Hi! I have been accepted to both UCSB and University of Michigan and I dont know what to decide. I live in Los Angeles so in state tuition would be great but my parents can afford to send me to umich. I want to be on a pre med track. What do you think the better decision would be??
Either would be great for pre-med. I just saw a video of UCSB, I think it’s great location. I would pick UCSB.
Personally, I would save my money for graduate school and attend UCSB if I were a resident of CA. If I were very well off and money was not a concern, then I would go for fit.
We just went through this with my D. She is heading to UMichigan from the SF area over the UCs, partly to experience something different as she expects to come back to California to work. We are lucky in that we can afford to do it. I agree with rjk, if money is not a concern, go for fit.
Both schools are very good, but very different.
UCSB has a dream location, great academics and a strong reputation, especially in California. Certainly cannot go wrong choosing UCSB.
UM is the state flagship and gets the pride, attention and resources that come with that, especially since it doesn’t have the same competition for love California schools do with UCB, UCLA, UCSD, CalTech, Stanford, USC… Ann Arbor is an AMAZING college town. Lots of school spirit, some of which comes from athletics (just hired Harbaugh as football coach from SF 49ers). I think it would be a great place for a traditional all-American college experience. It gets cold. Very cold! I grew up in the Midwest and hated the weather, but everyone is different.
Good luck.
" I think it would be a great place for a traditional all-American college experience."
It definitely is. Your daughter will love Michigan!
Mine thought she would have fun at Michigan. As a matter of fact she wrote it in one of her essays. When she got admitted, I urged her to visit and she didn’t. Same with USC. I wish she did.
UCSB is excellent. Medical schools will not differentiate. Save money for medical school and go for UCSB, unless if your parents are very well off and can easily afford the difference, in which case, go with your heart. But to most families, the $120k difference in price between Michigan and UCSB is very, very hard to justify.
UCSB is a very good a respectable university. For many states, a university of its quality would be their flagship.
I do not think Michigan is worth 120k more than UCSB, even if you can afford it.
It is actually about $20k/yr difference. While $80k is still a lot of money, we obviously thought it was worth it for the OOS/UM experience. As said earlier, it comes down to how painful that extra cost is and whether the difference in schools is worth it to you and your family.
With expensive medical school in the plans, consider saving the money so that you can take less debt for medical school.
beyphy, for the wealthy, there are tangible benefits of attending Michigan that are well worth the $120k difference. There are 1,500 undergraduate students from CA enrolled at the University of Michigan. It is fair to say that most of those could have gone to a UC but chose to attend Michigan. I doubt all those families made irrational decisions.