<p>I applied to fourteen private schools, and was accepted to only one. I have a 3.98 high school GPA with a 2330 SAT, but I suspect a poor recommendation sunk my chances, as I was accepted into every UC I applied to, including Cal and LA (The UC system does not require rec letters). I live in Berkeley, and I'm not too excited about the prospect of staying here another four years. LA was my top choice at first, but I was accepted into the honors program at UCSC and given 20,000 in merit money over four years, to UCLA's offer of $0 (I can still afford both schools), so I gave it a closer look. I really liked the campus, the town, the faculty I had a chance to talk to, etc, enough that even with UCLA's higher selectivity it's pretty much a dead heat. Oberlin was rather expensive, and I didn't feel like I'd fit in when I visited.</p>
<p>So I'm wondering: how much of my hesitation to go to SC is based off of superficial ratings, and how much is legitimate? I feel embarrassed by my acceptance rate, and I think that's affecting my choice in an unhealthy way. Also, there's a lot of peer pressure to go to LA. So if there anyone who can tell me more about academics and student life/culture at these two schools? I'm interested in sciences that involve lots of field work, and I know UCSC has a stellar earth sciences major, so I'm not too worried about a lack of academic rigor there, but I still have my doubts. </p>
<p>I liked both schools, but maybe you guys can help me figure out just what differentiates the two, and help me with the decision that is coming up uncomfortably soon.</p>
<p>Since you mentioned $20,000 I have to assume you would be a Regents Scholar at UCSC? If so, there are many perks beyond the money. You would get to enroll in special honors level courses with small class sizes, you get priority enrollment, and I believe awesome research opportunities as an undergraduate. That used to be the case, but please confirm this for yourself. Basically you would get the benefits of a private school education within a large research institution. UCLA would give you bragging rights for selectivity, but will it offer you superior opportunities relevant to your studies? There are also non-academic factors for you to consider. Do you want to be at a big D1 sports school? Is it important for you to be in a large city? Think about what is important to you in your collegiate experience and the environment you want to be in. Only you can determine how important peer opinions and college rankings are to your decision. If they truly are of utmost importance to you, don’t minimize it. Good luck with your decision.</p>
<p>An outsider’s perspective:
I don’t know you, but from reading your post, I can tell that you will be happiest at UCSC. It’s an excellent school and they obviously want you. Go and be a happy banana slug.</p>
<p>I agree with gettinin, that you seem to want to convince yourself that UCSC is the place you want to attend. These two are entirely different u’s, so your choice should be an easy one (as I realize that this is close to the deadline).</p>
<p>Santa Cruz is indeed an excellent school and also excellent in some of the more esoteric sciences in which you seem interested. I can tell that you probably want to be an academic or something similar. In any case, UCSC would get you where you want to go just as well as any other u.</p>