UC-San Diego appears to be an outstanding options based on your interests and concerns.
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Jacobs Scholars are an elite group. If a professor is looking for a top undergrad, being a Jacobs Scholar means you have already been vetted.
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I have a much younger sibling so I don’t see this becoming “relaxing” for them any time soon, and I seem to be the only one actually mindful of the financial costs…
I need non-financial arguments to choose UCSD, some of which were very well presented here by you helpful people 
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Talk to your parents. They are uniquely qualified to discuss finances with you. Many families besides the uber wealthy have saved and planned in the hopes of one day being able to offer their children the ability to choose the best college “fit” or opportunity independent of cost considerations. You seem to be blessed to have parents who prioritize education and distinguish amongst schools reputations, resources and rankings. More importantly they seem to be in a position to afford it.
Your unique family priorities and circumstances are what matters.
Personally nothing gave my spouse and I more joy, pride and happiness than allowing our children to select schools without having to consider cost. I know not everyone can or wants to do this, but don’t deprive your parents of that discussion, they will enjoy the maturity you are displaying.
While UCSD is undoubtedly a great school, either of your other options will open doors and offer resources and experiences that are unique to the most elite of schools.
You can certainly justify saving the money and earnestly argue that your outcomes may ultimately be the same but it is undeniable that Caltech (or Columbia) will provide pathways and optionality that won’t exist at lesser reputed schools in my opinion.
Honestly if that wasn’t the case people wouldn’t be so hard pressed to try and make the case without reference to the $$$.
Congratulations on amazing options and hats off to your parents!!
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hahahaha I could not have said it better myself
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UCSD is better regarded than either of the other two for AI/ML.
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So costs being identical you turn down Caltech and Columbia. Got it.
Or if the costs were reversed you would pay up for UCSD?
As stated Caltech and Columbia have reputations well beyond a limited area of excellence. Their reputation and name cache will open doors, particularly if OP (like the majority of students) decides to change their area of focus.
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Reminder that this is not the cafe so make your points and move on. Debate is not permitted. And please keep your replies focused on the OP.
TIA!
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To me, the big thing is UCSD is preferred by the student - or I read the initial post as such.
The student notes the parents are heavy on prestige and yet the student feels UCSD will let him have the best mental health. The student also notes it’s the greater of the three in AI research.
This is a case where OP has decided but is being pushed differently by family forces.
I don’t think the OP’s only UCSD concern would be likely - an undriven student cohort.
This thread to me seems more like the - I want to do this but my parents won’t let me type. What do I do ?
This is a very important point.
There are overall general rankings for universities. However, people do not go to university to study “overall, general”, they go to university to study some specific major.
I am generally leery of magazines that rank universities. However, just to check one possible source I just looked at the US News rankings for artificial intelligence. All three of UC San Diego, and Columbia, and Caltech, are ranked quite highly for AI. At least as of right now and based on what I just saw, UC San Diego is the highest ranked for AI.
If OP would prefer to study at UC San Diego, they might want to print out the current US News rankings before they change! However, I am quite confident that all three of these schools are going to remain quite strong for AI.
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Use this link as a tool. It focuses on research and publishing . Exclude all other areas except AI/ML. UCSD is ranked 4th using the past 5 years data. Caltech isn’t on the list. Not an exact science but relevant to your situation.
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No one should take these rankings that place UCSD ahead of Stanford and MIT. For anyone who thinks otherwise I’d like to hear which AI tech or company came out of UCSD in recent times.
In OP’s shoes UCSD seems to be the best option since the student isn’t particularly interested in CalTech. But these AI rankings shouldn’t be the reason for them to pick UCSD.
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I agree. That’s why I said use it as a tool, not as the deciding factor. It’s pretty clear what it uses for metrics. Research and publishing.
OP asked for non-financial reasons to attend UCSD. One concrete reason could be the amount of research being done by the school and its professors. UCSD appears to be doing a lot of research in the AI/ML area.
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And… being a Jacobs Scholar will likely open doors. That said, the student needs to take the initiative to seek out opportunities on any campus.
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I would say whether I prefer UCSD is less concrete. To get to the same place as if I graduated from Caltech, I’d probably have to put in the same amount of work as if I did go to Caltech. Perhaps just not on heavy coursework, but networking, getting more work experience, etc. The nice thing is that at UCSD I have more flexibility to figure out how to get to where I want to go, whereas at Caltech it’s just the coursework and research that comes with the brand.
So do I prefer structure, or flexibility? I went to a high school with academic rigor somewhat like Caltech. I tended to question the motivation for which I did things—am I choosing this path because I enjoy it, or because everyone else around me is doing it? So maybe in that regard, the lack of flexibility could restrict my worldview and dimensionality. However, if I went to a less academically rigorous high school, I would’ve perhaps ended up doing more of what I enjoyed that isn’t really aligned with my current goals (which may be a product of environment)—more volunteering, art, and comp math—and probably wouldn’t have gotten to where I am now. So perhaps UCSD could allow me to discover what I truly want to pursue, but Caltech will offer a safe path to success I won’t stray off of. I guess, I don’t know if I trust myself to let go of Caltech’s perceived security.
TL;DR I’m afraid of being forced to confront/decide what I actually want to do in life at UCSD. The more I talk about this the more cowardly I seem lol.
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One more thing to consider: how wedded are you to this current path? I think that it might also be good to map out potential four-year course plans at each school, look to the left and right and see if there’s other stuff that resonates, and evaluate too how hard it might be to change course during your studies. I’m guessing that being a Jacobs Scholar comes with more potential latitude than you might otherwise have at UCSD.
I think even the kids that say they have this all figured out probably don’t actually have this all figured out. It’s okay to have diverse interests and be a little less sure of which direction you want to go. Just choose a path that will give you latitude to flex a little in some different directions (one nice thing about the full ride at UCSD must be the lack of pressure to finish it all in four years!)
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Just one thought which is probably more my reminiscing about my own experience: Over four years, you will have courses that you like and some other courses that are less interesting. If you are in a tough course that you do not like then it feels like hard work. If you are in a tough course that you love, then it feels like fun.
I liked graduate school better than undergraduate, and I think that one reason was that in graduate school more classes were in areas that I particularly liked. Also, you can get into very good graduate programs coming from universities that are ranked a lot lower than anything that you are considering. You are looking at three schools that are all very good and highly ranked for AI, and for CS in general. Paying for graduate school might or might not be easier depending upon how much you spend to get your bachelor’s degree (this will likely depend upon the family’s finances and preferences).
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There’s absolutely no comparison to the rigor of ANY high school and Caltech. ZERO!
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Heard! This is a life reality though no matter where you go. Are you going to spend $200,000 of your parent’s money and pass on the highest ranked school just to delay the inevitable? This is a decision we all faced. It’s not that hard. It’ll come to you.
Sounds like you like Caltech more. If your parents want you to go and willing to pay for it, why not? I know people are paying $90K+ for their daughter to go to Northeastern. Other choose to pay $90K for a cyber truck… We are talking Cal Tech here, they only take 200 kids per year. Good Luck.
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