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Tue 9 Apr, 2019 08:33 pm
So college acceptances have come out and I am having a very difficult decision with where I should go. I actually got accepted to mainly all the schools I wanted. Essentially like all the UCs and Cal States I applied to. I'm super grateful for this since I got into those prestigious Cal and UCLA, but now I have many options and I'm not 100% sure what to do.
I want to work in biotech in the future so I applied to some colleges as a cell, molecular, and developmental major and some microbiology (kinda leaning more towards microbiology). My top right now are UC Davis (microbiology), UCLA(cell, molecular, developmental bio), and Cal Poly Slo (microbiology) - UC Berkeley (cell, developmental...) is a maybe.
My main issues with the UCs are like the huge class sizes, not getting as much attention with professors, and because I want to work in biotech I want to have a lot of hands on experience but because UCs are more research based, which is still good, but I feel like having that hands on experience would be more beneficial for me. If you guys would have advice on like whether these things are necessarily true or how they work that would be great. (Also like specific to these colleges I'm choosing from if you can.)
The thing is that Cal Poly Slo is super hands on based and I've been reading about the fact that most have jobs secured before they even graduate or get a job immediately after because of so much focus they have. And the classes seem really cool too in regards to microbiology. The issues though are that it is about 14k a year while UCLA is about 12k a year, UC Davis is like 3k a year, and UC San Diego (also kind of considering) is a full ride. Is it worth spending that much for the Slo education?
It is the more expensive one but I'm wondering if a UC would be better still because of that research or maybe the prestige of locations in regard to biotech/microbiology industries. I live in LA so I would be closer to UCLA in case I would commute.
Essentially, I'm just looking for advice on these colleges because I've been incredibly stressed on where to go and what exactly would be worth it for me. Also advice on the differences between UCs and Cal states and how they would benefit me.
I'm also visiting Davis and UCLA soon.
I don't have direct knowledge of California universities, but research at top universities is usually carried out by professors, with grad students as assistants, and with undergrad students not being involved in the research at all.
Getting hands on experience is definitely a benefit over simply reading about something in a textbook, so there is a real advantage to the polytechnic. But students at other universities who have to get by with just a textbook will still be able to receive an adequate education.
I think this is a classic case of "you get what you pay for". There is probably a reason why some of these schools are much cheaper than the others.
But, "not being swamped with debt" is important too. How much you can afford the more expensive schools should be an important consideration.
If you can afford the more expensive schools then I would say they're worth it. If you can't afford the more expensive schools then I would say they're not worth it.
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