<p>I’m facing a similar decision: St. John’s Annapolis vs. Berkeley, except for that I have to pay much more to go to Berkeley. In your case, I don’t know much about the UMD program, but it sounds pretty different from the Great Books. Since you said you want to go to grad school, Johnnies, as I remember, are very strong in getting PhDs. You can search and make sure about that. I think there is a list of rankings of “most students go for PhD” or something like that. So regardless money, I’d vote for St. John’s.</p>
<p>So jealous that you get to visit the campus and join seminars!! I wish I could, too… (I’m an international.)</p>