Title says it all daughter has choice of Northeastern or UCSD both very good schools which one is better for marine science and Environmental science. Also, UCSD is in state so relatively affordable and we got aid for two years in Northwestern, so this would be much more expensive.
My son was an Environmental Science major and the job prospects are good but entry level pay for many jobs is on the low side. Most require several years of job experience and/or graduate degree to advance. I would definitely consider UCSD in-state and save any money for possible grad school. Advantage for UCSD with the Scripps Oceanography Institute for Marine Science next door.
Best of luck to your daughter.
thank you Gumbymom
Congrats to your daughter! Both schools have strong marine bio, as you know. In terms of grad programs in that field, UCSD would be considered the stronger school. For undergrad, the opportunities are probably comparable between the two; but there’s nothing specific to marine/environmental science that would make Northeastern worth a significant price difference - if anything UCSD would have the advantage.
There are things one might like better about Northeastern, to be sure - the great urban location in one of the best student cities in the country, the co-op program, the excellent flexibility to move between majors if interests change. Whether those attributes add up to a big difference in dollar value would be a very individual assessment. There are attributes to love about UCSD too, not the least of which is weather!
And then there are the issues specific to the Covid-19 era. Northeastern was my own CA kid’s runner-up, and I can tell you that when I was driving down to LA to move her out of her dorm on two days’ notice, I was very thankful that she’d chosen a California school. With all of the current uncertainty, not having to rely on air travel would definitely tip the balance for me, if deciding between two otherwise neck-and-neck options.
As Gumbymom said, your daughter is pursuing a field where graduate education will likely be needed, so banking the cost differential without any measurable sacrifice of program quality seems like the smart choice as a baseline; and this year I’d lean even harder toward staying closer to home.
Don’t know if you posted in the Northeastern forum for a different perspective? My two older DDs both went to Boston-area schools (my husband and I are alums from Boston-area schools) so we are big fans of that area… but we will be sending off our third to UCSD to study environmental science this fall. At first I was sad that she would not have the undergrad cross-country and East Coast experiences we had, but after having to scramble to get the second one (a college senior!) moved out with 5 days notice, I see the upside to having my “baby” on the West Coast in a pandemic. Back a few years ago she spent 3 weeks at a marine microbiology camp on the UCSD campus led by Scripps grad students; she is really really thrilled to be returning now as a Triton! I also agree with other posters that grad school is likely, and UCSD is as good if not better than Northeastern for those graduate programs.