I was recently accepted into both UCB for Political Science and UCSB for Global Studies and am really stressed about choosing. I was so shocked that I got into Berkeley that I was positive that was where I would go, but after hearing a lot about how stressful and cutthroat it is I’m starting to doubt it.
While I’m top of my class, my high school is pretty easy and I don’t know if I’ll be able to compete with other students at Berkeley. However, even though my high school classes weren’t challenging, I received all 4’s and 5’s on my AP exams (though my standardized test scores were pretty average for both schools). UCB’s prestige would definitely be an advantage as I plan to go to grad school, and it’s been my dream school since 9th grade. I guess I never really thought I’d get in, so I wasn’t too worried about how challenging it seems, but now I’m starting to wonder whether I’d be able to handle it.
I love both campuses and their surrounding atmospheres, so I’m not worried about that. I’m just not sure if I should sacrifice the prestige of Berkeley for possibly easier classes at UCSB, or if I should just go for it.
