Please please help provide your opinions.
We really have to decide which is the best school for my son.
We live in northern California.
My DS got accepted to the following two schools:
- UNC Chapel Hill Honor Program with a full ride(as an OOS Carolina scholar) (Stated major in application:Undecided)
- UC Berkeley (Major:Biological Science in College of Letters and Science) - 9k aid/scholarship only
He wants to be in a pre-med track to be a doctor.
What do you think would be the best decision for him?
Thanks!
The UC deadline to decide is May 1st. Snuck up on you, huh? Given the amount of research you can do at the last minute, might as well flip a coin.
Would you contribute the approximately $20,000 per year savings from the full ride at UNC-CH to his medical school costs? Medical school is quite expensive…
I’d go with Berkeley. I’m assuming you’re going to have to take some debt since you said you “only” got 9k in aid, but if its under say 8k in debt a year, I would personally take Berkeley. Seems like just a more prestigious school, and the name carries weight. If it’s too much of a financial burden however, UNC is still a top school that would be great to attend on a full ride.
UNC is in the research triangle, it’s an AMAZING public university in a great location, both business-wise, and geographically (at least in my opinion). UCB is the arguably the best public school in the nation but the debt is daunting. I’d probably go with UNC but both of your sons options are stellar, congrats!
@gdlt234, Thanks for your comments. Regarding Berkeley, to be clear, after 9k aid/scholarship, we will still have to pay about 24k per year (tuition + room/board).
If he chooses UNC-CH, will you save the money not spent to contribute to his medical school costs?
https://services.aamc.org/tsfreports/ (tuition at medical schools, not including living expenses)
https://www.aamc.org/download/152968/data/debtfactcard.pdf (how long it takes to pay off typical medical school debt)