After a wave of disappointing top-tier college rejections and waitlists, I am now at the point to make a choice between two potential colleges for my intended plan of combining a major in physics with one in engineering(particularly electrical and computer engineering). My options are UC Berkeley and Carnegie Mellon. I also have UConn as an option, from which I can transfer, but that is not really a route that I want to take.
The biggest problem right now is that UC Berkeley is only offering me about $7000 in gift/grant aid, leaving $53,000 to be paid by scholarships, loans and my parents’ income. My parents are planning on moving to California to qualify for in-state tuition if I do go, and I am not sure if such a jarring move is good for us. Carnegie Mellon is offering over $30,000 in aid, leaving around $30,000 to be paid by other means, but its physics ranking is significantly lower than that of UC Berkeley. I got into the school of Letters and Science for Berkeley and the Mellon School of Science for CMU, and so I will still have to work towards getting into the schools of engineering if I want to add engineering to my path. There are also probably benefits to being in the Bay Area over Pittsburgh for the purposes of employment after college.
So my trade-off is this: the cheaper price and less hassle of going to CMU, or the much higher ranking for physics(and presumably better physics program) and the slightly higher engineering ranking of UC Berkeley.
Help?
I don’t think you will be qualified for in-state tuition during the first year (and possibly not the second year) when your parents move to California.
http://ucop.edu/residency/10-things-undergrads.html
Besides, housing cost in California is expensive. Can your family afford?
If CMU cost of attendance for you is $30,000 then that amount would be the same when you become in-state resident in CA.
Take CMU.
I second that ^, take CMU.
Even if you do move to CA, you won’t qualify for financial aid until a year or two into your college career and I’m not sure if your parents would have problems with employment if your family moved? Moreover, CMU is very well known for the sciences and engineering (I recommend joining the FB group CMU Class of 2020, the people are active in posting statistics there, lol, I knew I saw a post somewhere about it).
From UCB L&S, it is rather difficult to get into the engineering division, particularly the EECS major. CMU also requires an application process to get into the engineering division; the web site says that the ECE major is currently full.
Yeah the goal was to get second year in-state tuition. And they’re thinking of renting, which is definitely expensive. Employment is not an issue. I understand that it is difficult to get into engineering, and this definitely seems easier, although still difficult, for CMU. ECE is full for the class of 2018.
My real quandary is this: is the extra tuition or the severe stress from moving worth it for UCB? I’m having my doubts. But is there going to be a really appreciable difference from attending a school ranked dozens of places lower for physics(CMU) over a #1 or #2 school(UCB)?
Also, I intend on going to grad school, so I’m not sure how important where I go for undergrad is.
Yeah I looked at those and I was kind of perplexed by the fact that CMU physics majors seem to be doing rather well for themselves in comparison to UCB physics majors. They seem to be able to go to solid grad schools and make good money after leaving CMU. So what is it exactly that distinguishes the #36 physics school from the #1/#2?
What is the cost of UConn? What program were you admitted to there? Yes, you’d prefer the other two, but you may be saving enough money to make up for the difference, and no one would have to talk about moving.
The ranking you are talking about applies to graduate school level, not undergraduate level.
You will have more personal attention at CMU.
Gosh… I was reading the rules to be classified as California resident for tuition purposes… Some of them are incredibly specific:
A recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor, including the child of a
recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor, is eligible for an exemption from
nonresident supplemental tuition and mandatory system-wide fees.
Any amateur student athlete in training at the United States Olympic Training
Center in Chula Vista is entitled to a resident classification for tuition purposes
52 pages of rules… crazy…