Which UC?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I got the UCSB Regents Scholarship in the mail today. So basically I have a full ride there. I also got the invite for the UCLA Regents, but obviously have not won it, or am expecting really to win it. Anyways, I also applied to UC Berkeley, which is my top choice UC. Not to be cocky, but I think I will get in. So assuming I do get in, should I go to Berkeley and take out about $6000 in loans a year, or take the full ride at UCSB?</p>

<p>If you were me, what would you do? Berkeley has always been attractive to me as the top public in the world, but UCSB's offer finanically is almost too good to refuse.</p>

2

<p>I'd take Berkeley. UCSB doesn't even compare.</p>

3

<p>I'm not aware of your financial situation, but I feel the $6k in difference between Berkeley and Santa Barbara isn't enough to warrant UCSB.</p>

4

<p>Personally, I am a Berkeley-ophile. However, in these decisions, I think fit is most important. Have you been to both campuses? Have you talked to a lot of students or graduates at both? What do you want to study?</p>

<p>I think Berkeley is a more intense learning atmosphere, and therefore in general will be a better education (except for the particularly self-motivated). If you are driven from within and could keep your focus anywhere, this won't matter. Then it really is totally a question of two things: how much you care about the extra prestige of Berkeley, and in which milieu you feel more comfortable.</p>

<p>If it comes down to a trade-off or either/or, I would personally choose comfort/fit over prestige, assuming you are really self-motivated.</p>

<p>The $6000 is not nothin' -- it does make considering UCSB more warranted -- but I think you should mostly choose on the basis of the things I talked about above.</p>

<p>Just a thought.</p>

5

<p>its not just 6k, unless you plan to stay there for one year. when it comes down to it its about 28k over 4 years, (the real value at 6700 tuition per year) which is larger. as for whether to take the scholarship or not, things such as your major would definitely come into play, like if u were physics. </p>

<p>I took a regents to UCR (if i knew of regents i would have applied elsewhere in the UC system) over Cal and am by no means regretting it. Now taking the Regents over Harvey Mudd is biting me in the ass however. Boils down to the person.</p>

6

<p>$24,000 over 4 years isn't too bad, but it is something to consider. I also think major and future goals are important. Are you intending to major in Physics and then go on to a PhD program in Physics. If so, UCSB would be an ideal choice for free. However, if you intend to major in Economics or a humanity or social science with the hope of one day going to Law School, I think UCB may be a better option.</p>

7

<p>Thanks for all the help, guys. I am undeclared now, and applied to both schools as such. I always thought I would like to major in something in the sciences, but I'm not so sure about that now. I have visited Berkeley, but not SB. I think I will go during spring break if I don't get into any of the ivies that I applied to so I can compare them and see how I like SB. </p>

<p>My EFC is $0, so my family won't have to make any contribution at all to either UCB or UCSB, but at Berkeley I will have to take out loans and do workstudy in order to pay for what the Cal and Pell grants won't cover, which will be about 6 grand a year. With the Regents at SB, everything will essentially be payed for.</p>

8

<p>Even if Berkeley gave you a scholarship and UCSB didn't....I would take UCSB.</p>

<p>Go Gauchos!!!</p>

9

<p>haha... well i dont know if id go as far as that. but go check out both campuses.... go where you feel comfertable. both are good schools, obviosuly the prestige goes to berkeley. but ucsb should not be discounted. it is a rising school, with a great social life and solid academics. check out both and follow your heart. 6 thousand a year is still a fair amout of money. i still think i personally would choose berkeley. but i would deffiantly visit both schools.</p>

10

<p>Go to Cal. It's unfortunate, but it's what UCs do, try to steal the kids who could have gone to Cal and KA with $$$$. It works. $24K in loans is not nothing. What career do you plan? If high paying go to Cal.</p>

11

<p>People here are too concerned with prestige. If you want classes with 700-800 students, a campus that will take you 20 minutes to walk around, and have the majority of your classes taught by TA's, then by all means, go to Cal. Cal has a very cutthroat student body and you are going to be literally fighting for grades with other students. At UCSB, you have people who are very studious, but also like to relax and have a lot of fun on the weekends. The social life far superior at UCSB and the location is amazing. You really have to visit the school.</p>

12

<p>I would choose UC Berkeley over UCSB.</p>

13

<p>Suze, what school do you mean by KA? I suppose you mean LA.</p>

<p>I've never imagined myself going to UCSB. Prestige is an important factor for me, however unfortunate that may be. SB was my safety school at best, but the Regents scholarship is very attractive. </p>

<p>I would imagine that UCSB isn't that prestigious outside of CA. Is SB well-known outside of CA?</p>

14

<p>One tip: the more likely you think it is that you'll go to grad school of any sort, the less important the prestige of your undergrad school and the more important your motivation to do well there (which is greatly impacted by how happy you are with the school). </p>

