<p>I'm currently a high school senior who was recently very lucky enough to receive admissions from Yale University as well as the Jacobs School of Engineering at UC San Diego. The Jacobs School, however, is offering me a scholarship that covers full tuition and includes benefits such as priority course enrollment, a faculty mentor program, opportunities to conduct research right when I begin enrollment, and a whole load of professional development benefits.</p>
<p>I applied as a bioengineering major to both universities, but I'm actually quite undecided as to what I really want to study in college. For a long time, I've always planned on going to medical school, but I've recently been considering a lot of other potential careers in areas like finance, computer science, and biotechnology. As of now, I personally want to keep my options open and have not committed myself to any particular field. However, I think it's safe to assume that I'll most likely pursue something in the math/sciences, but what I value most at this point is a high quality undergraduate experience in terms of academics, research opportunities, and personal development. </p>
<p>My purpose for this post was to ask you all for your advice and suggestions. What are the benefits of an Ivy League education over a school like UCSD, but at the same time, what could a program like the Jacobs Scholarship offer me that a school like Yale can't? I know that the overall engineering/science programs at Yale aren't ranked as high as some other universities (according to U.S. News and some other sources), but is this really the case in terms of overall research/educational quality?</p>
<p>I haven't visited either campus yet (even though I am a Connecticut native, but I haven't been back in over 10 years), but I do think that this will play a big part in my decision. For now, however, I would GREATLY appreciate any insight that you all may have. Thank you so much!</p>
<p>First of all Congrats on your feat!! Getting admit to both schools deserves a huge applause!!. With that being said I would like to give you my two-cents while selecting a school-</p>
<p>When you select a school JUSTIFY your reasons , why is a school a priority/ you consider it to be a school of your choice? If your answers are Ranking / Funding , then the whole of point of studying becomes pointless. Let me tell you why-</p>
<p>1) I recently read in an article that “rankings” are based on the how many professors are working in an institution and out of that lot how many have a doctrate degree , now you tell me does it really matter if the school has many PHD professors? Is that really going to help you in any way or for that point does it even matter? The School selection should be about what ultimately YOU will benefit from it.</p>
<p>2) There are about 150 million students studying, justify why should an institution award you funding? Because you have so much to offer to the school’s benefits, well so do the remaining students; because you are need-based student, well so do a hundred million of them. Whether you can afford the fudings or not really isnt an institution’s problem , it is yours. An institution’s job is to provide a platform and good education and not exactly going over each student’s need. I would say NEVER ever consider FUNDS while making this choice as it would rob you from seeking much better opportunities.</p>
<p>So how else should you decide the school of your choice? Well, a “Dream” school should be the one that pulls you into it where you are very much interested to pursue and you feel it’ll hike your experience for future. Thats the whole of point of education after all. Go over the programs again, explore what opportunities you get- internships/OPT/jobs and how it’ll hep you in the career of your choice. You should look for opportunities that would ultimately strengthen your resume. The school should fit your goals and expectations. And if your dream school offers funding/Scholarship, then it should only be considered as a bonus.</p>
<p>Hope I shed some light on few misconceptions every 6 on 10 students have while making their college decisions.</p>