Curious about opinions on this. My son was admitted to all three school in his major of choice (Computer Engineering). He got $2,000/year at UCSC, Regents at UCR ($10,000/year) and nothing from UCSD. UCR would mean living at home but no debt…any thoughts?
What is his preferred option? Are you fine with being full pay for UCSD?
If he got $10,000 a year at UCR, couldn’t he dorm there? That would still be a lot cheaper than the other two options where he would have no choice but to dorm.
Did he receive an invitation to the honors college too? He could either dorm in the honors dorm or the engineering dorm. A big plus would be making friends and establishing relationships with other dedicated students. It would pay off for study groups etc not just his freshman year but also beyond. If you could, I would definitely advise to let him dorm at least his first year.
On top of the 10Kx4 savings, the priority registration that comes with Regents is a HUGE benefit, especially for getting into CS classes for which demand tends to exceed supply throughout the UC’s.
I agree with @InfoQuestMom that if full-paying for UCSD/UCSC means debt, I would go for the affordable option with all the Regents perks at UCR… but I would use the cost savings in the first year to have him live on campus and be fully immersed in the college experience. Once his social circles are established and peers are moving off campus anyway, then living at home to save money could make sense.
He is seriously considering UCSC or UCSD over UCR. We of course would be most comfortable financially with UCR but also want him to have a full college experience. We have talked about the option to live on campus at UCR for his first year as well.
@Gumbymom Although it means loans for both of us, we would figure out a way for him to go to UCSD if he chooses that. We were thrown for a loop when the offer from uCR came. It skewed our view of things…the idea of debt free is amazing but…
Priority registration is truly a great advantage, and a stress reliever, as @aquapt points out. My daughter had it and she felt very fortunate to do so.
If you are willing to make financial sacrifices so that your son gets the full college experience, make sure to let him know that he can still get it at UCR, at a lower price point than UCSC or UCSD. He still could live on campus or right next to campus at UCR all 4 years, correct? You guys won’t be completely debt free if he doesn’t live at home, but the debt would be significantly lower $10,000x4 or $8,000x4.
I think money is a huge factor! He will adult and lìve on his own for the remainder of his life, but starting that early is not worth a blackhole of student loans. Congrats to your son!