UC-Berkeley, UCLA, UCSD for non residents - help me to decide please.

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
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<p>We are connecticut residents. MY D got into the following</p>

<p>Got admitted to UCSD - Eleanor Roosevelt College as a major in Bioengineering: Bioinformatics. Awaiting results from UC-Berkeley and UCLA. (Also which one is good for Bio-medical / bio engg and for pre-med programs)</p>

<p>Any possibilities of any of the regents scholarships for non-residents?</p>

<p>It is a staggering 55k per annum. For four years it is a staggering $225k. We both are employed and exeed the house hold gross total income (150k plus ). We are keeping our savings to buy a house. If we pay this we cant afford to that. We are first generation residents in U.S and living here for the past 12 years.</p>

<p>Also she got into the following.</p>

<p>Honors Program in Bio-medical Engg - UCONN (University of CT with a partial Merit scholarship)
Honors Program in Bio-medical Engg - SUNY Stony Brook @ NY with a WISE scholarship almost 50% of total cost
Chemical Engineering @ University of Illinois Urbana Champaign ( No scholarship - but Loan availability)</p>

<p>And awaiting decisions from UC-Berkeley, UCLA (almost the same fees as above). And also from Cornell, UNC, Boston University. </p>

<p>can you please share your views whether it is worth to spend $55k per year..? Is there any way we can shrink this cost.?
I would appreciate your valuable guidance and views. </p>

<p>Thanks
psr251</p>

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<p>How much are UConn and Stony Brook total after scholarships? $80,000 for four years?</p>

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<p>yes. 80k to 90k for four years after scholarships.
She got admitted into Honors program in Uconn for Bio medical Engg
and got admitted into similar honros prog for bio-medical engg(WISE - woman in sci and egg program) in SUNY Stonybrook.
If we finally decides to be into stonybrook, she will prefer to do the pre-med there in stonybrook.</p>

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<p>California is not flush with money and from what I have heard from my brother, OOS applicants are taken to bring in money for the school, not for the school to give out their already depleted funds. They do not guarantee to meet full need and are not apt to do so except for the most need students in their own state. A family with your income figures would not get any fin aid from the UCs. If one of the schools really wanted your DD, it would have given merit money. It did not. I don’t expect you will get much from the UCs, Uof I is in the same situation.</p>

<p>With your income figures, you might have done better with private schools that guarantee to meet full need or that come close to doing so. Cornell is your best bet in that regard but then your DD won’t be getting merit money. You have your best deals already, IMO.</p>

<p>Is it worth it? Its’ up to you to decide that, but why should the schools give YOU the money when you have some that you want to use for a house when there are tens, of thousands who don’t have the money at all to use at all? There is simply not enough money out there. </p>

<p>If your DD is thinking about medical school, be aware that the cost for that is tremendous too, and many doctors are now chafing at how hard it is to pay back those loans, as there have been a lot of changes in the way doctors are paid. In my day, there was little thought as to whether or not it is worth it. Now, it is an issue. To owe enough to buy a home, mans that you have to pay that off before even thinking about buying. It’s one thing if a student has family to help out, but if parents are trying to maintain a certain standard of living and struggling, there isn’t much leeway here, is there? </p>

<p>So my answer is, no, the UCs are not worth it. That’s a lot of oney for quite a bit of distance, there will be few OOS students there, and the amenities are not good. A lot of commuters and outside housing is expensive too. That is what I hear. The in state costs and excellent reputation make it good but not great deal for Californians. Frankly, schools like Berkeley and UCLA are tough gos for a lot of kids as there is very little personal attention during the first years in the large classes. I think there will be some kids she knows or has points of contact wit at the other schools that she is considering. I would seriously consider them, and if Cornell comes through with a doable financial aid package, that would is a bout as good as it gets in terms of what you are expected to pay. The merit money from UConn and SUNY is all extra. BU does not guarantee to meet full need, so who knows what they will give. </p>

