HELP!! UCSD v. UCLA v. UCB

sdchick19
Thu, 04 Apr 2013 05:01:56 +0000

Hey everyone! The deadline to submit the SIR is less than a month away, and I am completely torn over making this decision. So I was fortunate to have been accepted to UCLA, Cal, and UCSD, but there’s a few problems in making the decision:

-UCLA & Berkeley will both cost ~30k/year because my family does not qualify for financial aid. We’re one of the unlucky middle classers who aren’t quite rich enough to afford 30k/year but aren’t quite poor enough to qualify for financial aid :/

-I got into UCSD as a regents scholar and got a $2000/year merit scholarship, and I also live pretty close by, so UCSD would be the cheapest and would probably cost about half of what I’d pay for Berk or LA.

I know the most sensible decision sounds like it would be UCSD, but the only problem I have is the fact that I’d be a commuter. I have pretty strict Asian parents, and I feel like if I stay home during college, it’ll just be a complete repeat of high school (which I hated), and I won’t be able to learn independence or how to grow up and be on my own, pretty much the whole “college experience.” Also, I’ve worked so hard the past four years to make it into my dream schools (LA & Cal), and since I’ve always detested staying local, UCSD has been the bane of my existence.

What do you all think? Should I just go with the money-saving decision and go to UCSD? Is it worth it to spend double the amount I’d pay for UCSD to go to a school like UCLA or Berkeley?

Any tips for getting involved as a commuter would also help tremendously!

My major is undecided but I’m leaning towards medicine or journalism, if that helps at all.