<p>That’s right cobrat. GPA dependent scholarships are only with the UC schools. </p>
<p>When you say “The stress/unhappiness at Columbia SEAS is more due to the high stress/unhappiness which comes from the weeder classes and heavy workloads commonly associated with engineering/CS.” I guess that would apply to most engineering programs? If so, then I can’t imagine having the stress of the gpa requirement, too. We got the impression that UCSD was a LOT easier in terms of competition and grading. </p>
<p>We don’t know about this either, only what I’ve read here: “Calling BS on the part about having to be into sports or greek life to have a good time at Columbia.” S is not the most social, outgoing guy but he does like to have fun and friends so that’s really important to me. He also likes to study in a group so that’s a must, too. If he is going to be so stressed doing engineering, I would hope he had some friends! </p>
<p>Cobrat, I guess you would pick Columbia?</p>
<p>S said he would like to be involved with astronautical engineering and was intrigued by the possibility of working for companies like SpaceX that do private space exploration and projects for NASA. Columbia is REALLY far from that goal and doesn’t have aerospace engineering so he would most likely pick mechanical and then come back to CA for grad degree in aerospace. At least that’s his thinking if he picks Columbia.</p>
<p>There is no question that Berkeley is ranked higher than Columbia. Berkeley ranks 3rd only behind MIT and Stanford. Columbia is pretty low on the list from 16 in some places to 26 in others for Engineering. UCSD actually ranks higher on some polls than Columbia. I think he has to set aside the rankings and pick the best fit at this point because Berkeley has the gpa requirement for funding.</p>
<p>My niece spent the first 18 years of her life in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, where it’s a cold wave when the temperature is below 70 degrees. She is a real New Yorker, having spent 4 years here now. </p>
<p>The OP’s son can get a good jacket and gloves, maybe a hat and scarf (maybe not even necessary if the jacket has a good hood and collar), and he’ll be fine.</p>
<p>New Yorkers walk fast! And it’s pretty rare (maybe 1 or 2 days a year tops) for it to be so cold that it’s uncomfortable to walk across campus or to the subway. Will he stay in a dorm? If so, he can partake of city life as much or as little as he wants. A campus is a campus is a campus, especially at Columbia which is largely self-contained (less so NYU which is scattered mostly throughout lower Manhattan and now downtown Brooklyn with NYU Poly) and away from the most crowded, congested parts of the city further south in Manhattan.</p>
<p>For me, the palm trees and the beach would make this a no-brainer. But I’m 63. </p>
<p>If he thinks that aerospace is important, he’ll pick the palm trees and the beach. If he doesn’t, that will be a signal that aerospace just isn’t that important to him. (I think he knows that already). Same with Pomona. If he thinks engineering is not that important, he’ll choose Pomona. And if he thinks it is more likely he’ll choose a future career on the east coast, and wants New York, he’ll choose Columbia. And if he really wants the challenge, and the “prestige”, he’ll choose Berkeley.</p>
<p>The point being that he knows all of this already, I presume. So chill! Relax. And enjoy it while it lasts. See how your son goes about making decisions.</p>
Why do you say that? UCSD is pretty highly ranked for most of its engineering majors and is actually well known for them (and its biomed areas).</p>
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That’s a silly statement. Just being a state vs a private school has nothing to do with whether one will be challenged. I can pretty much guarantee he’d be sufficiently challenged in an engineering program at any of these choices.</p>
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I agree the 3.6 is risky so it’s best to be prepared for that. I don’t think there’ll be a huge difference in the competition between UCSD and UCB engineering but even then, it really comes down to GPA which is generally relative to the people within the particular college not between one college and another.</p>
<p>He will get a good overall education at Columbia and the alumni network would serve him later on. He’ll have good options if he should decide not to go into engineering.</p>
<p>I’m not clear if you’re CA residents or not… If you aren’t, then I’d be less inclined to encourage the UC’s. They’re still a solid choice for engineering no matter what, but you’re paying private school prices for public school amenities. The budget cuts do make a difference if you’re out of state. In state, UCB is the best bargain in the country for engineering.</p>
<p>I don’t think it is a silly statement. The reason OP’s kid is getting a full ride is because his stats are well above other students. Notice I didn’t say that about Berkeley, even though it is a state school. It has nothing to do with state vs private. It has everything to do with level of students each school attracts. UCSD is another CA school with budget issues.</p>
