Hi! I’m a California high school senior currently deciding between attending University of Michigan and UCSD for political science. My goal is to continue onto law school after my undergrad.
Michigan is $20,000 more than UCSD after aid/grants. I am wondering if it is worth it to pay this much more for OOS than to attend UCSD. My parents & teachers think that I will be able to pay it off fine as a lawyer, and my sophomore year, my financial aid will hopefully improve when I resubmit the FAFSA with my 2018 documents. I am also paying for college myself, so I will not be putting my parents into debt. So ultimately they are allowing it to be my decision on what I’d like to do.
Some of the reasons I prefer Michigan may be considered unimportant to some people, but I will be living there for 4 years so I think they have some importance in my decision. Things like
- the different social environment
- the extracurricular activities I’d like to do (I’ve seen both at UCSD & Mich, & I like Michigan’s better)
- a lot of my family & friends live near/in SD, including my parents. This is not a matter of wanting to get away from my parents or anything, but I’d like to feel a bit more independent. Unfortunately, my only other option is to move across the country lol.
Also, my friend going to USC Gould Law pointed out that Michigan is a top 10 law school, which would be great for matriculating into the law school there after undergrad or into another top law school.
And of course, Ann Arbor is just absolutely beautiful, and I have only heard positive comments about UMich.
Would love your input on this 
Thank you for taking the time!