But wouldn’t she save a lot with two years at cc, then use that savings for OOS tuition? That’s what I was implying, though only suggested that option if her tippy top #1 priority was getting to California and out of Georgia. If a student wants something bad enough, they have to be willing to sacrifice to get it - I thought this suggestion would make her think about how bad she really wanted CA, not that it was the right thing to do. After she has posted more, she seems more open to things other than CA, which is helpful for her.
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Sounds like Emory will be a great option for you. It’s in the same “tier” as UCLA or USC and much more economical. You can always save the money for undergrad and go to California for graduate school.
You are certainly very accomplished getting into UCLA OOS. Congratulations! And I wish you the best of luck for your remaining schools.
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Have you visited UCLA and USC? It sounds like you are idealizing the CA experience and might be disappointed to go thousands in debt once you are hit with the reality. The weather in Los Angeles is wonderful when it isn’t raining or Santa Ana winds or wildfires or mudslides. Westwood Village was hit hard by Covid shutdowns and half the storefronts are still empty. Homelessness is a big problem in Los Angeles, and is very present in Westwood as it is in the rest of the city. Everything in Los Angeles is going to cost more than in Athens. In short, you are only seeing the cons of UGA and only the pros of UCLA, and the reality will be in between.
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Curious whether you applied to Georgia Tech? It would have the same benefit of free tuition at UGA but urban and ethnically/racially diverse.
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I think UGA is a great school. My daughter was accepted last year but in the end decided to go elsewhere. However I have to disagree with this:
About 60-70 students from my daughter’s class enrolled at UGA. Add in a couple of years and a few other high schools in our area and that’s a significant number of students that go to UGA. My daughter’s experience just visiting UGA (many times) was that she constantly ran into students she knew.
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My advice to the OP is that UGA is a large and good college. So there is a decent chance of meeting your crowd there. Do not get into debt when you can get a great education for far cheaper.
PS. If you get into Emory and that is affordable, it might be a better fit for you.
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While I do think considering positives and negatives is important, perhaps this is a bit much? The issue here seems to be financial. The cost of UCLA is prohibitive for this particular student, who fortunately has at least one other good option and maybe more. No need to exaggerate the horrors of Westwood.
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Did you get into UGA Honors?
You could spend Freshman year at UGA, study abroad in an English-speaking country then in a country related to your major whose language you speak, then spend junior year on NSE (securing an internship in the state where your NSE school is - you’d start looking as soon as you arrive ofc and would be able to use the savings for living expenses even if the COL is high), and return to UGA for senior year.
FYI, NSE offers opportunities at Cal Poly SLO (excellent choice for psychology and overall) as well as Sonoma State, Southern Oregon State (on the border with CA), Western Washington University, all of which would have some Asian diversity.
That being said, there are still cool options waiting for you.
Keep posting here and we’ll compare using yourcriteria.
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Hopefully, you’ll have other choices than a binary UGA v. UCLA. It really sounds like you don’t want to go to UGA, for whatever reason. UGA has a good reputation in CA, but isn’t as well known. I actually know 2 CA kids who decided to go there for school and love it. They’ll probably move to Atl when they are done. Most of the UGA grads I’ve met (I worked with a lot of people in Atl) have been great and loved their experiences there. But only you know (or think) how much you’ll enjoy UGA.
To answer your first question as to whether it’s “worth it” from an economic and life-long planning perspective, go to UGA. I’m a double Bruin and loved my time there - but that’s because it was really affordable for me as I had zero financial family support. I would’ve loved to do my law studies elsewhere but I couldn’t get past the money factor - and that was 25 years ago when it was a lot more affordable.
If you go to law school, it is really expensive - even if you end up at a UC with in-state tuition. Yes, you can make a lot as an attorney but most young attorneys at Big Law are miserable and owe $300k + whatever undergrad debt they have is oppressive. If you plan on doing social activism as a career, don’t expect to make much (google a video from the show Crazy Ex-Girlfriend called “Don’t be a Lawyer”). So many people go to law school wanting “to make a difference”, but leave owing too much money. So you will need much more financial flexibility. As others have suggested, convince your parents to save that $45/year for law school. The 25 YO you will thank the 18 YO you when you owe “only” $170k v $360k.
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I’m going to read through this entire thread and respond in more detail. But my short answer in the meantime is to not take on debt in excess of the $27k fed loans. DONT DO IT. Especially if grad or prof school is in your plans!!
I will elaborate more after reading the responses, but in the meantime I want to say I UNDERSTAND. I get it. I was you. I was in a similar position in the dark ages as the valedictorian in a rural area of GA. Ivy or UGA. I chose UGA.
However, I took advantage of study abroad and every opportunity presented to me and feel it was a smart choice… for my circumstances. I’ll come back after reading all the comments. Hugs.
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You’re going to grad school - UCLA would not be worth any significant money over UGA. Not $5k or $10k.
There may be reasons you like it more. But worth it?
No. Not even close.
