<p>momof2inca: I pm'd you with a little more information. Hope it helps.</p>
<p>kirmum's post (welcome back, kirmum?) #50 made some very swaying points, to me. A lot of college is having the "college experience" and she has convinced me that it would be harder for your S to get that at UCB, esp. with a 3-year experience (PS I am a Cal alum - grad school).</p>
<p>I vote U of Chi on the "life experience" criterion, not the school rep/rigor of coursework criteria.</p>
<p>Hey momof2, thanks for the congrats you sent my S. We live in the metro New Orleans area, so Univ of Florida is about 8 hrs away driving.I am so glad the "choosing" is over; yours will be soon, also. I know your S will make the right choice for him!
BTW, saw the NMF $ issue surface a couple of posts back. I found that the people at NMF are very nice over the phone and will answer any $ question you may have. Give them a call if you have a question.</p>
<p>Mom;
Did you see simaba's thread: Is it worth it? one parent's story ??</p>
<p>I loved that story. S gets into Stanford, family thinks they can't afford it. S decides to go for at least one year, ends up staying by taking out massive loans. Graduates and gets into terriffic paid Phd program. Loans not as big a deal as they once thought.</p>
<p>I vote for at least 1 year of Chicago. </p>
<p>Because, politics in California has a distinct flavor, one your S already understands and appreciates. Politics at Chicago will be more challenging, less familiar. Politics at UC adds a national flavor, a national understanding.</p>
<p>$40k is doable--for him. I don't think you should assume those loans.</p>
<p>Chicago will be an education in itself.</p>
<p>I have a different point of view that I haven't seen expressed.</p>
<p>Because of the admissions policy @ UC Berkeley, if your son goes there, he won't be in contact with very many (if any) kids from outside California. In my opinion, college is a time to come in contact with as many differing points of view, cultures, etc. as possible. While Berkeley is racially diverse, there really is a different "East Coast" (and Midwestern, and Southern, etc.) approach to the world. I say this as one who grew up in CA and TX, went to Stanford, now lives in Washington DC.</p>
<p>I just think there's a value in those late night discussions among the folks on your hall, wherein you solve all the world's problems. Although California has plenty of problems, there are different ones in different areas of the country and world.</p>
<p>Too bad he's kissed off GW. I can't speak for it in terms of academic rigor, but the DC experience is really something.</p>
<p>Best of luck.</p>
<p>No doubt, I am ridiculously biased with my following comments. I am a (very happy) Cal student.</p>
<p>First of all, some verification: calmom's money figures earlier are accurate, about $600 a month will get you a decent place to live. City college classes transfer quite smoothly to the UCs. They fulfill lots of requirements. If he plans his schedule out ahead of time, graduating in 3 years is not a problem.</p>
<p>Now, the debate: Let me start by saying that Chicago is a school I respect <em>a lot</em>. IMO, that school is better than most of the Ivies. That being said, no way it's worth the money in your situation. Not only would Berkeley be the better choice, Davis would be too.</p>
<p>For a driven student, Berkeley offers the same intellectual opportunities as Chicago, and beyond the classroom, probably even more. He'll have to be self-motivated in the sink or swim atmosphere. But anybody who doesn't have the drive or can't deal with a little UC red-tape probably isn't going to have much success with law school, or real-world politics.</p>
<p>There's something else that nobody seems to have brought up in length. He's interested in politics and public interest...my god, politics and public interest are the backbone of Berkeley! The spirit of the institution!</p>
<p>One last thing. Chicago is perhaps even more sink or swim than Cal. And so I say: if he has what it takes to succeed at Chicago, he should come to Berkeley.</p>