Hey guys! I committed to Berkeley but was recently accepted off the waitlist for Rice University. I am instate so my cost of attendance would be around 35k while for Rice I would be paying in full (70k).
I am interested in studying premed and majoring in something like public health, neuroscience, or bio stats. I’m struggling a lot on choosing due to the uncertainty of coronavirus :(. If anyone has any insights that would be great!
Somethings that are important to me:
strength of premed program
Flexibility in changing majors and a wide variety of offerings
School is located near hospitals to do research and shadowing
If you get into medical school, you will likely be seeing a $400k cost of attendance for four years. Would you rather have to borrow $400k because you used up all of your money for undergraduate, or borrow “only” $260k because you spent $140k less on undergraduate?
@ucbalumnus Thanks for reminding me! That is a factor I am also considering along with an overall undergrad experience. Are u are UCB alumni by any chance?
Also Ive heard horror stories of Berkeley’s grade deflation. I’m not necessarily phased by the cutthroat nature bc I attended a competitive high school, but was wondering if my med school chances would be diminished should I attend Berkeley.
My parents said they are willing to cover my tuition should I choose to go to Rice. However, I guess it would make me feel guilty tbh. I had a job before COVID-19 and I planned on working there everyday during the summer (probably wouldn’t help a lot)
One consideration is that Rice being a much smaller college 4,000 undergrads vs 30,000 will they do a better job of getting kids on campus in fall. The CA CSUs are all going online next fall and highly likely the UCs will follow suit. Even if UCB is open in fall, they have stated recently that freshman were no longer guaranteed housing. Lastly, the Texas Medical Center in Houston is the largest in the world and might give you excellent opportunities for research and internships in your future field.
If your parents are willing to give you a top notch undergrad education for free, take advantage of it. As a parent there a few things that I can do better with my money than giving my kids the best education I can afford.
Anyone have any other advice?? I would be so excited and happy to go to Rice, but would feel p bad about the tuition my parents would be paying. My parents say its ultimately my choice but they are huge Cal supporters lol. Maybe I am being selfish for wanting to go to Rice Im not sure…
If you go to medical school, calculate how much of a difference starting your medical career with $400k debt versus $260k debt (note: amounts will probably be higher some years from now) will make in terms of being able to pay it off in a reasonable time. Remember:
4 years undergraduate
4 years medical school (taking out the big loans)
3-7 years residency (~$55k/year pay, probably not enough to significantly pay down the debt)
then medical practice (~$160k/year pay for the common primary care specialties)
I’ve heard many Rice students tend to have a positive undergrad experience. Berkeley students I would say less so due to the fact that it’s a large, competitive public school with less resources. If money isnt too huge of an issue, I’d say Rice but either schools are great! Are you considering any other schools at this point?
The comparison between the two is apples and oranges. Cal is very big, has classes with large lecture halls & TAs, and sometimes presents challenges getting into the courses you want or need.
Rice is a major research university but has less than 4000 undergrads and has the student-faculty ratio of a small liberal arts college. Think opportunities for research and faculty mentoring with med school recommendations to follow. Housing is in residential colleges modeled after Harvard & Yale, deigned build an integrated community of learners and a social community as well. The largest hospital complex in the world is right nearby. It’s a different experience from Berkeley. More like the Ivies. I think it’s worth the money if you have it.
Yep, I understand that both schools are very different in many aspects. I attended a kinda big public school myself (lots of figuring things out yourself and no hand-holding) and never got to experience the intimacy of a private school setting (sounds very nice tho haha).
I agree that the difference between Rice and Berkeley can definitely be worth the money if you have the money to spend… particularly for premed, between the more intimate and supportive academic experience and the opportunities available at the largest medical center in the world, just blocks away. Premed advising is top-notch. And flexibility to choose/change majors is a huge plus.
Berkeley is likely to be wholly online for at least the fall semester, whereas Rice is making tangible plans to bring students back to campus with a carefully modified calendar. (Home by Thanksgiving with finals remote.) With the need to decrease crowding the dorms and the limited housing inventory in the city, the housing crunch at UCB is going to be real, and housing for incoming first-years no longer guaranteed. If you live close enough to UCB to commute if it comes to that, then I might lean UCB just because of the flexibility that would afford. Coming from farther away, it’s going to be… interesting… to see how residential life unfolds.
Most of my daughter’s premed friends at Rice ended up at TX’s relatively affordable public med schools. CA’s public med schools are brutal to get into. But, there’s the question of whether you want to spend the next 4-8 years in Texas. It has a lot to offer but… policy-wise vis-a-vis the pandemic… it’s very different from California.
Definitely pros and cons to both, but congrats on earning both options!!
Doesn’t this come down to priorities? We have people in this country of moderate means who pay $250-300K per child for 12 years of parochial school before they’ve even looked at college. The ROI for that comes nowhere close to the ROI for an exceptional higher education experience.
But everyone has their priorities.
We’re talking about making a decision based on the cost of medical school. But half the students who state their intended major going into college, change and major in something else. Then of course, he has to actually get into med school, which is no guarantee. Maybe the decision about financing that endeavor should wait until he gets there.
Right now his parents seem to be willing to pay for Rice. That means he’ll come out of either college debt free. That’s a pretty good position to be in these days. Med schools seem to favor applicants who’ve done something else for a year or two before applying. Following that path, he’d have a chance to live at home, work, and save some money to offset some med school cost before he starts.
What the cost of med school will be depends on which one he goes to. Just like undergrad. If it’s a UCal med school, tuition right now is about $40K. Even when other expenses are included, it’s not $400K. It’s closer to the $260K that you seemed to find acceptable.