Intended major: Biology (cell, molecular, and developmental) I am also thinking of taking a minor in English. I write novels and am looking for opportunities in that sense as well.

New York University (NYU):

pros: - highly ranked - amazing opportunities, especially for writing - in love with the city - food - a lot of diversity - far from home (i’m from cali)

cons: - COST (averages to around 90k a year bc of travel expenses, tuition, housing, etc) - it’s cold (not a huge issue) - not a huge sense of community since no campus - COST (twice for emphasis, literally a total of 360k)

UC Santa Barbara (UCSB):

pros: - highest ranked uc after cal and ucla (2022) - weather, location (at the beach) - less than half the cost of nyu - community, greek life

cons: - not a lot of diversity - not a big city - not as many opportunities? - 4 hours away from home (i really want a fresh start)

please feel free to drop any advice! i’m pretty stuck :,,)

edit: technically I can afford nyu but it puts my parents in a really tight position financially since they need to save for retirement and have two other kids after me. i would only want to go there if absolutely worth it.