I’m having a tough decision deciding between these colleges, or potentially any other colleges on the West Coast. I am currently a junior in high school with a 27 ACT score, in the top 13% of my class, and with a 3.4 UW and 3.9 W. I plan to take AP courses in Physics, Calculus BC, Gov, and Psych senior year. I have an interest in biomedical engineering, sciences, and business.
The question I am asking is whether I should choose UNR or UCI. I want to go to a nice school that will offer me a quality education, however I also would like to be cost-effective. I also fear that going to UCI would put me in a completely new environment away from anyone I know as it is out-of-state, while UNR is in-state. Yet, I worry more that my job opportunities and academic experience may not be the same if I went to UNR instead of UCI, so I want to know if that is a cause for concern or not.
What do you think? If you need more information to help me, please let me know. It is a tough decision for me and I would like some insight on what would be the best choice for me. Also, if you think there is another western college that might suit me better, please suggest that to me too.
Why do you have to choose? You need to apply to a wide range of schools from Very Likely to Reach schools so you should apply to both plus several more.
As an OOS applicant, UCI does not offer much in financial aid, so you should expect to pay close to full fees which will be around $70K/year for 2024 admits.
UCI will be a reach with a 3.4 unweighted GPA (probably around a 3.7 for UC recalculated weighted capped GPA) – note that ACT and SAT scores are not considered. It will also have a higher out-of-state price and no out-of-state financial aid.
As others are saying, if you were to get into UCI, it would cost more than double the in-state cost of UNR. But in all reality, with a 3.4 UW GPA and the UC system not counting OOS honors classes toward their recalculated weighted GPA (only AP’s count toward weighting), it’s pretty unlikely that you’d get into UCI anyway.
Furthermore, if you’re unsure about your major, most of the CA publics are not super flexible with major changes.
What’s your maximum budget? What attributes in a college would make you choose it over UNR? I don’t see why you think you wouldn’t have good job opportunities if you went to UNR. That’s more about doing well in college, seeking out internships, etc., than about the differences between one well-regarded university and another.
And think about majors that could combine your interests. For example, Industrial Engineering combines both engineering and business. Packaging is another major that combines STEM and business, has fantastic employment prospects (including some that are biomedical-adjacent - all medical supplies need to be packaged!). Industrial Technology and Packaging | Cal Poly It’s a cool major that’s often overlooked, and thus it’s one of the easier majors to get into at schools like Cal Poly and SJSU, which would both be tough for you to get into for engineering or business.
At this point, you should be expanding your list, not worrying about figuring out which of the schools on your list should be your first choice. The narrowing down comes later
