<p>Ok, so I’m a junior and Brown has been my first choice for about 2 or 3 years. I went to summer@Brown last summer, and will this summer. Unfortunately, my parents are refusing to let me go to a college out of state ( I live in CA, they expect me to go to a UC, either Berkeley, LA, SD or the like). My parents continue to lecture me about how I have to go to a UC, because its the “same” education, and its much much cheaper. The thing is, I am obsessed with Brown and I know I will regret it if I have to go to a UC. I come from a upper middle class family, so financial aid is not an option, because I doubt I qualify. Is there any way to convince them??? Help please!</p>
<p>What, in particular, interests you about Brown? Any specific professors, areas of study, courses that would help? If you could come up with something like you want to work with professor X who is doing research in field X and since Brown profs are sooooo interactive with undergrads, which may not be the case at the UCs (I don't actually know, but it's possible), then maybe you will have an argument. Overall, I'd say your parents are somewhat right about the quality of education. Maybe stress that you want to live out of state for once? That it's part of the college experience.</p>
<p>I plan on being pre-med, and Brown's community fosters that so perfectly, and I've felt so at home at Brown when I stayed during the summer. The UC's just didn't click with me unfortunately. But yeah, I have argued the out of state issue, but they rebut with the proposition that I go to UCLA (about 6 hours away, I live near San Francisco), which is arguably quite far. I will try to argue the undergraduate focus of Brown when compared to most UC's though. Thanks for your help!</p>
<p>bump bump bump</p>
<p>It is not the "same" education. The best UCs are pretty much equal to Brown in terms of reputation, but the education itself is very different- especially in terms of class sizes and interactions with professors. Tell your parents this. </p>
<p>Applying is not the same as attending; tell them that there is nothing lost in applying. If money is the concern, wait until you get your financial aid offers! I have heard of students who actually got more money from their ivies and liberal arts colleges than from their state schools! You can tell them that, if the UCs are still much cheaper, you will attend a UC. </p>
<p>Think about Pomona, Claremont Mckenna, Reed, and Stanford on the West Coast; all are essentially on par with Brown and the UCs. For great schools that are known for giving a lot of merit aid, try Chicago, Wash U in St Louis, and Oberlin.</p>
<p>Thanks man, the thing is, I really want to apply ED, because I think it's my best shot, but since I probably can't, I guess I'll apply RD and hope for the best!</p>