Which college should I choose

I know Georgetown and Duke are amazing schools and I think I would be happy at both but the price is nearly 2.5x that of Berkeley for a seemingly inferior education. As far as UCLA is concerned, it also seems incomparable to Berkeley in terms of academics, especially in economics.

Well honestly I think that staying at home is a huge plus, especially for expenses. And unless you're paying for college yourself, I don't think it's really fair to ask your parents to pay a ton more for those other schools. I mean if they can afford it sure, but would you personally be willing to pay that extra money to go to those schools?

If you're going into a STEM field, then you can do co-ops at companies across the nation. This is a completely normal thing to do and it will help you tremendously in getting a job (some kid who goes to a lame state college who does co-ops has a much better chance of getting a good job than someone at Duke or Berkeley). And this way you can travel around without staying at home, and without costing any extra money (lots of companies will help you relocate for a semester).

Up to you though.

/r/ApplyingToCollege Thread