<p>hello! i'm a resident of the san fernando valley who has ALWAYS loved ucla and always wanted to go there. however, i also got accepted to wellesley with INSANE amounts of money (it would practically be a free ride to go there) and my parents, who had also always wanted me to go to ucla, are now pushing me to go to wellesley because of the money. basically, my family isn't wealthy by a long shot, and going to ucla would mean paying back a lot of loans for a long time. my dad basically said if i went to ucla, i'd have to live at home, which i would NEVER do! i'm trying to convince him to let me live in the dorms for 1 year and then move back home (is this better, at least?), but he's saying that because my parents plan on moving to a smaller place, that would be really confusing and horrible and hard. i'm visiting wellesley soon, and who knows, i may fall in love with it, but i already know for a fact that i love ucla. however, i've heard from a lot of people that it's better to get out of the LA area, and it's better to go to a private school, etc. but i just feel like i might be a lot more comfortable at ucla.
BASICALLY, the whole point of this rant is- do you think it would be worth it to make my parents unhappy and be in debt and be a number at ucla, which i'd probably love, or would it be better to go to a small, prestigious, all girls school back east for practically nothing where i would get a great education, though maybe not as great all-around experience? thank you. sorry this was so long...</p>
<p>its a tough decision since the 2 alternatives are so different. I think you'll know better after you visit. You'll know right away if its right for you, or completely wrong. But if its a good fit, it is the right choice given the finances and you're parents ultimatum.</p>
<p>Tough decision but I'd lean towards the one that costs you the least. Wellesley is a great school. Boston is a great town. And, you graduate without a ton of college debt. I think it is very hard for our twenty somethings to have these big college loans to pay off. Having such a debt load later on will influence many other decisions that you'll have to make.</p>
<p>As a mom and Wellesley Alum from back in the day, go to Wellesley. It will be a good experience to move across country, live in the snow and cold, at an excellent school, have very few student loans (which you can erase completely if you have outside scholarships) then go to UCLA for grad school. Congradulations!</p>