<p>I am a parent of a soon to graduate senior. My daughter is trying to decide which college to choose from. She was accepted into USC, UCSD, UCLA, UCDavis, Cal Poly and Pepperdine. Was waitlisted in Berkeley. I am trying to help her with her decision making. She was offered scholarships in ALL of them. Cal Poly and Pepperdine offered her a full right scholarship. USC is offering her half tuition, and the rest are all between $8000 to 2500 per year. She is also a finalist for the National Merritt scholarship. She was accepted under a Biology major, but she is not really sure that she will stay in that major. Right now USC and UCSD are her top choices because of the flexibility in changing majors. (Cal Poly is a science/math scholarship). Does anyone out there have any comments/opinions? Thank You.</p>
<p>Has she visited all of the campuses? They are all very different and since she will be spending 4 years there, she really needs to feel comfortable. Academically, all her choices are great.<br>
My older S is at UC Davis and loves the small town feel and friendliness of the campus. They are also very flexible in changing majors also as long it is not impacted.
UCSD has outstanding academic programs, again if she is interested in Engineering, switching is not easy but doable. My friends daughter is studying Bio engineering there and likes the location but wishes people were more friendly and had more school spirit (University of Socially Dead).
Cal Poly SLO? again is small town but more geared to the “hands on” learning depending upon her academic goals. Switching majors can be an issue.<br>
USC has great academics but half-tuition will still leave you with a considerable money gap.
I am not familiar with Pepperdine’s academics, but they have a fairly conservative student body.</p>
<p>She has a lot of great choices and you should sit down with her and decide how much you can afford.
Good Luck</p>