I would like to hear from anyone who might know, how prestigious this scholarship is, really. Does it make any difference in undergrad studies to have it? My daughter got the Regents Scholarship for Berkeley. She was also accepted at UCLA without it, but UCLA and its neighborhood is so much prettier than Berkeley, that I would like to understand why going to Berkeley (as people tell her) would be better for her. Thank you so much in advance for responding to this!
Very prestigious.
Certain perks and prestige on the resume.
Youll still learn the same things but have a higher “status” and resources/opportunities.
When she graduates, it won’t matter that much since this is more like a recognition for what she did before college. But being a regent scholar has many more resources and opportunities available to her, which is the number 1 reason why I prefer a private university than a public school. To start it off, she will definitely get to take the classes she wants to take, which isn’t a true statements for other UC students. This alone should already be very compelling. But there are many more advantages of the regent scholar status.
So unless your daughter “strongly” prefers UCLA over Berkeley, then Berkeley is the way to go. Although the campus and neighborhood may not be as nice as UCLA’s, (which I don’t think is a problem since UCLA’s neighborhood isn’t that good if you live here,) she will have a much better, enjoyable, and trouble-free school life.
My older son (not a Regents scholar) graduated from UCLA and my younger son is a Regents Scholar at Berkeley. Both had/are having a great time. My older son, without priority registration, always seemed to get the classes he wanted. He graduated on time, but could have graduated early if he wanted to. My younger son enjoys having priority registration, it has really helped him get into some Public Policy classes that are evidently very popular, so he is adding a Public Policy minor. Both would choose the school they chose if they had to do it over again. I love both campuses. The UCLA campus is physically smaller. Which has plusses and minuses. I like that the football stadium is on campus at Berkeley. My advice is to let your daughter decide where she wants to go. My son enjoys the financial aspects of the Regents Scholarship and the preferred registration, but he doesn’t really participate in the Regents Scholar group.