<p>Honestly, Biomed Eng is very hot and to get a chance at that is great opportunity at any flagship school is quite an honor. With grad school or med school in the sights, I would not spend that much for a state school where almost everyone else is paying half or less than what you will be charged.You don’t believe me, check the numbers of the % of OOS students at these schools.</p>

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<p>IMO you are better of at UConn. Funny, one of my daughter’s friends (a CA resident who got into UCSD) is probably going to UConn instead. </p>

<p>For your family, UConn is a done deal, it’s affordable, it’s a good school, you wouldn’t have to go through all the shenanigans to try to get CA residency as you’ve suggested in another thread (it probably wouldn’t work anyway)…</p>

<p>Then, maybe you’d be able to help her out a bit with med school too!</p>

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<p>I am originally from the East Coast and reside in California. Although the UC Schools are a great value for in-staters (and very competitive) you are fortunate enough to have a great opportunity closer to home. UConn’s biomedical engineering department has just been approved as a separate entity. They have some really dynamic faculty, from great institutions, including the former Dean of the Medical School. If your D is a go-getter, she’ll definitely have the opportunity to have an extraordinary experience at UConn.</p>

<p>Also, recognize that UC’s are a very different environment . Hedonism is rampant in the UC’s and the mantras “no judgement” prevails. Also, the UC’s have much larger enrollments then UConn. I don’t know your D. Is she someone who thrives in a big pond or medium pond? </p>

<p>I always wanted to go to California but my mother convinced me to go to college back east, where we were from, and that I could always go to California for graduate school. She was right, and I was glad I listened. One of my parents became ill and a close friend had a tragic accident while i was in college, Transportation costs and time restraints would have made traveling home difficult had I been in California.</p>

<p>Ultimately the decision is your D’s . I’m sure she’ll do what’s best. Congratulations on her accomplishments. I wish her continued success in the future.</p>

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<p>Thank you very much for your information and insight. Still waiting on Cornell, Boston University, University of North Carolina -chappel hill, UC-Berkeley, UCLA. </p>

<p>Currently in hand are
UCONN - Honors program - Bio medical Engg
SUNY - Stonybrook - WISE bio medical
University of Illinois Urbana Champaign - Chemical Engg
UCSD - Biomedical Engg (out of state student)</p>

<p>Would Cornell or BU better than the rest in the waiting list.?</p>

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<p>Is her eventual goal after bachelor’s degree medical school, PhD in biomedical engineering, or work in biomedical engineering?</p>

<p>Note that medical school is expensive; it may be better to go to a lower cost undergraduate school and use any leftover money for medical school, since high medical school debt will limit her options later (she may have to choose a specialty based on its pay levels, even if she really would prefer a specialty that happens to be lower paid).</p>

<p>Biomedical engineering as a major does not appear to have as good bachelor’s degree level job prospects as other engineering majors.</p>

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<p>What are your daughter’s career goals? I know she’s young and they will likely change, but what is she interested in doing at this point? </p>

<p>$225k is a lot of money for any undergrad degree.</p>

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<p>I agree with previous responses. UCs are a good deal for CA residents, but in all honesty, why would you pay OOS tuition for a school with often limited housing options and huge classes? If I were to pay this kind of money, I would go with private schools.</p>

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<p>Yes. Certainly she would like to pursue Masters or Medical school. We live in CT
Currently we have
Univeristy of Connecticut- admitted into honors program - Biomedical engg -5k scholarship - net payout -22k per year.
SUNY- Stonybrook - got into WISE honors - Biomedical Engg - 8k scholarship - net payout 22 k as OOS
UIUC (University of Illinois Urbana Champaign) - Admitted into Chem Engg - 46k - no scholarship - but loans available.
UCSD - admitted (Eleanor Roosevelt College as a major in Bioengineering: Bioinformatics - net pay out as OOS - 56k</p>

<p>Awaiting results for
UC-Berkley
UCLA
Cornell University
Boston University
University of North Carolina - Chappel Hill</p>

<p>waitlisted in CaseWestern Reserve university - not a big favourite at this point in time</p>

<p>Please help me decide
thanks</p>

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<p>I understand you’re anxious, but there is no sense in pondering the decision until all cards have been dealt…admission offers and financial aid awards.</p>

