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[quote author=dabigv link=topic=15664.msg171069#msg171069 date=1473878398]
I had several friends in high school who chose SC with scholarships over UCLA or Berkeley, and they don't regret it.

I would too, in part because I could graduate in four years.  These days any UC school is pretty much five years - at a minimum.  What's interesting to see is how many of the west coast private colleges, as well as other public schools like Oregon State, are aggressively marketing this against the UC's.  Pacific has a "four-year guarantee" where if you can't graduate in four years (other than for grades) they will pick up your entire tuition/room/board for any additional time you need to finish your bachelor's.
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I think the difficulty of graduating in 4 years from UC is way overblown. A lot of kids in our town go to UC schools. I'm not aware of a single one of my daughter's friends that took more than 4 years. The people I work with from Berkeley and UCLA graduated in 4 years. Four-year graduation rates at C.al, UCLA, Stanford and SC are 73%, 74%, 75% and 77% respectively. That's not a strong argument for private schools in California. If you want higher 4 year graduation rates, head east to where the weather makes students eager to leave. [Source: http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreview...-grad-rate]

[82 Card]

[quote author=dabigv link=topic=15664.msg171069#msg171069 date=1473878398]
I had several friends in high school who chose SC with scholarships over UCLA or Berkeley, and they don't regret it.

I would too, in part because I could graduate in four years.  These days any UC school is pretty much five years - at a minimum.  What's interesting to see is how many of the west coast private colleges, as well as other public schools like Oregon State, are aggressively marketing this against the UC's.  Pacific has a "four-year guarantee" where if you can't graduate in four years (other than for grades) they will pick up your entire tuition/room/board for any additional time you need to finish your bachelor's.
[/quote]

I think the difficulty of graduating in 4 years from UC is way overblown. A lot of kids in our town go to UC schools. I'm not aware of a single one of my daughter's friends that took more than 4 years. The people I work with from Berkeley and UCLA graduated in 4 years. Four-year graduation rates at C.al, UCLA, Stanford and SC are 73%, 74%, 75% and 77% respectively. That's not a strong argument for private schools in California. If you want higher 4 year graduation rates, head east to where the weather makes students eager to leave. [Source: http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreview...-grad-rate]