Deciding on What College/University In LA I should Attend (out of state) (San Diego: loans, transfer to)

[olivechan]

I'm going to be a junior in high school and I live in Ohio. I have no intentions on staying in Ohio when I'm older, so I am planning on attending college in California. I have done some research into colleges, but I prefer to stay in the Southern California area. I've looked briefly into colleges such as UCLA, USC Long Beach, and USC LA, and Cal State LA. Any other suggestions on colleges within Southern California that does not have high out of state tuition and a relatively low acceptance rate. My average GPA is around a 3.5. Another factor that may be helpful in picking a college is that I am planning to major in a criminal justice/psychology area so if any specific college has a good program, that would be great.

Thank You!!

[adr3naline]

You might be better served going to some of the helper sites, otherwise posters are just going to end up plugging their college. Here's a curated list from CNET. Hopefully it's of use?

https://www.cnet.com/how-to/choosing...s-thatll-help/

[nightlysparrow]

A 3.5 won't cut it. Lots of students have 4.0 - 4.5 GPA's (higher ones obtained through taking lots of AP classes) and they still don't get into UCLA or USC.

A family member is majoring in your exact major and minor (!) at Sacramento State. Not SoCal, though.

[twins4lynn]

Originally Posted by olivechan

I'm going to be a junior in high school and I live in Ohio. I have no intentions on staying in Ohio when I'm older, so I am planning on attending college in California. I have done some research into colleges, but I prefer to stay in the Southern California area. I've looked briefly into colleges such as UCLA, USC Long Beach, and USC LA, and Cal State LA. Any other suggestions on colleges within Southern California that does not have high out of state tuition and a relatively low acceptance rate. My average GPA is around a 3.5. Another factor that may be helpful in picking a college is that I am planning to major in a criminal justice/psychology area so if any specific college has a good program, that would be great.

Thank You!!

Just a correction, it's CSU Long Beach and CSU LA. CSU stands for California State University. Since you are out of state, you wil pay out of state tuition, which will bring the net price to approximately 35K at the CSU's and $55K at the UC's (UCB, UCLA).

Look into private colleges, they may give financial aid (grants, etc). Play around with the Net Price Calculator (which is on every college website) and find out what you will be paying.

[3shipguy]

Go to a community college. Establish residency. Then apply and transfer to a university. It's a cheaper route. Plus you'll have a clearer direction on what your major will be.

[OyCrumbler]

Originally Posted by 3shipguy

Go to a community college. Establish residency. Then apply and transfer to a university. It's a cheaper route. Plus you'll have a clearer direction on what your major will be.

Definitely this unless you get a scholarship (not loans). LA has some great community colleges that are good springboards to a university. Put in the effort to make sure you do extremely well in community college as there are many other people who are trying to do the same. Do not take out loans for out-of-state tuition. UCI has a very good criminology program (or did, I think it still does), but Irvine itself is not to my liking.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by olivechan

I'm going to be a junior in high school and I live in Ohio. I have no intentions on staying in Ohio when I'm older, so I am planning on attending college in California. I have done some research into colleges, but I prefer to stay in the Southern California area. I've looked briefly into colleges such as UCLA, USC Long Beach, and USC LA, and Cal State LA. Any other suggestions on colleges within Southern California that does not have high out of state tuition and a relatively low acceptance rate. My average GPA is around a 3.5. Another factor that may be helpful in picking a college is that I am planning to major in a criminal justice/psychology area so if any specific college has a good program, that would be great.

Thank You!!

good choice of majors I would say. From what I know and or have heard your best bet and probably the least expensive choice would be one of the state universities like L.A.State, San Diego State or any of the state schools. But let me, no matter which one you decide on, you are going to have very high out of state tuition.
UCLA will be even higher. USC is a private university so no out of state but it is hard to get into USC, and even without out of state tuition, the fees are extremely high.