So you’re going to grad school - but even if not, there is zero holding you back from UGA to moving to anywhere in the country, including California. In the era of linkedin and ED, geographic boundaries are nearly invisible, especially from top schools.
You know what’s visible? Strangling debt.
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I really do understand your wanting to go to college in California, as opposed to Georgia. But the reality is, it’s not the difference between 45K/yr and 65K/yr. It’s the difference between 17K/yr and 65K/yr, or about 112K in total (assuming tuition doesn’t increase, which it will). Just because your parents say that they are willing to kick in up to 45K/yr for college for you, doesn’t mean that they didn’t have to work very hard to earn that money. U Georgia is a great school, with lots of diversity, and will definitely prepare you for going to law school or a grad program in psych. Plus, if your parents can pay less than 80K for your undergrad, they’d be able to help you with tuition for grad school. Their money means something - it means WORK, many hours of hard WORK that they did. Right now, you probably could earn maybe $15/hr at best, and some of that would go to taxes. At 40 hrs/week, you would have to work a full time job for FOUR YEARS to earn enough to pay for the difference between U Ga and UCLA.
Please, make the mature decision, and choose U Ga over UCLA.
A totally crazy idea. Defer from UCLA, to start in Sept 2024. Move to CA the second you are graduated from high school, anywhere in CA (obviously, you’d have to move to a very inexpensive area, or if you’re lucky enough to have a relative in CA who can host you, there). Join the CA National Guard as soon as you get there, and also get full time work there. Have a license, voter registration, and pay taxes there. Then start in Sept 2024. The CA National Guard will pay 100% of your tuition and fees, and UCLA would have a very tough time saying that you’re not in-state when you’re serving in the CA National Guard, although you’d have to make absolutely sure that this is the case. Service consists of 2 weeks a year plus one weekend a month. You’re expected to continue National Guard service for two more years after you finish, but I think that you can transfer to National Guard in another state, so you’re not bound to CA afterwards.
UCLA does not allow deferrals. OP would have to take a Gap year and reapply.
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I’m not exaggerating, I lived in Westwood Village for several years, and visited last summer. I’m not sure why Westwood Village isn’t vibrant, they have been struggling for over a decade to get it going, and the year UCLA was remote seems to have done real damage to the retail community. And the homelessness is striking. It’s also a beautiful campus with wonderful weather a good chunk of the time that is within spitting distance of some of the nicest neighborhoods in Los Angeles. These things aren’t mutually exclusive.
Agree! My son who is a sophomore at UCLA would be surprised to hear that people are bemoaning the decline of Westwood. It’s fine!
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OP, I hope by the end of the month you have a few more acceptances. I agree with most posters that you should not go into such debt for the experience of an undergraduate education. I just wanted to add that as a resident of California I know many seniors that just like you want to open their wings and fly away from California. But it’s too expensive for them. Just like for you. And they will be attending whatever in-state university best suits their educational and their family’s financial needs. You can continue to “California dream” while you build a skill set that will be attractive to California employers. Good luck.
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I’m in southern CA . I visited UCLA a couple years ago. It was a great vibrant campus. But also a UC where ultimately you’re kind of a number. It is a public school after all.
We met a student studying music and psychology from TX while there and he offered to show us around which was so kind of him. I wish I could remember his name and his contact info. He gave it to my son (a mistake, lol) , and my son lost his phone shortly thereafter and so there’s no way to contact him anymore. It’s too bad because I would have reached out to him to help any way I could as I felt for him being so far from home.
Anyway, I am going to go against the grain a bit here and say that while quite frankly, as an in-state resident, I don’t feel UCLA is quite worth being in big debt for, I do think UCLA sounds like a great fit for you and you should come out here to California as soon as possible if you can come up with a plan not to be in so much debt.
Are you entrepreneurial? Are you good at investing? There are ways to pay off a $60K debt earlier. Don’t be too scared of it if you are the type that thinks outside the box. Also there’s this Harvard MBA guy that wrote a blog about how he paid off his school debt. If you can live on a shoestring and are willing to hustle, that’s another way as well. Google the story on Joe Mihalic. If that’s not you then definitely think hard.
Best of luck to you!
We were there last February, and UCLA and Westwood were wonderful.
Financial reasons, yes, to pick UGA. But let’s not get into a discussion about the downsides of Georgia.
The ONLY reason I can see to pick UGA is the obvious one: finance. The rest, IMO, is OTT. UCLA is an absolutely fine school, with an amazing campus, and in a vibrant area.
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Everyone is entitled to their opinion but no location is perfect, including Westwood. And is more important for op to know that her idealized version is not reality that for two adults to bicker about Westwood Village. I personally have no preference between the two as my student did not apply to either school.
No bickering at all. But UCLA and Westwood are fabulous. And as I CLEARLY said, it may come down to the finance.
But to claim Westwood is hell on earth is not even CLOSE to true.
That goes for Athens and its environs too, right?
ETA: my last post on this topic. But, OP, honestly, if finance is key for you, UGA is a fine place for four years. This is just the beginning for you, not the end! If finance were no object, UCLA is a pretty good place to be.
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