Hi! I’m really stressed and need some other intellectual perspectives on which school would be better for my situation. Thank you so much for your help! A few things about me:
I live in LA County and attended a relatively competitive public school
I am quite sheltered because I live in a primarily Asian area (bubble)
UW: Got in Undeclared major (applied as Neuroscience), would prob apply to a Pre-Health or Pre-Law major, or explore something creative!
UCSC: Got in Neuroscience major, might double major or minor (or experiment!) if it’s not too rigorous
Costs: Parents will cover full tuition out of their kind and generous souls ;-; So I don’t need to worry about money or scholarships as much, though I still feel guilty – if I go to UW, it’s 75k more (if I get residency in 2nd year) and 135k more (if I don’t) than UCSC over four years. That is A LOT.
UW
Pros:
higher ranking as a public institution - maybe more clout?
met a really cool potential roommate(s)
talked to some other incoming freshmen and they seem really cool
i have visited Seattle once in the Spring, so I’ve felt the city and it’s quite pretty/modern
known for STEM programs
will challenge me to go outside the Cali bubble and adjust to a relatively different city
people here are smart/ambitious/concise, and being surrounded by like-minded people will also help to motivate/inspire me to work hard
maybe not getting direct admit into Neuroscience is good so that I can explore other potential interests and possibly change paths? But better to commit to pre-health earlier for PA school to start working for those required 1000+ clinical hours
campus is pretty nice
city has a lot of parks and places in nature
did a lot of research and attended a ton of events + navigated their website, so I’m a bit more familiar with this school
my mom really wanted me to go to UW, but after seeing how stressed i was about the grade curve and my inexperience with college-level science classes, she said that it is completely my decision. i don’t think i am overestimating how hard it is when literally EVERYONE says it’s hard, but i am more of a pessimist and over-worry
Cons
notorious grade curve that ruins GPAs (competitive)
notorious STEM weed out classes
I never took any AP sciences, so I don’t know how well I’d do for UW-level science course
I don’t know how being an OOS RESIDENT or OOS STUDENT would affect PA (masters medicine 2 years) admissions to schools outside of WA
really really cold; my cold tolerance is very low (I’m cold at 70 F), but maybe I can acclimate and work out more?
overcast days and ugly grey skies + chill for prob 1/2 the school year
Neuroscience is more research oriented and only accepts 60 people/year (competitive). Getting into the major you want is hard and some people end up transferring out or choosing a major they don’t like
I am scared that I will fail and drop out of STEM, and then I will let down the expectations of myself and my family/friends. I want college to be a time for learning, growth, and discovery, so maybe more challenges is better. I don’t want to get depressed and die tho ;-;
I would most likely NOT want to stay in Seattle for my masters. 4 years is enough
more expensive
I heard that UW is only famous in WA, but I’ve also heard people deny that?
Costs and any aid
parents will cover college tuition out of their kind and generous souls ;-;
I’d rather have it be cheaper though because of guilt – UCSC is 39k/year vs UW being 59k/year unless I apply for residency in my 2nd year. Then, it would be around 35k/year for the next three years (but I’d have to revoke my California resident rights, and not sure how it would affect Cali PA school admissions because would I would prob be considered OOS).
UCSC
*Pros
still a pretty high ranking public institution
the UC system has a good amount of clout, but does UCSC?
I got accepted directly into my intended major Neuroscience
warm and sunny!
near the beach, the redwoods, and nature. lots of places to explore anytime in the warmth
In state Cali bubble network? Stronger connections?
good mental health facilities and supportive faculty
I think it’s more diverse which could be a more learning experience; UW has mostly White and Asian people
Campus seems pretty from the pictures
I’m friends with one person there and I know one UCSC alumni, so I already know some people there
*Cons
Cali bubble - not challenging myself as much as I could
haven’t gone to any of the April admit sessions because I was trying to convince myself to go to UW and like it (it kinda worked, but now I’m 2nd guessing myself again), so i’m a bit ill-informed
haven’t talked to anyone in UCSC yet or attended any events, so I’m a bit out of the loop (housing is end of May tho, so I should still have time to find a roommate if need be). Don’t know if the people here are as smart/ambitious/concise as UW people
haven’t visited campus
watched a recorded info session, and the faculty/people here seem to be more laidback, so it feels like life here is not as proactive or fast-paced as UW (which might be a good for mental health, but not necessarily for academic life/career?)
