<p>It's been almost two years since I made my decision, and only a few times had I thought, "what if I went to ...?" For me, my two "other schools" were Mudd and Olin (for those who heard of it). Ultimately, Cal became a no-brainer when I considered the value of education I'm getting for the money I'm paying. So far, so good... What about you? Over which schools did you pick Cal? I hope by the time SIRs are due, some new Bears will share their experiences as well. :)</p>
<p>Seems like stern and CMU</p>
<p>Georgetown and UCLA.</p>
<p>Georgetown was 40 thousand a semester. UCLA was in LA. Berkeley was the best option. I wonder how Georgetown would have been.</p>
<p>NYU’s stern, USC’s marshall
and i’m not even pre-haas anymore :)</p>
<p>UCLA initially, until I realized UCLA doesn’t even compete with Cal at paleontology, then it became pretty much straight on Cal</p>
<p>I sometimes wonder what I would be doing right now if I had sent my SIR to USC instead of Cal. Usually after about a minute of thinking, I decide that I made the better choice.</p>
<p>go bears!</p>
<p>USC Marshall and UCLA for me. I do wish we had so cal weather though.</p>
<p>Oberlin…</p>
<p>But I thought Olin was free? Or is/was there no tuition? I was nosy enough to look at their website and it says, “However, due to the ongoing economic downturn, Olin must reduce its full-tuition scholarship by 50 percent beginning in the 2010-11 academic year.” :(</p>
<p>Full ride to UCLA and Johns Hopkins for 55k…</p>
<p>I’m really glad I didn’t go to JHU. Not sure about LA though…but engineering here is better. or so I tell myself.</p>
<p>Olin would’ve been ~17k/yr (housing) and $0 on tuition. Needham doesn’t have that many apartments around, so most people stay on-campus…If not, then they go live in MIT’s labs 
Olin was too far for me. I was keen on keeping up a long distance relationship, and I felt increasing that distance would make it more prone to failure. That’s seriously the only reason I didn’t pick Olin. Really sucks to hear that they cut the scholarship though! That was a really huge plus for Olin.</p>
<p>Dang, full ride UCLA…How’d you land that? I hope you’re not paying too much more for Cal, mate.</p>
<p>I got Washington U at STL, but now I’m inclined to Cal. Guess I couldn’t get unbiased advice to see if this is a good choice here? :-)</p>
<p>my friend loves WashU tbh. I didn’t apply there because I don’t like the location but schoolwise, depends</p>
<p>DeVry University</p>
<p><<<i got=“” washington=“” u=“” at=“” stl,=“” but=“” now=“” i’m=“” inclined=“” to=“” cal.=“” guess=“” i=“” couldn’t=“” get=“” unbiased=“” advice=“” see=“” if=“” this=“” is=“” a=“” good=“” choice=“” here?=“” :-)=“”>>></i></p><i got=“” washington=“” u=“” at=“” stl,=“” but=“” now=“” i’m=“” inclined=“” to=“” cal.=“” guess=“” i=“” couldn’t=“” get=“” unbiased=“” advice=“” see=“” if=“” this=“” is=“” a=“” good=“” choice=“” here?=“” :-)=“”>
<p>I don’t know what STL is, but I do know that both Wash U and Cal share a student sensibility of being very competitive, very driven about one’s studies. The Bay area cannot be beat for its aesthetic and liberal sensibility. Wash U. is a great school, too. If you do well at either, you are launched. Both are very respected. </p>
<p>Good luck with your decision and “Go Bears!”</p>
</i>
<p>I applied to six colleges and was accepted to two places other than Cal.</p>
<p>One of them was a safety, so we don’t need to go much further. The other one was UCLA. However, considering that I was sure I wanted to do EECS and that the program here consistently ranks within the top three in the nation, it was a fairly easy decision for me to decide Cal.</p>
<p>However, if I had chose another major, say math, then the decision might have been harder. While UCLA has an excellent campus, my impression was that everything’s too generic and that there’s no true culture. It would have defintiely been a well-rounded college experience, but it was certainly anything but unique. That, plus the ranking of the EECS program here at Cal, pushed my final decision.</p>
<p>Visit each college you’re accepted to and take a look around campus. Most of the time, your gut feelings will be right.</p>
<p>SWHarborfan: STL stands for St. Louis. </p>
<p>Both WashU and Berkeley are excellent schools, but I can go only one 
Anyone has similar struggles? I’m going to A&S, and probably major in econ/applied math/stat, or pre-business, etc. Haven’t made up my mind yet.</p>
<p>Two great choices–it’s nice to have such a dilemma. Good luck to you!!!</p>
<p>I’m not gonna lie, i dislike it when people always use the UCLA is too fake/generic campus thing. Maybe more modern and boring yes, but berkeley campus isn’t that much unique. it’s just another college town that has a butt load of hobos and crazies (not that UCLA doesn’t have these either lol)</p>
<p>UChicago. Chose Cal because of money issues =/ I like Cal, but I do wonder sometimes too.</p>
<p><<but berkeley=“” campus=“” isn’t=“” that=“” much=“” unique.=“”>>></but></p>
<p>An array of the last vestiges of independent bookstores, cafes, a vibrant intellectual life, beautiful acrchitecture, and a vibrancy that is palpable. Sounds unique to me. UCLA, a wonderful school academically and socially, is forgettable campus, at best, re: any sort of dynamicism.</p>
<p>And while Chicago and CAL are both remarkable schools, the U. of Chicago student body tends to eschew the athletic. CAL is not only “way big” into the life of the mind, but, also, sports (Div. 1 and club) are big and played into the wee hours of the night.</p>