Hi Everyone.
I am extremely grateful that I was offered the Regents Scholarship at one of the UC campuses (not San Diego, Berkeley, or Cal). I am very pleased to have received the scholarship but I am also a bit perplexed. I was not accepted to Berkeley or UCLA. I know admissions are extremely competitive at those two schools so I was not overwhelmingly surprised when I was rejected. However, I was shocked when I found out I was awarded the Regents Scholarship at one of the schools I was accepted to. My two questions for you guys are:
- Do you find it odd that I received Regents at a less competitive UC but was rejected to UCLA and Cal?
- Would the Regents Scholarship be enough to sway you to choose a less competitive UC over a UC such as San Diego or Davis?
All prerequisites are finished or in progress. I applied to Business Econ for UCLA and Haas for Berkeley (both obviously incredibly competitive). I would be an econ major at all other UCs. I would get priority registration at the campus where I got Regents (along with $10,000 over 2 years). However, I know San Diego and Davis are the more prestigious schools. I’ve visited all the campuses and they are all very nice. I’m just struggling over the prestige factor.
Why won’t you say the name of the campus? Is it Merced? If so, my daughter got a regents there last year ($7,000 a year is their base) because, you know, they have an agenda different than the other UCs - they’re trying to get students over there. She ultimately didn’t take it. But that’s one big difference.
It boils down to your ability to be able to go to a UC w/o the scholarship.
Are you going to graduate school? UCSD and UCD are still decently competitive, and the opportunities that come with being a Regents Scholar may make you better off at one of those schools rather than UCB or UCLA. (Of course everyone wants to get into Haas or LA, though, but still.) Where did you get Regents?
Oh, wow, well UCSC has a really good reputation. That’s $20,000, nothing to sneeze at. Silicon Valley does a lot of recruiting there. I think career wise you’d be just as fine as you would be at UCD or UCSD. Plus you’d have Regents Scholar to add to resume.
At this point, I have not decided if I will attend grad school.
Just to be clear, it is $5000 per year ($10,000 total)
$10,000 is a large amount of money, and the benefits of the scholarship should be weighed into your decision. If your main focus is prestige, UCSC may not be the way to go, although internships and things you may land there could sway that. It’s all really relative and it should ultimately be up to you to make the decision.
UCSC also has a really beautiful campus, though.
Ahh, that makes sense. Your major is incredibly competitive.
Agree on the campus, it is really pretty. Have you been able to visit?
And not to add to the stereotype (too much), but how do you feel about some of the, uh, plants (?) that are sometimes smoked up there? (Nothing pro/con legalization, just something to keep in mind)
I was able to visit both Santa Cruz and San Diego. They both have beautiful locations and I believe I would feel comfortable at either campus. I do not smoke and do not plan to.
Ultimately it’s your decision, but I truly think the prestige difference will not be that huge in the long run and will be offset a lot with the distinction of Regents.
Thanks for all the responses. I really appreciate it. Out of curiosity, how hard/easy is it to get classes as a transfer student. With Regents, I would get priority registration.
My understanding is that you can get the classes you NEED, but not always the classes you WANT. I.e, a specific time or professor might be easier to get if your Regents award comes with priority registration
^^^agree.
Everyone says having regents is a big deal registration-wise. You can avoid a lot of Waitlists. You get preferential housing and a lot of networking functions, which might include Silicon Valley ppl at UCSC, although I am just guessing on that last part. Maybe you should google regents UCSC and try to connect with some others in the program.
I seem to recall coming across a rant by a UCSC student somewhere last year, annoyed with all the perks offered to UCSC Regents.
UPDATE: I found the rant instantly. It was from a long time ago, but a fun read nonetheless:
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/archive/index.php/t-36894.html
I’m really struggling between San Diego and Santa Cruz for economics. Would there be any significant advantages with the regents scholarship aside from the money and priority registration at Santa Cruz?
Not really, although you could put it on resume and LinkedIn. Not too shabby.
But it sounds like you really want to go to UCSD. So just do it. It’ll be fine.
“On “Regent Scholar Preview Day” we set up huge candlelit tiki shrines in out dorm windows and danced around half naked and chanting in public places on the hope that we might scare them away. Ugh!”