Not as good of a reputation in the UC system. Not sure if it is as renowned or respected.
Overall, I feel like I’d be happier and more comfortable in UCSC, but on the other hand I wouldn’t be as challenged and consequently wouldn’t grow as much compared to if I went to UW. However, I don’t know if I will break under the pressure and flunk out of UW, but I am a pessimist and overthinker, so it might not be that bad? IDK please give me your thoughts, wise experiences, and advice ASAP, as I only have a few days to make this life-changing decision. Thank you so much.
actually i heard that UCSC is not as sunny and warm bc it is in norcal > socal, but it’s definitely warmer than Seattle on average. but oh well weather is not the main concern, mostly just commitment and competition and challenging myself and such
If you are aiming for health professional school (medical, PA, etc.), it may be better to save your money so that you will have less debt for the health professional school (which tends to be very expensive).
I do not believe you can expect to get WA residency after a year unless you are over 24 and financially independent, which you clearly are not. (Or unless your parents move there with you.) Do not figure the possibility of residency into your decision unless you have a clear and concrete reason that you have not explained, for thinking this may be possible.
UCSC is a strong STEM school too; there is no reason to think you’d be under-challenged. If you think you’d be “happier and more comfortable” at UCSC, why not go there and save extra money that you don’t need to spend? If you want to go to PA school, you’ll need strong EC’s, volunteering/shadowing and so on. Spare yourself stress over getting into your major at UW, and put your energy into building your resume for grad school.
If you sounded like you were truly “feeling it” about UW, that would be one thing. If you had a direct admit to a particular program there that you loved, that could be compelling. But none of that is the case; you really just sound like you feel you “should” go there. And half of that is probably just the “familiarity breeds contempt” feeling about your own state schools. UCSC is a fine school.
You gesture at mental health issues several times here. Not only is setting yourself up to succeed important, in terms of an environment that supports your mental health… but it can also be important to have ways to cut yourself slack if need be. How would you feel, at each school, if choices you needed to make in favor of self-care led to the need for an extra quarter or two to graduate? Wouldn’t it be nicer to have that flexibility, at UCSC, rather than feeling “up against it” at UW because it’s already so expensive and extra time would cost even more? Give yourself the gift of “buffer” - financially and in other ways - so that you can make the best choices for yourself without stress and guilt.
You live in LA - Santa Cruz / Seattle - you’ve escaped the local bubble.
When I read through your pros and cons - you are so obviously meant to go to UCSC - which is a fine school. It’s not like UW is Harvard - it also is a fine school.
You have your major at UCSC - but you talk about law - so do you really want neuroscience?
You talk about a pre-law or pre-health major. Those are advising programs - not majors. But again, you got the major you want.
You are lucky your parents are generous - but do you realize how much $135K is - because you aren’t getting residency. That’s a lot of clams.
Santa Cruz is just as nice (in different ways), is outside your local bubble, and has lots of parks and nature.
The traffic in Seattle, near UW, is INSANE - so you can at least have that similarity with home if you end up there.
As I read your list, it was beyond obvious - at least based on your pros and cons you should end up at Santa Cruz.
From reading your list of pros and cons, I feel like you have done a lot to mentally invest yourself in UW but having cold feet and feeling guilty about the big cost difference. I don’t buy that you cannot challenge yourself in UCSC…Santa Cruz is an excellent school in preparing you to go the PA route. Try to see if you can drive up to Santa Cruz this Friday and get a feel of the locale. Read through the UCSC threads and see if there are Admitted Students social media groups you can join in the next couple of days to get a more balanced view. I believe both schools will offer you good opportunities to grow and learn–just don’t think of UCSC as a “lesser” place.
My interests lie in how the brain and humans work, which is relevant to both health and legal careers. There is no requisite major for both as even engineers and humanity majors will oftentimes pursue medical careers after fulfilling certain requisites. If I am undeclared going in, I’d best be prepared to have a backup plan provided I don’t get into my first choice major.
When I mentioned pre-law or pre-health majors, I meant majors that would typically fall under those advising programs.
