CAPed, very strange situation

MidwestMom2Kids_1
Sun, 06 Apr 2008 04:59:45 +0000

Berkeley is awesome. Congratulations on your acceptance there. That is a great accomplishment. I don’t even know what it says, to think you were CAPed at UT and got into Berkeley. Another student posted on this board that he was accepted into Plan II at UT and also accepted into Berkeley and was deciding where to go.

I think that it is particularly difficult to become a California resident to get in state tuition there, compared to other states, so when you are thinking about costs, you might check with the Berkeley people to see if it is a possibility for you. If not, you would need to plan for four years of out of state tuition.
US News says the rates are as follows (these will have risen by now):
Berkeley Tuition and fees:
$8,384 in-state, $27,452 out-of-state
Berkeley Room/board:
$13,848
Sounds like more than an extra $100,000 over 4 years to go to a UC out of state as opposed to a Texas school in state, if you assume no scholarships or financial aid in either place… How much does money figure into this?

Have you visited Berkeley and were you comfortable there? If you haven’t visited Berkeley yet, get out there as soon as possible. Great academics, and the campus is absolutely beautiful. If you love it there, that will make the decision more difficult. Or you might find out after a visit that it is not for you, which would make this decision easy. US News says the ethnic breakdown of Berkeley is as follows:
African-American 3%
Asian-American 41%
Hispanic 11%
Native American 0%
White 40%
International 3%
The kids from my daughter’s high school who visit Berkeley often come back saying every student they saw was Asian. That is clearly an exaggeration, but you want to to get a feel for the atmosphere on campus.

You know, you could try Berkeley for a year, the way with CAP you are trying UTSA for a year. This assumes UT would let you transfer in from Berkeley, but I guess you can’t count on that. UT Admissions is hard to figure out.

Good luck! What a decision to have to make! Again, congratulations.