<p>Once all results are on the table and you’ve looked into your finances and know what you can comfortably afford and what debt load your daughter will require, the decision will become clearer.</p>

<p>Right now though, UConn Honors or SUNY Stony Brook Honors sound like the best bang for the buck.</p>

<p>Your daughter is obviously a very smart young lady and will likely be successful no matter where she goes.</p>

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<p>I’m also a CT res who attends Berkeley OOS, and also had the choice between UCB, UConn, UCLA, and a couple others. </p>

<p>It’s expensive; luckily my parents saved up a lot for my college so I don’t have to take loans. If that’s not the same for you and your daughter, I would suggest UConn if anything else (especially Stony Brook, UConn is so much better IMO). Seeing your daughter also intends to go to grad school, the tuition is really going to add up here at Berkeley. Also, the other posters are right, simple things like enrolling in classes can be miserable, whereas the people I know at UConn never seem to complain of such issues. </p>

<p>Now, in retrospect would I pick UConn over Berkeley? Absolutely not; I highly enjoy it here and I think the academics are much stronger than UConn. </p>

<p>But that’s just my two cents as a fellow CT resident. Just curious, which CT town are you from? I’m from Norwich.</p>

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<p>MANY parents are faced with the choice of sending their kid to an expensive school, versus a local flagship state university.</p>

<p>We all must make our own decision on this issue.</p>

<p>If it were me, I would send my kid to the best school possible, and forget about buying that house.</p>

<p>Wouldn’t you prefer your kid going to a world reknowned university like UCLA or Berkeley, as opposed to Connecticut?</p>

<p>I am not saying Connecticut is not good, but mothers in China and India dream about sending their kid to UCLA and Berkeley.</p>

<p>While it probably made no ECONOMIC sense, we passed up University of Florida for free (we had done the prepaid college thing).</p>

<p>UCLA, in fact, was one of the choices. We were ready to spend the extra money to send him to UCLA. And believe me, we don’t have that kind of money.</p>

<p>In the end, he opted to go to college in England instead. Also very expensive. He at this very moment is travelling with college friends in Paris.</p>

<p>This is something he would not have done if he had gone to University of Florida.</p>

<p>Now, all that being said, you really need to talk to an expert in that field, to see if coming from a particular school will make a material difference or not.</p>

<p>But I would have been willing to bite the bullet, and send him to UCLA, even though it is probably not that much better than UF.</p>

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<p>No it’s not worth it. As a California resident who would love to attend U of Michigan but I have to think about cost/value. My family can easily afford $200K+ but that does not mean I should waste their money. In the end I only applied to 2 private schools OOS. U of Michigan was a free application for me.</p>

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<p>If medical school is a significant possibility, it may be better to save the $146,000 to apply to medical school, which is expensive. A new MD with a lot of medical school debt may be unable to choose a lower paid specialty, even if it is one that s/he prefers over higher paid specialties.</p>

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<p>I’ve always found your comment on your kid’s decision not to attend UCLA as insightful Floridadad. You’ve talked about it in multiple posts. I assume you were really trying to persuade him to attend UCLA, although, ultimately, he chose another school.</p>

<p>Interestingly enough, my own father, who’s lived in Los Angeles for well over 30 years, had no idea how good of a school UCLA was (he was pretty surprised when i told him it was one of the top schools in the country/world.) Like many others, though, he continues to become more impressed by it (he saw a news segment that featured talks from UCLA’s business school and said something akin to ‘everywhere they talk about UCLA.’)</p>

<p>But enough digression about my AM. I agree with Floridadad that this is a very personal decision. My choice was actually very simple for me because UCLA was the best school i was accepted to and, as a life-long Los Angeles resident, was the cheapest option as well. Would i spend that much money on an education? Certainly not. These are four very important years of your child’s life, but a house will last significantly longer than those four years, and will remain singnificantly important in your child’s life. Where she did her undergraduate work will not. </p>

<p>If i were in your situation, i’d go to UConn and get the house.</p>