I got in Spring admit at Berkeley, but I have no clue if I want to go.(currently planning for UIUC)

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Hi everyone!

I just got off the waitlist at UC Berkeley, but it’s for the January semester, so I’m totally confused and have no idea what to do. I’m currently planning on majoring in Finance and Math/CS at UIUC. I definitely want to study math, and am not sure if I like CS or Finance more. I have a couple concerns about UCB and was hoping someone could give some advice.

Firstly, there’s the whole January admit thing. My dad says it’s not a big deal, but I’m a little worried about it. I’m not sure how I’d spend 4 months. I’m definitely not living at home, so I guess I could try to get an internship/job in Cali or do FPF. The problem with FPF is that I don’t really care about any of the classes they have at FPF, and I think I have most of the classes through AP credits anyways. So if I go, I’m gonna be wasting time, but if I don’t, I’m not gonna live in dorms and I feel like I’m gonna miss out on making connections, clubs, meeting people, all that stuff. There’s also some global edge program where you study in London, which I’m not sure is filled by fall admits or not, but either way it’s like FPF where I’m not going to get credits for any of the classes in my major.

My parents are mainly worried about the cost. It’s about 15k more per year to go to UCB. They said that if I’m planning on doing postgrad education (like an MBA or masters in mathematical finance/just math) then I shouldn’t spend the extra money (and there’s the whole grade deflation thing), but I also might just want a job in CS straight out of college, in which case I should go to UCB. In either case, I still want to go to a school with a great math program, and am not sure if UCB justifies the extra cost. Still, it does have the name recoginition and label a bit more than UIUC.

Lastly, I’ve heard of the stressful/depressing atmosphere at UCB. I’m totally okay with whatever workload (idk about the grade deflation tho) because spending 8 hours a day doing math and programming is still pretty fun for me. Still, I’m kinda a party guy and like to spend time just chilling or drinking and partying with friends, and dunno if UCB is gonna be too rigid and stressful for that.

Sorry if this is a lot of worrying, but I’m just looking for advice since I have to submit a SIR by Thursday and I’m completely torn between going to UCB and staying committed to UIUC. Thanks in advance for the help!

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One more consideration is that living costs are going to be even higher at Cal if you do not stay in the dorms. The plus side is that you may have more lucrative internships in the Bay area. If the $15K/yr is a major concern, stay at UIUC.

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My parents are mainly worried about the cost. It’s about 15k more per year to go to UCB.


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Not worth it over UIUC. Besides being a spring admit sucks. You’ll miss all the Week of Welcome and fun ice-breakers that fall students enjoy. They’ll all make friends and then you’ll arrive months later…yuck.

And if your parents are worried about costs, then the idea of you living in Calif (it’s Calif, not Cali!), for fall months sounds nuts. Are they supposed to pay for that, too? Lol. No one is going to give an incoming frosh an internship. You’d be working some minimum wage job, maybe part time, while your parents are funding everything?? And would you need a car for this?

UIUC…go, shine, and don’t waste your parents money. :wink:

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The only real advantage of UCB for you is if you want to major in CS and are not direct admit to a CS major at UIUC. UCB L&S CS needs a 3.3 GPA in the CS prerequisites, while CS majors at UIUC are more competitive to get into. Otherwise, it looks unfavorable in terms of spring admission and cost.

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Sounds like you are happy with UIUC, it fits your needs, you are into the majors you like, it is cheaper, and you can start in the fall. Personally, I’d stick with UIUC.