aif//scholars</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://sait.usc.edu/ResEd/programming.asp”>http://sait.usc.edu/ResEd/programming.asp</a></p>
<p>And if you still have the chance, sigh up for the Thematic Options and Freshman Science Honors classes, where you will meet hundreds of other very smart fellow students. </p>
<p>This is the outdoors group my DS helped to organize 6 years ago- they used to be call "
Trekkers". Nothing like a long weekend hike to take the edge off!!</p>
<p><a href=“http://scoutfitters.org/”>http://scoutfitters.org/</a></p>