Lower tier UC or CUNY Hunter

nxtlvl
Mon, 21 Mar 2011 20:21:47 +0000

I’ve been a lurker here on CC for a while, but as I receive my final decision notifications in the next few days, I’m extremely conflicted on which college to choose. I’ve been admitted to these CA schools and am planning to major in sociology:

SF State
SJ State
SD State
UC Santa Cruz
UC Riverside

And in NY, CUNY Hunter.

I also applied to UC Davis and Irvine but I’m not really expecting admission =/

Financially, the California schools would be the most feasible choice, especially since SFSU, SJSU, and UCSC are all no more than 1-1.5 hours away from where I live. However, my dream school would be without a doubt, in New York City, where I’m hoping to live after graduating college. But for an out-of-state student, CUNY Hunter is significantly more expensive, including the costs of living (I’m probably going to have to seek alternative housing as competition is stiff for Hunter’s Residence Hall). I’m just not entirely sure that the education I will be getting at Hunter will make up for the costs I’m going to have to pay to live in New York and so far from home.

I was thinking that if after a few semesters and I really didn’t like Hunter, I could try transferring to NYU (which I got rejected this time around) or if I’m ambitious, Columbia.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!