Yes, I do realize that that is a lot of money and that I’m beyond fortunate to have parents who worked incredibly hard for me to have a quality education. I’ve looked into residency previously, and it seems that students actually do look towards residency for tuition purposes considering they have a website and center at the school designated for this sole issue: Residency for Tuition Purposes - Office of the University Registrar
I live in the county but not in the actual city of LA, so it isn’t actually similar at all. However, I’ve visited both Los Angeles and Seattle, so I know what the traffic is like.
Thank you for your response and will keep ur points in mind, just wanted to elaborate to clear up any assumptions as I wrote my initial post in a hurry.
Thank you for your thorough and thoughtful response.
I think you bring up great points with having more time flexibility considering tuition, and I would whole-heartedly agree that UCSC is a solid choice. I also agree that time management would be huge given that the process of applying to a major will take up extra time. I would definitely not say that I’d be under-challenged, but rather that UW would even further push me to my limits and to work harder.
I could be wrong, but I was told that UW has a residency center for tuition purposes. I assumed that I could apply for residency if I were over 18, but I will have to do more research into it. Here their website providing more details: Residency for Tuition Purposes - Office of the University Registrar
My parents and family fully support me going to UW despite how much more it would cost, which is such a blessing and completely because of how hard my parents worked to achieve the level of success that they have today. Similarly, I want to make them proud by challenging myself in new ways and attending the school that will provide the best quality of education for my future.
I really like your last point on how setting myself up for success by putting myself in a supportive environment is important, and that I should also cut myself some slack in some ways. For UW, I was advised to only take one science course per quarter and preferably not immediately in freshmen year to get used to the rigor and timing of the quarter system and college-level courses. I’m hoping to seek out like-minded people and continue to build on my interests and support systems wherever I go. Whichever school I go to, I will definitely keep your words in mind though, so thank you!
I definitely have in regards to the cold feet, haha. I’ve actually been very excited about UW and have met so many incredible faculty and people at this school, but right before committing I froze up and second-doubted myself.
I apologize if my words came off that way as I was in such a rush in writing! I definitely feel that UCSC would challenge me and isn’t at all a bad place to study at. However, I do feel that UW would definitely serve a bigger challenge simply given by its grade curve and competitive entry into majors, whileas UCSC has a more straightforward grading system and I’d gotten direct admission.
I will definitely have to reevaluate my options and think more so about what I value more. Thank you again for your kind insights.
I read this and think you want to go to UW and you are meh about UCSC. I think you should go to UW and really explore academically. I say this because I’m not convinced you really want a career in the sciences. Not sure why, if this was your real interest, that you wouldn’t have taken AP science courses in high school. I think that’s where your fear/reluctance is — the stuff about weather, etc is just noise.
I’m pasting an excerpt below, from the site you linked to, regarding conditions under which a student may apply for residency. You are not a financially independent student and you most assuredly cannot pay for UW without your parents’ assistance. Hence, you cannot meet these criteria. Please put the possibility of in-state status in Washington out of your mind unless your parents are prepared to move there. Residency for students like you (under 24 and financially dependent on the support of parents who do not live in the state) is not a thing.
Students who are establishing bona fide domicile, as a financially independent student, must complete the following requirements in addition to the guidelines listed above:
Students must demonstrate they are financially independent for the current calendar year for which they are applying for residency and the previous calendar year. This means they have and will be paying for the majority of their expenses (cost of attendance and room/board) with their own independent income and resources, that they are not and have not received significant financial assistance in any form, directly or indirectly, from parents, legal guardians, relatives, or others during that time period, and that they were not and will not be claimed as a dependent on anyone’s tax returns for the previous and current calendar years.
Are you sure you can do this - I have no doubt you can get a driver license, set up a bank account, etc. - but can you survive not taking a $ from your parents - because that’s what you must do - and I promise you, getting residency is not a cake walk - this is two years of you 100% supporting yourself - that means your parents can’t pay your tuition.
Students must demonstrate they are financially independent for the current calendar year for which they are applying for residency and the previous calendar year.
Both schools are excellent and will offer opportunities to challenge yourself academically and personally – I honestly don’t see a clear leader on this point! Their admission rates, SAT scores, and 4-year graduation rates are very similar.
