PLEASE Help me decide between these two Colleges!!!

Forti
Tue, 26 May 2009 01:32:42 +0000

Hello,

I am having an extremely tough time deciding between UC San Diego and Notre Dame. I have to decide ASAP as I have already asked for deadline extensions twice. I greatly appreciate any comments, and I’d like to thank you for your time.

Background: I’m an Asian American male entering college as an undecided major. I am leaning towards the areas of Music, Engineering, Cognitive Science, and International Business. My major goal in college is to find a passion that I would die for and take this passion to graduate or business school. Personally, weather and school spirit (football) are nice to have, but will have no influence in the long run. I accept all religions and value their positive influences.

Unfortunately, I have not visited either college. I think that Notre Dame and UCSD are completely opposite schools, and I can’t seem to weigh one school over the other. I’ve spent a TON of time researching both of the colleges, and here are some of the main points:

-Academically, UCSD does not offer any business majors and Notre Dame does not have a Cognitive Science department. UCSD goes by the quarter system and Notre Dame goes by semesters. It seems like I can sample more courses at UCSD, but the quarter system may also work against me.

-UCSD has more courses and research opportunities to offer, but the 4-year graduation rate is quite low. This is because many of the courses get filled up quickly and thus have waitlists. At Notre Dame, 4-year graduation is pretty much guaranteed. In addition, they academically “hold your hand” at ND so nobody really gets screwed major-wise.

-I really can’t say anything about the environments since I haven’t visited. Notre Dame has a huge community feeling. However, I may be more comfortable at UCSD because there are more Asians (but then again, I don’t know).

-I’ll graduate debt-free at UCSD (in-state tuition). For Notre Dame, I’ll graduate with a 16-20k debt. Considering that I will attend Graduate/professional School, I really can’t say how much this debt will play a factor. The ND Alumni network may be a factor, and my parents are financially secure.

Thank you again for your opinions and comments!