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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OOS students have higher admit rates than in-state students because fewer of them actually end up matriculating. A stunning number of families don't look at the UC price tag and assume there'll bee some sort of aid available to them. At the end of the day, when they're considering a not-UCLA/UCB school in the UC system at $85,000 per year, they end up deciding to go to a private school or their in-state option.

If the yield were higher for OOS students, the admit rate would drop. As a concrete example, note that the yield rate for UCLA/UCB is much higher than the other schools, and their OOS admit rate is either the same as in-state (UCLA) or even lower (UCB).[/quote]

Where are you getting $85K?

Over three quarters, the OOS tuition supplement at Berkeley and UCLA is around $34K total … so OOS 2025 applicants would be looking at a total cost of $70 - $75K, max. per year. If dorm living is dropped for apartment or Greek life housing, $65 - $70K is very achievable. And yes, that includes airfares for move-in / out, holidays, etc.

I get that $70K is still a lot, but citing $85K seems intentionally dishonest.[/quote]

First I'm rooting for your $34K tuition best for everyone from DMV. I'm looking at: https://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/tuition-financial-aid/tuition-cost-of-attendance/ and I see: $50,328; The total direct cost is closer to your number: $76,028.

Cal Poly seems closer to your estimated tuition: https://www.calpoly.edu/financial-aid/costs-and-affordability/undergraduate-costs-attendance-2025-26 $37,005 for tuition.

[/quote]

UCLA OOS will be 80k (website recently updated I think): https://admission.ucla.edu/tuition-aid/tuition-fees[/quote]

Why, why would anyone choose to pay that OOS?? [/quote]

Here’s one reason: If a prospective applicant takes a holistic approach to planning their future and considers an institution’s academic reputation (in the U.S. and globally), its excellence across a very broad range of programs, its grad. school and professional outcomes, its diverse social opportunities, and its overall quality of life, there are less than 20 other colleges or universities on the planet that can compete with the likes of UCLA or UC Berkeley.[/quote]
We’re paying far less for Berkeley, since we’re in-state, but there are far more than 20 other schools where our kid would have thrived, and where she would have had a richer academic and social experience.

It was the right choice for us because we’re a donut hole family and she wanted to stay in California. But after seeing her experience there, our younger two didn’t even apply to Berkeley, and they had better academic records in high school than she did.

By all means, your kid should apply if they would like to and you have the money for it. It has a lot going for it and every time I’m on campus it just “feels” like college. My younger kids have several friends (both in-state and OOS) who will be starting there this fall, and I’m sure they’ll all have great experiences. But recognize that there are tradeoffs to every school, that Berkeley and UCLA are no different in that regard, and that the cons will outweigh the pros for a lot of students, especially when factoring in the costs. And there are many more than 20 schools out there where your kid can absolutely thrive.[/quote]

That is a different test, though.

Are there at least 20 other institutions that can provide an applicant with a wonderful, enriching, fulfilling undergraduate experience. Of course.

But are there more than a few handfuls that can deliver the overall experience that UCLA or Berkeley can? No.[/quote]
I'm PP. It's precisely "the overall experience" at Berkeley that my oldest had that my younger two wanted to avoid. It's a machine, and it does what machines do. Like the poster directly above me noted, Berkeley — as with many of the schools on the US News list — is a phenomenal grad school. For undergrad, though — and especially for the OOS cost — there are many others that will give a better "overall" experience. Like I said earlier, if you have the money and the interest, great. But don't put it on a pedestal and think it's some magical place where all undergrads have access to research, or that undergrad teaching is a priority, or that undergrads have reasonable access to housing, etc. etc. It's a good school. But, again, it's a machine.[/quote]
This really depends on your DC's talent and drive. DS goes to Berkeley and got research as a first year by a professor who saw his talents. He's in three different clubs, one building a product for tech firms, and the others do consulting work with industry partners. This summer he is working at Mount Sinai in a professor's friend's lab. When he returns in the fall, he's expecting to write a first author publication. This was all due to being at Berkeley and meeting the right people.[/quote]

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