I agree. He has some good choices. As long as he’s aware of any limitations (like which major can be pursued, weather, lifestyle, costs associated with travel, etc.) and as long as the finances aren’t an issue, then it’d be interesting to see what ‘he’ decides.</p>
<p>If I were your son, absolutely on both financial and academic factors considering he’s wants engineering. </p>
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<p>First, he can bond with his SEAS classmates over problem sets, stress, long study times, griping about how the “slacker” MBA students at Uris hall seem to have a party going on every week…even during exam periods*, etc. </p>
<p>Recommend he avail himself of the countless EC club/activity choices on campus. They’re open to all Columbia students so he’ll have a chance to befriend students from the college, Barnard, and GS along with some students from the graduate student community if they choose to join in the fun. :D</p>
<p>As for aerospace engineering, keep in mind that field is highly dependent on defense/airline/government spending. Knew plenty of folks with Aerospace engineering degrees…including Masters from MIT who were chronically unemployed because of the instability of such spending…especially during periods of defense/government spending drawdowns. </p>
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<li>Some HS classmates who are Columbia SEAS alums actually did gripe about this and even gave me an impromptu tour the times I was on campus.</li>
</ul>
<p>What about food & housing as definitive measures of future happiness? Besides libraries & computing centers, engr students must eat & sleep, so they really matter a lot… On campus Berkeley food was just okay, but the surrounding area was great and diverse… NYC food amazing but expensive so on campus food options would need to be Gr8… A Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf next to a library can make all the difference in life… New dorms with WiFi sooooooo important…</p>
<p>Give him space. He knows what the deadline is. Once he decides, it won’t take long to submit the deposit on the school he chooses. Each is a good option for different reasons, and if he didn’t have all these choices I’m guessing you would be thrilled with the one or ones he did have.</p>
The way you worded your response was ‘state’ versus ‘private’. There’s actually little difference between UCSD and UCB in this area. It’s not exactly easy to be accepted to UCSD’s School of Engineering. In addition, both are state schools so there’s no reason to think budget would be a concern at one but not the other. UCSD’s School of Engineering has also benefited greatly (over $100 million dollars) from donations from the Jacobs family (of Qualcomm fame). </p>
<p>Given your statements I don’t think you know much about UCSD.</p>
<p>Yikes-I just realized that I made a mistake in the price. Columbia is actually $10K because they gave him $3K in work study saying he would have to work 10-12 hours per week. The parent contribution is $7K. Does this change anyone’s mind who would pick Columbia first? Compared to Berkeley, it is $1200 more.</p>
<p>Hipkittyz, which school has " New dorms with WiFi"?</p>
<p>A good many faculty at a majority of engineering schools nationwide received their PhDs from UCB. It is rare to see a well known engineering school in US without at least a representative from UCB. I am not sure UCSD is at that pedestal yet although it is a very good school.</p>
<p>Columbia will be more expensive in otherways - travel, cost of going for a night out even once a month etc. However, he will have access to the alumni base for internships. Columbia prides themselves in getting their students internships.</p>
<p>Most dorms have wifi, but very few top tier schools (old) have new dorms. There are so many opportunities to work in NYC, your kid would be able to make 1200 easily.</p>
<p>No. The work-study issue could be resolved by the S choosing a work-study job where he can spend most of his time hitting the books…such as a computer lab proctor position.</p>
<p>Moreover, considering it’s 10-12 hours a week, he’ll probably still have enough free time for ECs and socializing. Several of my Columbia SEAS friends worked 20 hours/week without any issues.</p>
You do need to know about it if you’re going to give advice to someone about it and want your advice to come from an informed perspective. In this case it’s clear it isn’t. No advice is better than uninformed advice. For example, I don’t know anything about Columbia’s engineering program and thus didn’t say anything regarding it.</p>
<p>You singled UCSD out regarding the ‘state school’ aspects but all of the same issues, if any, including tuition costs, would apply to UCB.</p>
<p>What ‘you’ would pay for your kids to do isn’t that relevant and besides, the OP isn’t OOS from California and already stated up front what the relative costs were.</p>
<p>oldfort, I’m not from California, but do know that UCSD is actually well regarded and pretty highly ranked if you care about that kind of thing. I seriously doubt the OP’s kid would be surrounded by a bunch of dumb slackers if he opted for engineering at UCSD. Any engineering is going to be challenging.All 4 of these options sound fine.</p>