<p>Hello parents... you've all helped me so much in the past, so I was hoping you could help a wayward senior just a little bit more. ;)</p>
<p>So I've been feverishly trying to make my decision between Georgetown and Cal for the past month, and the result so far is... I am still completely evenly split between the two.</p>
<p>But this got me thinking: is the siezure-inducing pricetag of a private school worth it? I am instate for Cal, so will I really see where that extra $20,000 per year makes a difference, or will they be similar in terms of academic quality and future opportunities (grad school, jobs, etc.)?</p>
<p>So should I bite the bullet and pay the extra $80,000 because I will gain so much more, or if I go to Cal, will I pretty much graduate with the same opportunities and a similar education?</p>
<p>This is probably hard for you because you are a northern cal native - perhaps Cal doesn't seem like much of a leap. With Georgetown you have the opportunity to live in another part of the country, it's smaller, it's in DC - all of these things would leave you with a different experience/education than if you were at Cal.</p>
<p>On the other hand, as far as pure academic experiences - classes, teachers, university opportunities, Georgetown probably wouldn't be any better.<br>
I can see why you're having difficulty! Are you interested in government/foreign service, or do you just want a broad liberal arts education to prepare for law or grad school? Would the money saved help you afford grad school? Cal is a fantastic school - perhaps you don't appreciate it because you've lived so close to it?
You'll make the right decision. Trust your feelings.</p>
<p>cheers - "Cal" means UC-Berkeley. Probably only Californians and alums know that it is nicknamed that; the only one of the UCs to be simply called "Cal" (it was the first, I believe).</p>
<p>:eek: Uh oh. I guess my brother graduated from 'Cal'.</p>
<p>Okay, now I am going with Georgetown--IF the $80k isn't painful. Private schools offer that incredible intangible--the chance to make those last cognitive developments alongside students from around the nation-- and the world. </p>
<p>While you are trying to sort out the way the world works, you'll get to watch some kid from Englewood give it a go--and compare his take to some kid from Caracas or Shanghai. </p>
<p>For a student who likes to absorb info--and at 2700+ posts, I'd say you qualify! :)--the sheer diversity is a heady attribute.</p>
<p>Calidan - Congratulations on acceptances to two great schools. But these schools are so different that I'm having trouble advising one way or the other. If the cost were equal would Georgetown be a slam dunk? If not, then UCB would be the obvious choice, yes?</p>
<p>I would find it very hard to make a case for Georgetown, unless you are a politics junkie or certain to be headed to work in DC after college. Even then Cal could certainly work for you.</p>
<p>Newhope- if the price tag was the same, I would probably br going to Georgetown, because of the more individualized attention I would get, all the connections, and the smaller size... but the costs aren't the same, thus my dilemma.</p>
<p>Calidan - if you truly are completely undecided, go to Cal. For the money, it doesn't make that much of a different -- and you can use the money you save to buy better opportunities (like study abroad) along the way. </p>
<p>It's not a matter of which college is better, it's the fact that both are excellent and you do not have an $80,000 reason for choosing Georgetown. When it comes down to it, based on your own personal feelings and criteria, Cal is simply a better value.</p>
<p>I'm close to Reid's pov: I love G'town and for politics/DC, it's one of <em>the</em> schools. But if that's not your inclination, it's hard to justify the $80K.</p>
<p>Cal is pretty impersonal, etc., but you've got a pretty good set of peers.</p>
<p>My only caveat about Cal is that, of all the schools where her hs classmates went...and her class sent 45 or so to Cal...the Cal students seem to her to be the most "eh!" about their experience.</p>
<p>If the differential were $20K total, I'd take G'town. But $80K is a different matter.</p>
<p>calidan - I went to Cal for grad school and have the hardest time getting enthusiastic about it for undergrad, basically for the reasons TheDad encapsulated. I also know Georgetown and really want to encourage you to go there, yet $80K is a big number.</p>
<p>For me, it boils down to how big $80K is for you and your family. Obviously, Bill Gates might not notice it, other families would have borrow every penny and I don't recall if you've told us where you fit in that continuum.</p>
<p>If you are half to all the way on the borrowing end, I'd say Cal. If you are closer to being able to swing it, altho uncomfortable, I might say Georgetown.</p>
<p>If it's to be Cal, I say: find ways to come as close to the "personal", college-atmospher experience as you can - dive into ECs, live on-campus, etc.</p>
<p>So many factors .....
