My kid applied to more higher ranked UCs. So far doing great, UCD/UCI into biochem with regents. Didn’t get regents at UCSB but got into the College of Creative Studies.
But then Columbia sent her a likely letter. For those of you who don’t know, the Ivy League colleges are bound to release their RD decisons on Ivy day 03/26. But the top 10% of people accepted (i.e. the top 0.5%) receive a letter saying as such and telling them their acceptance will be formalized on 03/26 so 100% she’s in unless she literally commits a felony or something awful.
So now Columbia rises to the top of the pile and UCSB CCS is pffft. Gone.
She’s actually hoping not to get into UCSD, UCLA, UCB as the decision then will be really hard. Those schools are known for STEM but Columbia is an Ivy. To make it worse, Columbia is very generous for aid but we are right on the border so may not get anything!
First world problems to be sure. But still a real problem.
The problem with getting into so many schools is - you can only choose one.
People forget that when they want all the acceptances.
Once she has them all, you should revisit all the schools. Believe it or not, there will be kids at UCSB and UCD and UCI who got into UCB/UCLA and turned them down. Lots choose safer options - so it doesn’t happen. My daughter’s BFF at College of Charleston turned down Rice, Vandy and Penn for a regional public. So things aren’t all black and white.
In the end, she will be four years somewhere - day after day. Columbia is different than UCLA which is different than UCD. Find the place she can be happy - not the highest name which does little for happiness after you step foot on campus (and yes, make sure it’s affordable).
Hah! Try telling that to a 17 year old. And to be fair, it’s not just 17 year olds who crave status symbols. Hermes bags apparently sell for $20K and Porsche 911’s GTS from 2022 are selling ABOVE their former MSRP price.
True, that can happen, but based on the parents’ post above, we know where this kid’s heart is, at least gut reaction …. And NYC and Columbia’s program is very specific.. is a provides a pretty strong gut reaction for an obviously smart kid, and I am hard pressed to think that this kid doesn’t understand Columbia’s core curriculum, given these admits..I hope the money lines up though.. I suspect that is this kids’ worry when they are “hoping they don’t get into UCLA/UCB” which as an in-state CA kid is obviously a deal. totally could be wrong, but I remember waiting financial aid when an admit letter came earlier than the fin aid and it was scary, but didn’t want to really talk about it..
No one in my family majored in biochemistry. However, one daughter did major in biology, and has worked closely with a couple of biochemists and/or organic chemists on at least one research project. These are areas where a graduate degree is very likely.
You should budget for six years of university as a master’s degree is reasonably likely (not certain of course, both because some work in biochemistry with a bachelor’s, and some jump from a bachelor’s to a funded PhD). Master’s degrees are usually not funded. Even for those students who are able to jump from a bachelor’s degree to a fully funded PhD, some limited parent help funding graduate school can make the 6- or 7-year marathon somewhat easier (and maybe leave less of a hole in terms of the student delaying starting to fund an IRA – which will eventually matter).
This same daughter is currently getting a PhD at a very good university in a biomedical field. The other students in the same program come from a huge range of universities. This is normal for highly ranked graduate programs – the students in top graduate programs come from “all over the place”, including a long list of schools ranked about the same as anything that you are considering, and schools ranked lower than anything that you are considering. What a student does while in university is important. Which university is way, way less important, particularly since you are only comparing very good universities.
I think that it makes sense to visit Columbia. New York City is not for everyone.
However, I also think that it could in the long run turn out to be very valuable if you save enough money for undergrad to be able to help some with the cost of a graduate degree if that happens. Comparing the cost of these programs is sensible.
By the way, I know someone very well who got a bachelor’s degree at Seton Hall and then got two master’s degrees at Columbia (in another biomedical field). She has said that the quality of the education was just as good if not better at Seton Hall compared to Columbia. Famous universities such as Columbia do not have a monopoly on great professors, nor an assurance that all professors will actually be good teachers.
It is not “being cheap” to set things up so that your child can complete both a bachelor’s degree and a graduate degree without being stuck with a huge debt load at the end of the process.
And my other daughter got a doctorate in something for which UC Davis is the #1 top ranked university in the world. Some of us even way over here on the east coast hold it in great esteem.
Wow. This is indeed a first world problem for the academically excellent.