<p>Funny, this is almost the exact same situation we’re in. </p>
<p>My DD1 has had her heart set on GW for the past year and also wants to major in international, economic and/or political studies. She got in to both UCLA and GW (as well as a few other great schools, most on the east coast). But, surprisingly, she received a really nice scholarship to UCLA and unfortunately, a relatively small amount of aid from GW. The cost difference for us is about 100k for a 4-yr degree and after thinking about it long and hard, we can’t really find a way to justify the difference. This has been based on many factors, but mainly the quality of education, overall experience and the career/grad school opportunities afterwards.</p>
<p>Although we now live in CA, our family is originally from the east coast and D1 has always wanted to go back there for college. She’s interned w/elected representatives, speaks two languages fluently, is very interested in public service/foreign relations, etc, and we all kind of assumed she’d end up in DC for college.</p>
<p>Although we haven’t committed to UCLA yet (we’re going to UCLA Bruin Day tomorrow and she will make final decision afterwards), we started favoring it originally because of the scholarship. But honestly, I have to say even if all things were equal fnancially, over the past couple weeks, I’ve come to the realization that I prefer UCLA over GW for her, regardless of cost.</p>
<p>Here’s why:</p>
<p>1) Although DC is a great city, so is LA. It’s not like she’s trading urban for suburban or rural environment. She made it clear she prefers a diverse, urban, multi-cultural, multi-lingual setting and while she would get that in DC, she also gets it in LA.</p>
<p>2) Did you realize that the UC system has a branch in DC? I just found that out by looking on their website. They offer a semester in DC program so your son can apply and hopefully participate in that. In addition, my D has always known she wants to spend a year or semester abroad somewhere.</p>
<p>3) There are tons of internships in DC that your son could do during the summers. All of our elected representatives hire interns in the summers in DC and there are other opportunities as well. </p>
<p>4) Grad school - if your son wants to do something politcal/internat’l, chances are he’s headed to grad school. If all goes well for him at UCLA, then he can set his sights on the wonderful international relations grad programs at all 3 of the DC biggies - GW, G’town and Johns Hopkins - all of which offer outstanding grad programs with promising futures in foreign service, politics, working for an NGO, and lots of other opportunities. We’d rather spend the big bucks on that degree!</p>
<p>5) Rankings/prestige/connections - Okay, we all poo-poo rankings and stuff, and we’d never base our decision on them, but the bottom line is that in general, UCLA is more widely known and respected globally than GW, so if your son does something internationally, it would be great for him to have UCLA on his resume. Also, most college rankings rank UCLA as the slightly “better” school…again, not that rankings should be a deciding factor but it’s a good data point to throw into the mix.</p>
<p>5) For us, although we were happy to see our daughter head off to the east coast and definitely saw the advantages of breaking away, now that it looks like she’ll be living within a few hours (a train or car trip instead of a plane trip), I find myself relieved and excited. I see the advantages with having her closer for her younger siblings and for her to be able to easily access the safety net of her home base…I don’t expect she’ll visit often, which is fine by us, but it’s nice to have the option to be able to check in w/her from time to time and set eyes on her to get a real gauge of how she’s doing, and for her to be able to easily retreat to home for a weekend if she ever needs to. I’d never hold her back for this reason, but in my mind, it will be a nice, unexpected plus. </p>
<p>As much as I like to travel to the east coast and visit friends/family, I still don’t see us booking a trip more than a couple times a year…I’m not sure we’d get there for parents’ weekend and the other stuff, which would make me sad and feel very conflicted.</p>
<p>Obviously the proximity factor depends on the specific kid…ours has had her ups and downs, and although I wouldn’t want her NOT to have the experience of being on the east coast, for her, it’s probably best to postpone that experience for a short while until either a job or grad school. Again, this factor may not apply at all to your DS.</p>
<p>So ultimately, for us, while the cost difference is probably the biggest factor, it’s interesting that as it turns out, we may have made the same decision anyway. It’s not easy, is it?! All the best to you and your son!</p>