What about splitting it? Go to Williams for a year, see how you like it? Connect with professors, do as well as you can. If it is a poor cultural and geographical fit, then professors will more than likely help you transfer. And I wouldn’t just limit myself to Berkeley. Apply to Stanford, MIT, caltech, Berkeley. And before you leave Williams, get a paid summer internship with their career resources.
- you will have saved well over 50k!
- instead of taking other people’s word for it, you will know for yourself bad fit
- get another shot at top tech schools, not just ucb. Maybe with the same aid as Williams.