Are you the only child/
Did your parents save up sufficiently so you could go to the "best" place for you?
Do you have enough of AP credits that would get you past some of the large lectures at Cal?
It will take a good many years for you to save $80,000 post-tax, from whatever job you are lucky to get after graduating.</p>
<p>Both are great schools, and what you make of your experience is largely up to you.</p>
<p>It seems that you really want Georgetown, but 20K / year is a lot of $$. First of all have you asked for a financial review -if I am correct don't you have a brother that is also starting college this year? let them know that G-town is your first choice, parents are paying for 2 of you, and what can they do to help you. You have nothing to lose by asking.</p>
<p>If that does not pan out, can you do anything to chip away at the 20K/year nut? Of this 20K, how much will you be contributing from summer earnings, gift money, mowing lawns, etc. Is there a possibility of getting out side scholarships?</p>
<p>Calidan ~ Good advice above. Didn't I read on another thread that you are planning for grad school eventually? If so, and if Sybbie719's excellent advice doesn't pan out, I recommend that you go to Cal. Cal is such a good school, and you have the $ argument, and you can save tyour money for an eastern grad school...it just seems more practical to me.</p>
<p>Unless you think that your personality is all wrong for Cal for some reason, I don't think Georgetown is going to be $80,000 better for you. So if you're going to have to borrow that $80,000 (as opposed to just dipping into your trust fund or whatever), Cal is probably the right choice.</p>
<p>TheDad -- keep in mind that there is a psychological reason why the California kids are less enthused about their experience than the ones who have gone out of state, at least for those who are paying the costs; when you pay more for something, you tend to appreciate it more. In marketing, it's called "perceived value". </p>
<p>Jmmom - at Cal, you can live NEAR campus but not ON campus -- the high rise dorms might technically be on University-owned land, but they don't feel like they are on campus. I mean, the layout of the campus makes it feel like the entrance is at Sather gate - everything south of that feels like city. I was at Cal 3 years, my brother attended Cal for a year or 2 as an undergrad, and I am very familiar with the city -- and the last place I would tell my own kid to live would be "on campus". Some of the co-ops are located in a nicer area - the north end of campus is much nicer to live in than the south - the south end is fun to walk around during the day, but the area around Telegraph ave. is very seedy... I certainly wouldn't want to live there. The nicest dorms are actually located quite a distance from campus. Berkeley is very much a college town, with young people living all over and good public transportation. In other words, I disagree with your suggestion to live "on" campus --that may be part of the reason TheDad's daughter's friends are feeling so "eh". </p>
<p>There is always something happening at Berkeley and the campus is very much "alive" all the time, so there is no particular need to live on campus to be part of campus life.</p>
<p>calmom - I misspoke a little bit. Perhaps due to a faded memory and having gone there as a grad student. I was meaning to say live in dorms. But I could be wrong about that, as I never was an undergrad there. Also, I like to mentally picture those (few?) dorms up the hill which have the (rare for Cal) gothic stone look - don't even really remember who those are for. I lived mostly north of campus and felt as you do about south. I always smile when I remember my mother (ala shalom) who visited me in Berkeley, a while after I had finished school, and thought Telegraph Avenue was "cute." Open-minded little old lady, I guess.</p>
<p>Calidan,
My son just picked Berkeley over U of Chicago. The two schools were equal in his mind for his academic interests and ECs. He felt he could be equally happy at either. So the cost was the deciding factor for him. (I still have reservations, but he's confident it's the right choice). He's going to take the ~$80,000 savings (we'll be putting as much as we can into an account as we save it, just like if we were paying extra tuition), take one or two semesters off in 2008 to work on a national campaign and then graduate and go to law or grad school with no undergrad debt and a significant amount of money to put down. If Cal and Georgetown are truly tied in your mind, you might want to toy with the idea of what you could do with the money you save by going to Berkeley, especially if grad school is a definite.</p>
<p>Calmom, are the dorms you are talking about Foothill, Bowles and Clark Kerr? I thought they were on campus (albeit to the north of things).They seem to be off the beaten track (not in the city). S just signed up for Foothill or Bowles as first choices, with the high rise units as third and fourth choices.</p>
<p>Thanks, momof2. Right now for me, it is really hard to think of anything but these two colleges. This is most definitely the hardest decision I have ever had to make.</p>
<p>I am considering law school or business school after I graduate from college, so that $80,000 sure would be nice. It's just such a hard decision.</p>
<p>I just hope, in the end, I make the right one.</p>