Both came out to net cost of $33k per year. My goal is to transfer out to an Ivy League (or similar like Rice, Northwestern, Duke, Cornell, Tufts, NYU, Vanderbilt) before my sophomore year, so the first semester/trimester of grades WILL count. I am scared of Berkeley’s notorious GPA deflation, I was definitely bottom of their admits. Neither UCB or UCD did I receive any reagent or honors. Which would be a better fit for me. Prospective career: environmental studies, sustainability and engineering or software fields. Is prestige and low GPA better than mediocre and higher GPA? I might go community, but I earned some outside scholarships that can only be used this year.
Chasing after prestige is like chasing a mirage in the desert. What ends up happening is that students and parents spend $150k for a bachelors degree they could’ve gotten with a full ride scholarship…and it’s worth just as much to employers. If you’re looking at doing computers, going to an ivy league won’t be worth your while anyway. It’s a highly employable degree. Also, entry level jobs aren’t particularly lucrative, and having large student loan payments can create serious financial problems, especially when you decide to get married and start a family.
Also, if these schools are $33k a year, unless your parents are paying those costs, you can’t afford it. The most student loan money you can take out is $27k without a parental co-signer. That’s for the entire 4 year degree.
If you were rejected by those elite schools this year you will likely be rejected next year.
Only applied to in-state public schools, now I am considering Ivy
I am with @coolguy40 i think you have a false image of the opportunity presented by an Ivy vs someplace like UCB. I am an old guy but, i have never heard anyone have to apologize or make excuses because their BA/BS was from Cal. Also, most schools that are more prestigious than UCB don’t take a lot of transfers from anywhere. If you are convinced you could have gotten a full ride to Harvard, roll the dice with a gap year and see what happens when you apply. IMHO, you should go to whichever UC fits your objective, do your best, and only think about transferring if you hate it.