Stay near home (UCSD) or go away (UC Davis) for engineering?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I was accepted to both schools as a regents scholar, so both schools cost pretty similar (factoring in living-at-home at UCSD for 3 years).
At UCSD:
-$2000 regents scholarship
-major in structural engineering
-Honors program
-20 minutes from home
-less social life
-may miss out on typical college experience (especially with living at home)
-see family, get home cooking when desired
-pretty sheltered/protected by parents</p>

<p>UC Davis:
-$7500 regents scholarship
-major in electronic materials engineering
-Honors program, honors housing
-8 hours driving from home (or 1 hour flight)
-better social life
-i liked the campus more when i visited
-see family less
-more typical college experience, learn life lessons/responsibility</p>

<p>My parents really want me to stay at UCSD. They are convinced I will regret going away after a year, and will come crawling back with regret. I wanted to go to Davis but they're making me feel so guilty about going there. Now I don't know what to do! :( Help! Anyone!</p>

2

<p>Go away…spread your wings. </p>

<p>You can get cheap flights from Sacramento to San Diego to visit. I accumulated quite a few Southwest Airlines free flights.</p>

3

<p>UCDavis, the engineering program is much better.</p>

<p>It’s not really that far from home, but trust me, you’ll regret living at home. What kind of college experience is that?</p>

4

<p>I give the advice with one caveat, however.</p>

<p>Have you been very sheltered all your life?</p>

<p>I ask this because I had two cousins who were very sheltered (i.e. Mom was involved in every aspect of their studies) through high school. When they went away to school (UCSB and Berkeley), they both ended up failing out. They had too much freedom and didn’t focus on their studies (with Mom not around to lord over them).</p>

<p>Now, if you’re mature enough to settle down and focus on your studies when you need to, go for Davis. I agree with you that it provides a much more fun college environment over UCSD.</p>

5

<p>I am not too sheltered… My parents let me go out whenever I want (I don’t do it that much) and I’m fairly responsible when it comes to schoolwork, so I don’t ever have them reminding me to finish my homework or study for a test.</p>

6

<p>Going away to college presents a great opportunity to become independent while you still have the safety net of home. I think you will miss out on some great experiences if you live at home. It’s hard for parents to let go. Have you tried to explain your desires to your parents, while reassuring them that you love them and will still be connected to them? You sound mature enough to go away. I hope it works out for you.</p>

7

<p>I would take UC Davis. But you need to ask yourself what do you really want to major in: structural or material?</p>

8

<p>Do you have to live at home if you go to UCSD? Is there a money issue preventing you from living on campus?</p>

9

<p>UC Davis is not THAT far away from SD. It is around 7-9 hours away, depending on when you leave. </p>

<p>I understand your parents (and maybe yourself) are worried about you “crawling” back home. I was a socal resident all my life and made the choice to go up to norcal. It was a great decision to move out on my own. I can tell you there will be times during the first year you will doubt yourself, but in the end you will come out stronger.</p>

10

<p>It’s a huge advantage not having to live at home during college. Much more fun and interesting, so I say go for UC Davis.</p>

11

<p>My parents are trying to do what they can to save money, especially with this economy. I guess it would make sense to live at home if I’m only 15-20 minutes away.
I’m asian, so maybe thats part of the reason why they want me to be near home. It’s in our culture to be close to family, so they want me near until I am “more mature” and can handle it on my own.</p>

12

<p>Although in this situation I would recommend Davis (I went from NorCal to SoCal for college), if you do choose UCSD, I would at least try to convince your parents to live on campus your first year so you can make friends and take part in the social life on campus, and then maybe after that move back home.</p>

13

<p>^ Great point rc251. I am sure it has been discussed in depth on other posts but many students make friends in the first few weeks of school due to the dorm situation. If I recall I think my school purposely made move in day a week before class so there was ample time to meet and greet your neighbors and what not. Maybe a year or two of on campus living would be a compromise if Davis isn’t really an option.</p>

14

<p>thanks for your input everyone. i have 2 days to make a decision… :/</p>

15

<p>Hmm its a tough one. I think it depends on your families financial situation. I don’t think the 5500.00 more money at Davis offsets the cost. As for living at home, you are really close but that also means you can stay on campus SUPER late :wink: “studying” Also UCSD is stronger in your field I imagine. I would probably opt for UCSD for academic reasons alone.</p>