Hello! I was admitted into my top three colleges and need help choosing, feel free to ask questions and give any advice you have! I take criticism well, so if my pros and cons are wrong… tell me. For background, I am looking to be an entrepreneur at some point in life but plan to get some practical experience before diving in too deep, however, I would be interested in starting a company during college.
TLDR: Berkeley or UPenn for Business? Upenn is full price, Berkeley is tuition free
UCLA
Not really any option for me anymore because of academics, but my intended course of study would be Business Economics with a minor in Entrepreneurship.
UCLA Pros:
I love the location, always been a fan of SoCal
Beach is near
Student life is a lot of fun, but I don’t plan on partying too much
Cheap, I get free tuition since my dad is a disabled war vet, but I would pay for everything else
I am a fan of the guaranteed housing for four years
Could be a lot of opportunities for jobs or internships in LA
Not much competition for these either since LA isn’t business focused
UCLA Cons:
Academics, from what I can tell my major would be kind of a joke
Maybe too much partying? I don’t know much about that
UC Berkeley
Intended course of study: I was accepted into the Spieker Undergraduate Business Program with Haas Business School
Cal Pros:
Ranked #2 for Undergraduate business
Inaugural class for program
Working with Haas graduate students could be a great opportunity
#1 for venture capital funded startups
Recreational sailing, always wanted to learn
Free tuition like UCLA
I read in a pamphlet that the program has a really good faculty ratio, like 4-5:1
I also heard that they do case study competitions around the world
Shares study abroad opportunities with all UC’s
New Haas admits spend a weekend together in South Lake Tahoe
In California, not far from home
Transfer credits, I have an AA so a few credits would transfer
Could finish quicker and go to grad school for MBA
Cal Cons:
Only one year of guaranteed housing
I am not a fan of the bay area
Very political campus
Really competitive environment
Depressed students?
Grade Deflation
UPenn
Intended Course of Study: Wharton focusing on Entrepreneurship
UPenn Pros:
It has been my dream school for all of high school
Ranked #1 for Business
Amazing study abroad/internship abroad programs
Prestige (obviously)
Philly cheesesteaks, one of my favorite foods
East coast, I love to travel and would like to see what that side of the country is like
The connections, networking would be really valuable
Beautiful campus and surrounding area
Just to reinforce, it is the number one, literally can’t do better
I believe I could do better than average and come out with a good job or successful start up
I would be willing to do whatever it takes for it to be worth it
UPenn Cons:
Student debt
I would be paying full price, my parents can contribute some but I would still have a massive amount of debt
East Coast, far from home and expensive to fly to or from
Could also be competitive being an Ivy, but haven’t heard much of that
2-year housing guarantee, but I feel like by then I will have found roommates to go off campus with
Reality check / common sense as your only realistic options are UCLA & UCal-Berkeley.
Consider this to be your first major business decision as an entrepreneur. U Penn-Wharton is not an affordable option. You would be burdening yourself with massive debt. Plus, as an Entrepreneurship major, you would have to delay that dream for about 10 years or more until you repaid your massive student loan debt from undergraduate school.
UCLA is a great university as is Cal. Plus, both are Big Ten schools !
Also, foolish to proceed directly from an undergraduate business degree to an MBA program. You will get more from an MBA program if you have at least 2 or 3 years of post-undergraduate degree full-time work experience. The top MBA programs like 3 to 5 years of post undergraduate work experience.
That’s it. Anything above these amounts would be your parents taking loans or cosigning them. They would need to be qualified borrowers for all four years…and with the cost of UPenn…will they be? And are THEY on board with taking out these loans?
UCLA or Cal are excellent options. You have eliminated UCLA…so Cal seems to be the choice
Yes…you have a LOT more cons for Penn than the other schools!
Thank you for the advice everyone! I have noticed how UPenn’s price is unreasonable and have been trying to figure out whether it would be worth it. I think the smarter decision is Berkeley but it hurts my heart to say no to my dream school. Even with that being said, I see myself attending Berkeley in the Fall and just need to commit to that. I feel bad because I asked my parents to let me tour UPenn and the flights are already booked
Lower division courses for business majors may be less competitive now that more of the business major is frosh direct admit instead of competitive secondary admit.
That is exactly right. And anyway…if you planned to fund your whole undergrad years with that would be $400,000 at Penn…that is WAYYYY too much in loans.
I’m not opposed to federal loans or working during college, and wouldn’t always push for the cheapest option - but I doubt you’d find anyone to agree that Penn is worth ~4 times UCLA or Berkeley (fake math - could be closer to 5). I’d say the same even if you or your parents or fairy godparent could pay for Penn without loans. I get that it’s disappointing to give up on a dream school, but you have amazing options. Go Bears! Go Bruins!
If your family has the resources to pay for Penn without loans, and without jeopardizing their family finances…then I would say it would be their decision whether to spend this money or not…on your education.
