How much debt is Berkeley worth to you?

ucbalumnus
Mon, 28 Mar 2011 00:47:14 +0000

mockingjay451:

For UIUC, $27k of it is dependent on keeping a 3.0+ GPA, and the rest is dependent on my financial situation, which is not going to change drastically within the next few years. For Berkeley then, my gift aid is entirely dependent on keeping a 3.5+ GPA.



The schools are similar enough in reputation and quality for your major that the large difference in net cost after non-loan financial aid is probably the biggest difference. Especially since the UCB grants /scholarships require a significantly above average GPA to retain, while the UIUC grants / scholarships require a below average GPA to retain.

[UCB average GPA in 2006 was 3.27](UC-Berkeley)
[UIUC average GPA in 2005 was 3.1943](University of Illinois)

But one major factor in favor of UCB is that it is much more convenient for “Silicon Valley” employers to visit its career center than it is to visit UIUC’s career center. UIUC is a target school for those employers who travel to do university recruiting, but some employers (especially smaller ones) may not have the time or resources to travel to do university recruiting. Still, that does not seem to be worth $120,000 of debt ($40,000 subsidized, $80,000 not subsidized) versus $32,000 of debt (all subsidized) at graduation.