<p>With an EFC of $0 and the grades you must have to have received this scholarship + predict admission to Cal, you will be eligible and competitive for MANY outside scholarships (not just Cal and Pell grants). Do some google searching and see what you come up with. $6k per year is nothing to scoff at, but you might really be able to reduce that in ways other than loans and work study. Also, I imagine that Berkeley and SB both have pretty high costs of living (Berkeley certainly does in terms of housing), but I don't know if the scholarship guarantees housing or how that works. Just something to consider.</p>

<p>I would just be happy for now and wait until you hear from UCLA and Cal and you visit UCSB. If you're rejected by Cal, you hate UCSB, or you receive a scholarship at UCLA, then this isn't even a question you'll need to ask yourself. Cross the bridge when it comes.</p>

<p>Congrats on your scholarship!</p>

15

<p>Thanks for the tips Student615. I actually do plan on going to grad school, but of course am not completely sure, as I have no idea of what I am going to major in at this point. </p>

<p>The Regents scholarship covers housing also. I just won a thousand dollar scholarship, and am in the process of applying to another for 5000. If I can get this, Berkeley might be the easy choice for me.</p>

16

<p>no brainer - go to Cal.</p>

17

<p>
[quote]
I think Berkeley is a more intense learning atmosphere, and therefore in general will be a better education (except for the particularly self-motivated). If you are driven from within and could keep your focus anywhere, this won't matter. Then it really is totally a question of two things: how much you care about the extra prestige of Berkeley, and in which milieu you feel more comfortable.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I actually think Berkeley might be better for the self-motivated, simply because there is a lot of opportunities/resources that you have to go after for yourself. Berkeley is better for the academically oriented, and UCSB is better for the...party oriented. Crude generalization, but take it for what it's worth.</p>

<p>
[quote]
People here are too concerned with prestige. If you want classes with 700-800 students, a campus that will take you 20 minutes to walk around, and have the majority of your classes taught by TA's, then by all means, go to Cal. Cal has a very cutthroat student body and you are going to be literally fighting for grades with other students. At UCSB, you have people who are very studious, but also like to relax and have a lot of fun on the weekends. The social life far superior at UCSB and the location is amazing. You really have to visit the school.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>First of all, how many classes at Berkeley has 700-800 students anyway? The biggest lecture halls such as Pimentel or Wheeler only holds around 600. By the way, if you'd care to look at actual data, only 7% of Berkeley's classes are over 100 students, with 75% having 30 or fewer. 8% of UCSB's classes are over 100 students and 72.5% have 30 or fewer, so Berkeley's classes are actually SMALLER on average than UCSB's. Complaining about Berkeley's large classes might be valid when compared to Harvard, Yale, Princeton, or LACs like Williams/Swarthmore, but to a lower UC? Come on.</p>

<p><a href="http://bap.ucsb.edu/IR/UG_Info_Guide.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://bap.ucsb.edu/IR/UG_Info_Guide.pdf&lt;/a>
<a href="http://cds.berkeley.edu/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://cds.berkeley.edu/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Secondly, I would contend that Berkeley has a very cutthroat student body. It largely depends on your major. Sure, the pre-meds will be cutthroat, but what about the American Studies majors? Music majors? Sociology majors? In fact most students are not cut-throat/willing to battle other students to the death over grades. Even in hard majors like engineering there is a lot of collaborating between students. By the way, the pre-meds I mentioned? That's just the nature of pre-meds. Think they're not competitive at UCSB? Think again. They're competitive at every UC.</p>

<p>Thirdly, 20 minutes to walk around campus? UC Berkeley is 1,232 acres. UC Santa Barbara is 989 acres. So if it takes 20 minutes for you to walk around UC Berkeley, it'll take you 18 minutes to walk around UC Santa Barbara.</p>

<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_California,_Berkeley%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_California,_Berkeley&lt;/a>
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_California,_Santa_Barbara%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_California,_Santa_Barbara&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Anyway, I probably agree with the point that UCSB has a better social life. So if that's what you value in a college, go for UCSB. It's in a great location close to the beach. The party scene at UC Berkeley is what I would describe as mediocre. Depends on what you look for in a college.</p>

18

<p>V: Good post.</p>

<p>
[quote]
I actually think Berkeley might be better for the self-motivated, simply because there is a lot of opportunities/resources that you have to go after for yourself.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Yes, the more self-motivated the better it will be in all cases. My point is if you're one who is buoyed by competition (as some people are) more than your internal mechanism, Berkeley might push one along better. </p>

<p>Since this person is planning to go to grad school, it's worth asking where (is she a she?) she hopes to go, to the extent that's been answered and for what? In general, one will be better off coming from Berkeley to go to an intense grad program because one will be more accustomed to the climate.</p>

19

<p>I'm not going to go into a long explanation: Berkeley!</p>

20

<p>It is not going 6k a year. Tuition is currently $7,600 a year at UCB. And that is for the 2006-2007 year. It will be up next year due to cut backs from Arnold.</p>