UC Berkeley regents vs. USC trustee scholarship for BioEngineering

College Search & Selection
1

UC Berkeley:

Accepted to UC Berkeley Bio-Engineering major with pre-med track . My S got regent scholarship and as a regent scholar, one gets priority consideration for classes, Faculty mentor, Guaranteed housing for 4 years etc.Below link gives information about it:

http://financialaid.berkeley.edu/regents-and-chancellors-scholarship

USC:

For USC , he is trustee scholar [ full tuition] .Also , he is named as “Viterbi Undergraduate Fellow” which gives additional benefits apart from free tuition such as:

  • Paid research starting first semester upto $2500 during academic year
  • Priority consideration for :
    • Viterbi Summer Overseas Program where they take select undergrads for summer Semester mostly to European cities
      including Rome, London, Paris. Students usually get ahead in studies by enrolling in summer program abroad.
    • iPodia[international classroom] : connects with partner institutions around the world which prmotes peer-to-peer
      interactions aming students across disciplinary, institutional, physical and cultural boundaries.
    • Viterbi student innovation Institute Undergraduate Fellow Program: Offers eductaional programs, new venture creation
      support and networking opportunities to help cultivate the nex-gen engineering entrepreneur.
  • Special event invitations: Exposure to visiting entrepreneurs, extra time with recruiters , industry network event etc.
  • Early access to progressive masters degree[within 5 years]. Apply to progressive Degree program as early as Sophomore year
  • W.V.T Rusch Honors Program : Honors Colloquium to attend lectures and network with leaders in field of engineering.

Cost comparison:
UCB will be about 52K expensive for tuition costs over 4 years.

2

Regents scholars and alumni scholars at UC Berkeley get a lot of perks that are not detailed on that weblink. The priority class enrollment perk is huge and I was able to finish a double-major in less than 4 years. After graduation and throughout my career, there is no question that being a Cal alum has been the best choice. (My parents are both Stanford alums – so you can read between the lines LOL!)

At $52K for 4 years at UCB, it would be an incredible opportunity that many applicants would love to have. Your DS must be very qualified and would probably thrive in the academic/social environment at Cal if he chooses to go there.

3

@creasemonkey, Could you please give more details on perks not listed on weblink. Do regents get priority to do research ? How early can one start to participate in research activities? Is it 4 years for double major in engineering?
My son already visited Berkeley last week for Regnet overnight host and loved it. So, he is somewhat inclining to join UCB.

Cost is not a major issue for us as it is about 52K more for 4 years. But, what I heard from most on these forums is that GPA for med school is extremely important and UCB has much more competition as lot of people over there intend to do pre-med whereas USC is more balanced.

Since, med schools will eventually pick few only from each undergrad school and GPA is big factor, lot of people advised on USC.

If he somehow change his mind for pre-med, he can switch to EECS[may not be easy] or other engineering major. Not sure if he keeps GPA high and is regent, Will he get any priority to switch his major? Being private, I heard that switching major in USC will be relatively easy. This is just a concern in case he decides to add double major or switch major. Can you gie your opinion on this issue?