This year I was one of the lucky ones and was offered admission at my top choice Cal Berkeley. Sadly I’m an out of state student, and realistically can not cope with the 67k a year price of tuition for 4 years. Thus I was economically forced to reject my admissions offer. Now that I’m starting the process of class registration for my safety school (CU Boulder) I cant help but think I’m making a terrible mistake. My dream school was and still is Cal, and I worked extremely hard in high school to help my dream become a reality. Now that I have given up on that opportunity, CU Boulder to me feels like I’m settling for something that is so below my abilities as student.
To put this in perspective, I know people that have gotten (in high school) Ds with test scores in the single digits, and still gotten into CU Boulder. I’ve been told that the business department is a complete joke, and that some students are so unprepared they don’t know how to graph a linear equation. Now I know that this is all anecdotal evidence but still… I gave up comparably the best public school in the world for this?
This might sound extremely petty to some but, I cant help but feel like I’m am heading down a wrong path. When I talk to people about where they are going to school they always talk about how excited they are. Meanwhile I cant help but feel ashamed, and angry at my school. I feel absolutely no school pride, I’ve made it my goal to graduate as quick as possible, and I’m seriously thinking about transferring. (My major is math if that helps anyone). I’ve heard that its important to like what school you are going to especially as an undergrad, and I clearly don’t. As of now I just feel so unsure, should I stick with it and try to get into Cals grad school, should I transfer. Should I enroll in community college in California? How do I deal with coming to terms with passing up my admissions offer?
The same thing happened to my wife’s oldest niece. Valedictorian at a big HS just outside Denver. She passed up Berkeley amongst other schools to stay home at CU. Usually all the top kids all can’t wait to get out of the state. Had some regrets initially, but came to terms. She’ll be graduating in December in 2.5 years in CS. Probably will find a job out here in the Bay Area.
I would love to visit Folsom Field one day. Just the view makes me want to have plenty of school pride.
But to answer you, as long as you are in the best public university in your state, there will be a number of folks with your circumstance. One of the best graduate student instructor I had for my engineering design class in Berkeley was actually a CSU Ram and he was plenty intellectual. Heck, one of my study buddies during grad school was from Colorado College and I was very impressed with the work discipline and general smartness.
Just dominate whatever comes at you, and later getting into an excellent grad school, or MBA as it seems you would like to major in Business, will be much more significant for your career.
I wanted to buy an S-class Mercedes, but couldn’t afford a $100K price tag. So I settled for a $20K Honda Civic. Now whenever I see a Mercedes, I wonder whether I’m driving the wrong car!
I don’t think Cal is worth $200K, or even $100K more than CU Boulder.
That’s not much cheaper than going to Cal, and you’ll need to apply when you’re ready to transfer, and if admitted you’ll still have to pay OOS tuition.
You need to get over yourself. A dream is not reality. If you are dissatisfied where you are, and believe that your should be in more rarefied air, then apply yourself. Accomplish enough that you can ascend at the next juncture of your education and training. Otherwise it is just whining. Based on your post, one would assume that you completed your freshman year with a 4.0 and are in good position to move forward.
You say to yourself “$67,000 x 4 years-- without any sort of price increase-- is $268,000.”
Then you go onto Zillow, and see what kind of a house you could buy in your neighborhood for $268,000.
And you say to yourself :“Gee, with all the money I save by NOT going to Cal Berkley, I can probably buy a house before I’m 30.”
Most people are just about as happy as they choose to be. Choose to find the reason that a number of your future classmates are so very thrilled to be attending CU Bolder. Go on to the Class of 2022 page on facebook, and start looking for future roomates.
If you’re not happy with Boulder, why didn’t you apply to any economic safeties where you would be happy? What would you have done if you didn’t get into UCB? Did you run the NPC before you applied, or were you just hoping UCB would come up with enough money to make it affordable? It’s a state school, and you are an OOS applicant. You are not their priority.
Apply for a Gap year and keep the Berkeley option on the table. Work for a year and, at the same time, apply to more affordable schools - and Berkeley scholarships
CU. Boulder has a PhD in business at Leeds school of business, in mechanical engineering , computer science and all the humanities including math. I would seek these students out and remind them what an awful choice they made, And how much smarter you are than them. I mean not before they grade your exams but right after.
"How do I deal with coming to terms with passing up my admissions offer? "
The answer is time. You will get over it in the coming weeks/months and especially once college starts. You seem bright and have a great future ahead of you. Work hard in college and maybe go to Cal for graduate school…
My post #10 was trying to make a point and be a little lighter for you. It will be fine and I would guess if you put yourself out there you can help some of the other students in math and maybe make some good $$. they are all good kids too and maybe you’ll make some good friends along the way.
^^^I agree with socaldad2002 & privatebanker. You need to move on and make friends at CUBoulder. Maybe one or two of these friends will also want to go to Cal for Grad school and voila you have roommates who you will need to help pay for rent. Cost of living( apartments/food)are very ,very expensive here in the Bay area. Current average price for a very small 1 bedroom is $2993 and $ 3500 for a two bedroom.
You are one of many many people who find they can’t afford their dream school. But it is now time to stop looking behind you and start looking at what is in front of you. Go to CU Boulder and take advantage of every single opportunity that comes your way-- get involved on campus, look into doing research with a professor, see about the honors program (if you are not in it already), find friends who interest and challenge you etc. You should be able to get wherever you want to go in life from CU.
And if you get down, think about how many people in the world would give almost anything for the opportunity to attend a 4 year college in the US.
One of the reasons why you shouldn’t apply to schools you know 1) will not give aid to OOS students and 2) you will not be able to afford. Why set yourself up for this type of sadness? CUBoulder is a great school - I know multiple Bay Area kids who are going there next year. If you can get out of it with little to no debt, you will have the financial freedom that no amount of “dream school” debt will be able to match. My D is renting an apartment w/3 other girls (2 to a room) for $850.00/month almost a mile a way from campus. School would be expensive for you out here: tuition, room & board, EVERYTHING.
The UC’s give no need based aid to out of state students. There is virtually no merit aid. Some research before applying would have avoided this situation.
You only applied to one reach and one safety school?
Berkeley out of state is a debt trap. When you factor in the cost of living in California(of all places!!), you will likely graduate with far more debt than $64k. That could cause real problems when you decide to get married and start a family. Most kids don’t go their dream school, either because of rejection or cost. Tough noogies! Just go to CU-Boulder and be happy.
I agree with the consensus above - head to CU and make the most of it. It is the door that’s open and, as many capture above, offers many great educational opportunities.
Come to CA to start your career or for grad school. Trust me, it will still be there. CC in CA is silly expensive for OOS students - and if you make it back in as a transfer, you’d still have to pay the 67k per year to attend any UC. Taking a gap year won’t help with the money you need to attend UCB.
As others capture above, the cost of UCB should have been no mystery. It takes very little research to uncover that CA doesn’t give aid to OOS applicants so, you should have understood the picture when you hit ‘Submit’ on your application. Go make the most of the opportunity you have rather than hoping/wishing a different path was open to you.
@GrayAlien : Were you accepted to any other colleges or universities ?
Are you eligible for significant amount of financial aid ?
What are your numbers (ACT, SAT, GPA) ?
If you are eligible for significant financial aid & have strong numbers, then consider taking a gap year and reapplying to schools which are better suited to your capabilities.
Just go to CU-Boulder and be happy.