I got into UC Berkeley, UCLA, and USC with the major Cognitive Science. I am transferring from a community college in LA and hope to pursue a career in the medical field. I love UCLA but I have been near the area for the majority of my life so it has become very stale for me. UC Berkeley seems very appealing to me due to the fact that I get to experience a whole new surrounding. However I am worried that the social life as well as my fellow colleagues will be extremely anti-social. My major is pretty nerdy and unfortunately I am frequently having to be with very awkward people in my class (apologies to those who find this ignorant) and I feel that UC Berkeley will have the most antisocial students from the three. Additionally I am scared that UC Berkeley will be extremely difficult, I am transferring with a 4.0 but I am scared that at Berkeley there is a colossal amount of brainacs that will ruin my academic self-confidence. Socially USC is the most appealing I also like there mascot/school colors the most. I however am not sure if USC is worth the minor drop in prestige, as well as drastically higher tuition costs. Sorry if I am sounding extremely childish in this post but I have to make one of the hardest decisions of my life and am contemplating simply picking out of a hat one of these schools. Looking forward to hearing any criticism.
They all are legit concerns, good luck making the decision.
Thanks. @DrGoogle
I don’t think USC would be worth the extra money.
Have you visited all of them?
<<<
however am not sure if USC is worth the minor drop in prestige, as well as drastically higher tuition costs.
[QUOTE=""]
[/QUOTE]
What are your parents saying about paying for the “drastically higher fees”?
I personally would put USC, UCLA, and Cal in the same tier. There is so much over lap between applicants and acceptances to both schools. The caliber of students is the same, USC just has a better social life.
Not USC.
Can you afford the cost of moving to and living at Berkeley?
@lalalemma All but Berkeley yes.
@NavalTradition Yes thank god. Luckily my cost of attending Berkeley turned out to be only $7,000 a year so that puts a lot of room for living expenses.
@CaliCash Interesting, I love all three I am going to visit them more and see which one feels the best I guess.
@mom2collegekids She is willing to pay whatever is necessary so I can achieve my college dreams :)!
Then visit Cal. You may be surprised how much you like it. 
Some of the best stuff going on at USC is geographically awkward (Soto campus of Keck, and Marina del Rey facilities), for doing undergraduate research in cognitive science. The UC’s would likely be more centralized. Cost would point towards a UC, and on-campus is a new and different world, so it likely would not be stale, even if you stay in LA. Unless you are a huge USC fan (and thus allergic to UCLA), I can’t see compelling reasons to go to USC. It is an excellent school, yes, but so are the other two, and spending the extra money should come with a benefit (regardless of who is paying or their ability to pay).
Can I ask; did you consider UCSD? They seem to be an excellent choice for your major. I am truly curious, why not UCSD?
I’d rate all three schools on the same tier academically, but unless your family has the money or you can get some kind of scholarships or grants, I’d rule out USC. (Even though it does have a cool mascot and school colors.)
I never really bought into the idea that students at Berkeley are cutthroat and super-competitive. I know lots of Cal grads, and they seem pretty normal. The issue at Berkeley and UCLA would be that they are big campuses where you’re pretty much left to sink or swim on your own. Also, you really should visit Berkeley before you decide anything. It’s a campus people either love or hate.
“The issue at Berkeley and UCLA would be that they are big campuses where you’re pretty much left to sink or swim on your own.”
USC has 43,000 students. Once again, private doesn’t always mean smaller…or better.
Compared to the big UC’s, USC has the money and resources for things like smaller classes, student/faculty ratios that are almost half of what they are at Cal and UCLA, and better guidance.
USC also has fewer undergraduates than Cal or UCLA. The graduate students don’t need their hands held as much, and many of those 43K students are part of USC’s large online graduate engineering programs.
USC has about 19,000 underdrads, and the grads include over 5,000 online, remote students. Query, can you graduate from Cal in two years? And are you a fan of college football?
Elvish not widely spoken at SC although I could be wrong about that. Which leaves UCLA and Berkeley. You are correct in that Berk will have the largest number of unpleasant personalities, but there will also be a sufficient number of good interesting people and you can’t be friends with everyone.
Post #17, largest number of unpleasant personalities comment gives me the biggest laugh this morning.
I have been on Berkeley’s campus and stayed in the town for a week. (My stepdaughter lives in Oakland and we were visiting her and San Francisco…)
GO SEE BERKELEY. It is a beautiful campus and a really nice town. There were lots of students milling about in town, lots of restaurants, coffee houses, ice cream shops (one in particular that kids lined up down the block for), etc. Really a great college town. All of the students we saw seemed to be having a good time SOCIALIZING WITH EACH OTHER. I’m sure there are plenty of “nerds” but there are everywhere.
For goodness sakes, you were admitted into one of the most prestigious universities in the country and at a great discount on price! - go see it first before you dismiss it.