<p>Hi!</p>
<p>I’m choosing between Rice University and UC Berkeley. Each are giving me 1k scholarships.</p>
<p>The main difference (aside from cost, because I’m in-state) is the size of the school. I’d like to have research opportunities and internships, but I’m afraid of getting “lost in the crowd”.</p>
<p>Does being a Regents and Chancellors Scholar help distinguish students and give them a leg up in these situations, or is everybody in the same boat?</p>
<p>Thank you very much! :)</p>
<p>For me, its da $$$$ 'cos I am dirt poor and I get all my expenses covered.</p>
<p>And vanity…just kidding. Nobody knows you are a Regent because you obviously don’t go about advertising yourself as one, unless you are a total jerk. No one gives a **** either…well, maybe except the pre-med/engineering gunners. And even then the aroused jealousy won’t last more than two semesters.</p>
<p>Still looks good on your resume nonetheless. It makes people think you are smart, which may or may not be true.</p>
<p>Aww, so basically there’s no help with research jobs or anything? :(</p>
<p>How do you like being a Regent’s scholar? Is like… the “guaranteed housing” and “free printing” and stuff really worth it? The website is so vague about what Regents scholars get to do.</p>
<p>I also know you’re in this like “Regents Scholar Association” or something. Does that help with jobs and stuff? Is it mainly a social thing?</p>
<p>… What is it <em>like</em>? Haha!</p>
<p>There is “free printing”? Really? I don’t even know lol. Guaranteed housing…er…most people move out of dorm after first or second year anyways.</p>
<p>I personally don’t see any significant and “tangible” help in terms of getting research/job. That said, I know a professor whose undergrads (3-4) are all Regent Scholars. Coincidence or not…I don’t know. IMO it’s mostly a perception thing, something along the line of “oh wow, Regents Scholar, sounds prestigious, hmmmm…”</p>
<p>The club is mostly a social thing, methinks. Most scholars are inactive/invisible members. There are a few externship positions offered only to Regents each year, but you still have to apply (duh). </p>
<p>Not dissing Regents or anything, I’m just stating what I am experiencing. In fact, I LOVE the money, and I’m a little proud <em>ahem</em> that my parents don’t have to pay much $$ for my college education. </p>
<p>If there are active members in here that can correct my current perception of it, please do.</p>
<p>oh, yeah forgot to mention, Berkeley >> Rice any day, with or without scholarship, IMHO of course.</p>
<p>Just my personal experience, but it almost directly translated to my getting a research position. Your faculty advisor, should you choose to contact him/her, can be a great resource for this.</p>
<p>I like to think of it as a hint at your success at Cal. Many Regents’ scholars do fairly well and I’d imagine that most graduate w/ honors or better.</p>
<p>I am a regents scholar, and I can tell you that it is not very useful. The money is good … but that’s it.
The faculty sponsor … not very helpful at all. I guess it depends on who you get, but my sponsor is a *****, never helps me on anything.
The guaranteed housing is not that useful either. Trust me, you don’t want to spend all four years living in the dorms. Most regent scholars simply move out after their second or third year.
The other benefits, like joining the scholar’s alumni association … its not that great either. So all in all, not that great.</p>
<p>Guaranteed housing isn’t a big deal. Money, if you’re getting it, is a huge deal. </p>
<p>Aside from that, if you’re active in the Regents and Chancellor’s Scholarship Assosciation (RCSA), you’ll reap networking benefits. Your faculty advisor is a very very worthwhile resource, but like every other opportunity in Berkeley, you have to pursue it. You have to be proactive. If you want research, you can get it wired quite easily through your faculty advisor (each advisor has <5 students, I believe. Also, the faculty advisors volunteer to represent scholars, so they’re actually interested in it). </p>
<p>Regents offers a lot more than what most people take from it.</p>
<p>Hmm, OK let me tell you all my version of the story. I don’t think there are many benefits aside from the money (for some this can be significant, however), and what I would call somewhat preferential treatment when it comes to housing. The last point, I’m somewhat shaky on – basically, my experience was that I lived with 2 people, both known to me, and one of them and I are Regents’ Scholars. When we applied for Foothill housing for actually Fall of this past year (in case we didn’t find an apartment) the one guy who did not have the scholarship got housing somewhere else, not Foothill, but myself and the other Regents’ Scholar got the precise kind of housing we wanted in Foothill. I don’t know if this is coincidence, but it seems fishy enough that when all 3 of us applied together, this is what happened. </p>
<p>I don’t think you get preference in terms of Telebears (schedule signups) much – the other Regents’ Scholar and I had senior standing by second semester of Frosh year or something, and that guaranteed us relatively early Telebears, and I don’t think you can get much better than that. I.e. I believe it is up to chance at that point. </p>
<p>If you’re in-state, OP, Berkeley is a steal. I’ll wager a wild guess and say you’re going for engineering, given you’re choosing between Rice and Berkeley, two schools known for engineering? I’d just stick with Berkeley. Nice weather, great campus, and most of all, basically a steal of a school given its faculty and academics are world-renowned, far beyond the prestige of Berkeley as an undergraduate school. In-state tuition is comparatively nothing to pay for all that’s offered, especially compared to the deal one gets at many other schools, in my humble opinion.</p>
<p>A large portion of my bill will be covered by the scholarship, but I’m wondering how the money in the budget compares to the actual cost I will be paying. For example, the student budget allots $15,308 for housing. What happens if I choose a triple and it’s only $11,600? Or if in Junior year I get a single room in CKC for $17,000? Do they just put all the money they allot into an account, and then I choose how I spend it, and if I have “extra” it takes away from my EFC?</p>
<p>Edit: Just answered my own question! The finaid office said that they allot the $15,308 and if my actual housing was only 13k I would be able to put the extra $2K towards my EFC or if my housing was $17 I would be responsible for the extra $2k out of pocket.</p>
<p>I know last year, they just gave me the money that was calculated using CoA - EFC. They didn’t factor it in that my housing costs less than the CoA so I got a bit “extra”.</p>
<p>This year, my housing cost wayyy more so they supplemented it with ~1600 but it still didn’t quite cover the costs of the dorm itself so I got less back than what I should have for the other “costs” (e.g. books/food/transportation/personal expenses).</p>
<p>Now I don’t know how it works for apartments - can someone explain how that works? I’m planning on living in Channing-Bowditch apartments if anyone has gone through the process for that.</p>