As for your GPA, I have to disagree with anyone who says 3.5 will not cut it. Grades are not the only thing that will be considered. Your test scores will play a huge roll and as for AP classes every state or school district puts a different emphases on them. A 3.5 is just that. I would imagine, if you are college you have taken a lot of AP classes.

I can understand when people suggest you move, go to community college and establish residency. But I also know a lot of parents are not going to pay for a kid to go out of state to a community college. I know I would not. Are your parents paying for your education and how do they feel about your decision to study in Ca. Have you visited the state, do you have any idea what living is really like and what is it about S. CA that attracts you?

[CA4Now]

Originally Posted by nmnita

As for your GPA, I have to disagree with anyone who says 3.5 will not cut it. Grades are not the only thing that will be considered.

The Cal State Universities look pretty much at GPAs and test scores. And unfortunately, today, few get into a UC campus with a 3.5 GPA. College admission is much more competitive than it used to be.

When I went to college, back in the Stone Age, you could get into USC with a 3.0--I knew plenty of people who did--if you had enough activities and your test scores were decent.

[Purehess]

It's pretty crazy, my daughter had a 4.0 with all AP classes and a bunch of clubs and activities. She applied to UCLA, Irvine, Cal Berkley, SDSU, and UCSD and got accepted to both San Diego schools. 97,000 people applied to UCLA and 17000 accepted, lots of competition in Sothern California, good thing there are a lot of schools.

[RosieSD]

Originally Posted by 3shipguy

Go to a community college. Establish residency. Then apply and transfer to a university. It's a cheaper route. Plus you'll have a clearer direction on what your major will be.

It's not as easy to "establish residency" as people think. If you move to California to attend a Community College, then you will be classified as a non-resident, and it will be very difficult to then transfer to a UC/CSU as a resident.

In order to be classified as a resident for tuition purposes, you have to move here 1 year before you start school and if you are under age 24, you must prove that you are not dependent on your parents for financial help (in other words, you need a job).

That said, community college is still the least expensive option (tuition wise) for non-residents. It's the cost of living that is a killer if you can't live with parents. That cost is seldom fully covered by financial aid.

The suggestion above to look at some additional private schools is an excellent one. Many private schools give more grant-based financial aid and scholarships to out of state students than the UCs or Cal States. And, since attending a UC as a non-resident costs about the same as a private school, you will usually end up better off that way.

One final word about the UCs: starting this year, all of the UCs have put a cap on the number of out of state students they'll be admitting. So, it will be harder for non-residents to get in. If you still want to give the UCs a try, you need to make sure that your high school curriculum will cover all of the courses required. The UCs (and Cal States) also calculate GPA differently than most other schools -- they only look at grades in those certain classes taken during 10th and 11th grade, plus test scores and other factors.

You should also be aware that the minimum GPA for an out of state student at the UCs is a 3.4. That "minimum" is based on the way the UCs calculate GPA, not the GPA you get from your high school.

So, you should go to the UC admissions website and calculate your UC GPA as a starting point for seeing whether you are eligible for admission:

Out-of-state students | UC Admissions

Then go to the Cal State website at csumentor.edu and look at the requirements for GPA (computed as above) and test scores needed for admission.

But, again, I would also broaden your search to include more private colleges. A 3.5 GPA with decent test scores might make you a more attractive candidate to some of those schools, resulting in scholarships and better grant aid than you're likely to get at the UCs or Cal States.

Some sites that will help you identify possible California colleges and plan to apply are:

https://www.aiccu.edu/

https://www.californiacolleges.edu/#/

Finally, don't put all your eggs in one basket. There are FANTASTIC colleges and universities all across the U.S. Some are significantly cheaper than colleges in California and offer great financial aid and scholarships. Even as a non-resident, some state public universities are less expensive. Make sure your final list includes at least SOME financial safe bets, as well as schools where your GPA and test scores puts you towards the top of the pack for admission.

Good luck!