<p>The only UC that might be worth $55,000 a year IMO is Berkeley and only for certain programs. UCSD is a great school, but the odds of you getting enough aid to make it worth other less expensive privates or other state flagships are quite frankly very slim (particularly because UCSD tends to function as a second choice for Berkeley and UCLA rejects who, even though they got rejected, are still FANTASTIC students).</p>
<p>Also the UC application is fairly lengthy, which means the time spent applying to one UC that won’t give you aid (only the lowest tiered UCs such as Riverside and Merced are likely to offer you the Regent’s merit scholarship) could be spend writing multiple essays for great privates and other, cheaper, but still excellent, flagships.</p>