<p>I'm having a really hard time deciding. I'm also on the UCLA wait list so let me know if you have something to say about that school too.
(Just incase someone doesn't know, UCSD = UC San Diego, USD = University of San Diego, and UMich is University of Michigan Ann Arbor) </p>
<p>I live in Michigan so the tuition at the University of Michigan is really hard to beat and it's an amazing school, but I really really really want a new beginning and I'm just worried that I'm not going to get that by staying here and being with an incredible amount of kids that I know going there (literally like over 100). Any input is helpful though so thank you!!</p>
<p>One hundred kids in a freshman class of 6000 and a total undegraduate population of 26,000 and over 40,000 students altogether. You’ll be tripping over each other. LOL. In the meantime, you want to pay more to attend out of state schools that aren’t quite as strong academically. College is a new beginning for you. Make the most of it.</p>
<p>Is this even a choice? 
Honestly, I am not sure how you can seriously think of paying twice as much to attend a peer (UCSD) or a lesser university (USD). And while 100 of your best friends attend Michigan, so do 26,900 perfect strangers! Trust me, you can easily avoid the 0.3% of the students that you do know.</p>
<p>I’m not exactly sure what I’m majoring in yet, but probably either psychology, marketing, or something to do with business.</p>
<p>Also, I know this shouldn’t influence my decision, but my boyfriend of about 2 years is going to Stanford and we are planning on trying to make it work through college, and being in California would probably make it much easier even though we are still a pretty good distance away</p>
<p>ebarish, first of all, SD is not exactly close to SF. We’re talking 500 miles, 7-8 hours by car. Secondly UCSD does not offer Business/Marketing. Ultimately, you may want to ask yourself if you can justify the extra $100k to attend a university that is not better than Michigan.</p>
<p>I think fit is the most important. If you really think you’d be happier in a completely new setting and in San Diego, I would go to UCSD.</p>
<p>“I think fit is the most important. If you really think you’d be happier in a completely new setting and in San Diego, I would go to UCSD.”</p>
<p>That’s interesting jakey54. Just yesterday you made the comment below that indicated another OP should go to WUSTL over Michigan even though he made it completely clear that Michigan was the better fit for him and he would be happier there.</p>
<p>“I think you’ll have to weight how important business school is for you. If you know it is exactly what you want to do, then I’d probably go with WashU, even knowing you may think Michigan is a better fit.”</p>
<p>I guess fit really isn’t most important, at least when it comes to the University of Michigan.</p>
<p>but I really really really want a new beginning and I’m just worried that I’m not going to get that by staying here and being with an incredible amount of kids that I know going there (literally like over 100)</p>
<p>Oh please. At a large school like UMich you’d hardly see any of them. And if you did, you don’t have to anything more than a simple smile and move on. A big univ isn’t like high school. There will be thousands of other new friends to make.</p>
<p>the idea of going to a San Diego school when your BF is at Stanford is silly. The distance doesn’t justify the expense. Are you super wealthy? Are you planning on flying up to Stanford on a regular basis in addition to paying the high costs of OOS UCSD and USD? </p>
<p>What are your parents saying?</p>
<p>If you’re not rich, then save your money, go to UMich and you’ll have plenty of money to fly to Stanford for long weekends and breaks. </p>
<p>BTW…chances are, you and the BF will break up sometime in the first year or so, so choosing a school on that basis may turn out to be moot.</p>
<p>wow you guys are all pretty sassy…</p>
<p>What’s the difference in COA between UCSD and Michigan? I agree with Alexandre and others that you shouldn’t even think about USD since its a significant step down from Michigan.</p>
<p>I think you should go where you want to go, regardless of rankings. If you want to go to San Diego for a change, I would go there. If you want to go to Michigan, go to Michigan. UCSD and Umich are fairly similar in terms of reputation and academic quality so I wouldn’t choose based on that between them. I would consider fit and I would consider finances, if they are a concern for you/your family.</p>
<p>I think it would be a mistake to choose UCSD or UCD over Michigan. Michigan is a stronger school overall, so I don’t think it would be a good idea to turn down IS tuition for OOS tuition at UCSD/UCD. I also think Michigan offers a better “college experience” than the other 2 schools.</p>
<p>allcapella, do I sense a double standard? I personally agree that Michigan and UCSD are roughly equal (I said as much in post #4 on this thread). However, you should not be making such a statement based on your previous stance on how slight differences between Michigan and Northwestern (even less pronounced than those between Michigan and UCSD) that you have often used to support your claims that NU is superior to Michigan.</p>
<p>No double standard, Alexandre. I am only encouraging the OP here to consider UCSD because it sounds like it was she wants socially/environmentally.</p>
<p>If we are looking at the two objectively, ignoring fit I would say Umichigan is a stronger school than UCSD.</p>
<p>Just as if we are looking at Northwestern and Michigan objectively ignoring fit I think Northwestern is the stronger school.</p>
<p>In any case, I think the discussion should remain on the OPs decision here.</p>
<p>That is not what you said allcapella. You said that Michigan and UCSD are equal reputationally and academically. Now you are saying that Michigan is superior to UCSD. I am not sure how you can recommend attending an inferior school at twice the price. Fit is important, but not to the exclusion of all else.</p>
<p>Here is my original post:</p>
<p>“I think you should go where you want to go, regardless of rankings. If you want to go to San Diego for a change, I would go there. If you want to go to Michigan, go to Michigan. UCSD and Umich are fairly similar in terms of reputation and academic quality so I wouldn’t choose based on that between them. I would consider fit and I would consider finances, if they are a concern for you/your family.”</p>
<p>As you can see, Alexandre, I said they are “fairly similar” in terms of reputation and academic quality, not that they are equal as you are suggesting. I also did not recommend attending one or the other. I simply said between those two I would go where you want to go, but to also “consider finances if they are a concern for you/your family”.</p>
<p>I guess I did not understand your initial statement. Still, I do not see how one can justify spending much more money for a peer institution. </p>
<p>Anyway, even if the OP’s family has the means, it would be a waste of money. UCSD offers Michigan-type academics minus the resources and campus life that Michigan has to offer. With the difference in CoE ($25,000k/year), she can fly from DTW to SFO twice each month (8 times/year) and stay at a top hotel like the Mandarin Oriental or the Four Seasons when in San Francisco, while still getting a degree from Michigan.</p>
<p>I agree that if her sole reason to be in California is to be nearer her boyfriend, it doesn’t make sense. I also agree that even if a family has the means, one should think long and hard before attending an academically equal university that is going to cost significantly more. </p>
<p>However, if her family does have the means and she truly likes UCSD for its own merit and thinks being at UCSD and San Diego would be her preferred environment, it is certainly worth considering.</p>
<p>Academically, you won’t go wrong with either of these universities, OP. Both are fantastic publics.</p>