<p>I'm currently debating between the schools I was admitted to. Thus far, I've ruled out CalPoly SLO, Claremont McKenna, and UC Davis. Any advice?
I've listed some advantages and disadvantages next to each and was wondering if y'all had some more advice. Can you comment on competitiveness at each schools (for my major) as well as the social scene? Thanks!</p>
<p>UC Berkeley-
Major in neuroscience with minor in linguistics
no financial aid, but in-state
very close to home (30 minutes)
I'm not too fond of the area</p>
<p>UC Los Angeles-
Major in neuroscience with minor in linguistics
no financial aid, but in-state
close to A LOT of family
Love the Area
Social scene!</p>
<p>University of Southern California-
Presidential scholarship, so half tuition!
Major in neuroscience, minor in Italian
close to A LOT of family
Social scene!</p>
<p>Georgetown-
major in neuroscience and linguistics
An amazing linguistics program
no family
Religious affiliation... </p>
<p>University of Pennsylvania
major in biology and linguistics
prestigious, obviously
little FA
no family
no major in neuroscience or even cogsci :/</p>
<p>Rice University
major in neuroscience and linguistics
little FA
love LOVE the area
I have some family (not a lot, though)
My favorite campus of all the schools. :)</p>
<p>UC San Diego-
major in neuroscience with minor in linguistics
no financial aid, but in-state
I feel like this school isn't as "prestigious" but it's undergraduate neuroscience program is unparalleled...
Social scene!</p>
<p>Those are great options for a linguistics major.
For the combination of cost, location, your personal preferences, and program quality, it sounds like UCLA is your best choice. </p>
<p>BBB is one of the most popular majors at Penn, and was “one of the first neuroscience undergraduate programs in the country.” It’s also one of the broadest and most interdisciplinary programs of its kind, featuring faculty not only from Penn’s Psychology and Biology Departments, but also from the Medical and Veterinary Schools.</p>
<p>Be sure to thoroughly explore the BBB web site, including this page specifically about studying neuroscience as an undergrad at Penn:</p>
<p>@"45 Percenter" You seem to know quite a bit about UPenn… do you mind commenting on the competitiveness and presence (or lack) of a social scene?</p>
<p>^ Penn is no more or less competitive than any other top school. In terms of a social scene, Penn has long been known as “The Social Ivy.” Whatever that means, Penn has a large, diverse, and active social scene, with enough variety and diversity among its 10,000 undergrads for each to find his or her social niche. It’s often cited as one of Penn’s strong points among the top schools.</p>
<p>I highly doubt Georgetown’s linguistic program is any better than Penn’s or UCLAs. Off the top of my head, I think Penn, UCLA, UMass, and MIT (in no particular order) are in the top 5 linguistic programs. Don’t know what the fifth would be but I doubt it would be G’town (maybe Berkeley?)</p>
<p>Penn and Rice are fantastic schools, but can you afford them without too many loans? As I said above, they’re not much better in linguistics than UCLA (although they might provide smaller class sizes)</p>
<p>I think I can say, although I’m biased, that UCLA is your best option. I would recommend Penn over UCLA in a heartbeat if it offered better FA.</p>
<p>You could always see if Penn–or any other school in which you’re interested–would raise its financial aid offer. Especially if you have a better need-based aid offer from a peer or other school (e.g., USC), and/or you let them know that your attendance is contingent on a better aid package, they might increase your offer. It doesn’t hurt to ask. :)</p>
<p>I would say Berkeley is the most prestigious and most respected of all the schools you’ve been accepted to, and I would have recommended it to you if you care school prestige. But you don’t seem to care about it, and it looks like you like Rice and its environment. If you really like Rice and finances aren’t an issue here, then I’d say pack you things and go! </p>
<p>@"45 Percenter" That’s actually a pretty good idea. I will try that. How do you suggest I approach it?
This is honestly such a difficult decision, but from what everyone is saying, I’m guessing I couldn’t go wrong. </p>
<p>^ For Penn (and perhaps other schools), I would start by contacting your Regional Admissions Officer. If you don’t know who that is for Penn, look toward the bottom of this page (right after “Penn Admissions Office Hours”) to see how to determine the name and email address of that person:</p>
<p>Although financial aid decisions at Penn are made in a completely separate office (Student Financial Services), it seems to me that your Regional Admissions Officer (and the Admissions Office in general) has the greatest incentive to advocate for aid increases that might enhance the yield of the accepted applicants for which he or she personally advocated (i.e., those in his or her assigned region). At the very least, that person can advise you on how to proceed with a financial aid appeal (especially if you make clear that an increase is required for you to be able to attend Penn, and that it’s the only thing keeping you from choosing Penn at this point).</p>
<p>I know there may also be a separate financial aid appeal process through Student Financial Services, but I’d still recommend bringing the Admissions Office–and specifically your Regional Admissions Officer–into the loop since, as I said, it’s THAT office that is most focussed on increasing admissions yield right now.</p>
<p>Of course, someone who has actually been through this process at Penn recently might have better advice, but my suggestion is based on what I know and have heard about the process. </p>
<p>I think I’ve narrowed it down to UPenn, Rice, and UCLA.
UPenn would cost 50k.
Rice would cost 50k.
UCLA would cost 30k.</p>
<p>I’ll go ahead and pursue the Regional Admissions Officer. How would you suggest I word my inquiry without sounding pushy? Should Penn or Rice give us more financial aid, I’m there! @"45 Percenter" </p>
<p>^ You should just indicate that you really want to say yes to Penn (or whichever school applies), but that the financial aid offered would be insufficient to allow you to do that. And you should note that an alternative (UCLA) will only cost you 30K, and if Penn can’t match that, you’ll be forced to choose UCLA over Penn. Or something to that effect.</p>
<p>Now my last question (and really, the least important)… is the prestige of UCLA far lower than that or UPenn? Is Rice well known? Prestige, really, isn’t too important. I just want to make sure that post-graduation employers see it that way.</p>
<p>^ I would say that at this level, they’re all quite comparable. If you do well at any of these schools, you’ll get where you want to go (employment, grad school, etc.). What’s MOST important is to choose the school at which you think you’d be happiest, and at which you’d best thrive both academically and socially. Then, everything else will be taken care of. Those who read my posts here know that I repeat those exact words A LOT, but it’s really that simple.</p>
<p>So good luck in making your decision. And congrats on having such wonderful choices!</p>
</p>