I’m sure UW would be a great experience, though as you note, you haven’t given Santa Cruz as much of a chance to win you over by visiting or talking to current/admitted students. UCSC has about half as many rainy days per year (70 vs 150), half as many undergrads (17,000 vs 32,000), and way more banana slugs The Seattle climate means temps in the 40s & 50s from mid-October thru the end of April – you just need the right layers to stay warm.
It’s great that your family can support either school – but it’s still worth pausing to consider what else you might want to do with $135,000 when you’re 22. Do you have younger siblings who’ll need college/grad school? Would your family also cover $200,000+ for your grad school, or would you have to take out loans for that? If those aren’t big concerns, then you can feel confident about following your heart to UW, but you also might be pleasantly surprised by UCSC if you give it a chance – good luck to you!
Thank you for your kind words and thoughtful points!
I am definitely reconsidering UCSC as a possible solid choice, though my parents are under the impression that the gap between UW and UCSC in terms of rigor and difficulty is like that between UCB and UCSB and I think would be disappointed if I chose UCSC (although I recognize that in the end, it’s my decision). While I would agree that academically the two are about the same to get in, I’ve heard that getting into and excelling in your actual major at UW is quite competitive (60 admits/year for Neuroscience). I’ve also heard that the pre-health program at UCSC is not as developed as it could be, despite UCSC ranking quite high in its Neuroscience and biology-related majors (not as high as UW, however).
I will definitely carefully consider the points you brought up and think about what I value more between the two schools. Thank you for taking the time to write your thoughts!
I’m concerned about this:
If you wanted to study neuroscience, why did you not take any AP science in HS?
Was it because your school doesn’t offer them? If so, do they offer other advanced academic opportunities (IB, dual enrollment) and did you take advantage of them? If not, why (not recommended by teacher, parents didn’t know how to make request, too stressful…?)
It’s impossible for you to become a resident of the State of Washington if your parents live in California and you’re under the age of 24.
To help you evaluate the gap: UW is like UCSB or UCD.
Definitely. I recognized my interest only since February of 2020 when I was injured, misdiagnosed, and exposed to a hospital setting for the first cognizant time. Not to mention the global pandemic going around.
As for classes, I took AP Chemistry, but only a summer in Biology back in my freshmen year, as I had not even considered health a possibility back then. I was considering Engineering towards my junior year, so I took AP Calc AB/BC and an engineering course; I actually quite liked them, though I’d never taken physics so I wasn’t quite prepared for the rigor of engineering at college.
This year, I’m taking Psychology (I’m pretty interested in how much further we can explore dreams and our conscious- maybe something to do research on in college?) and Advanced Sports Med (anatomy, shoulder/head/general injuries). I’ve found that both are quite interesting to me, and I’ve actually found some real-life applications for the two in the year I’ve taken them, which is pretty awesome.
But definitely, my fear is of failure and not being competent enough to excel. I think I will definitely explore classes in my original major as well as other interests just to have a broader perspective on what I want to do in life. I’ll definitely keep your words in mind; thank you so much!
Thank you for your concerns and clarification! I’ll use a previous reply that I think will answer your question:
Definitely. I recognized my interest only since February of 2020 when I was injured, misdiagnosed, and exposed to a hospital setting for the first cognizant time. Not to mention the global pandemic going around.
I took a rather lackluster AP Chemistry class in junior year, an amazing Chemistry Honors class (probably my favorite class in my 4 years there) in sophomore year, and only a summer in Biology back in my freshmen year, as I had not even considered health a possibility at the time.
I was considering Engineering towards my junior year, so I took AP Calc AB/BC and an engineering course; I actually quite liked them, though I’d never taken physics and my experience was quite limited.
This year, I’m taking Psychology (I’m pretty interested in how much further we can explore/measure dreams and the human conscious- maybe something to do research on in college?) and Advanced Sports Med (anatomy, shoulder/head/eye/general injuries). I’ve found that both are quite interesting to me, and I’ve actually found some real-life applications for the two in the year I’ve taken them, which is pretty awesome.
If you have any more feedback or concerns for me to address or consider, feel free to let me know and I’ll hop on it ASAP! I’ll have to make my college decision tomorrow.
The Seattle climate means temps in the 40s & 50s from mid-October thru the end of April – you just need the right layers to stay warm.