Daughter looking at California colleges need advice. (San Diego, Riverside: dorm, buy)

[Wurzig]

Originally Posted by lrmsd

I applied and was accepted to HSU in 2007. Not sure when this policy went into effect-but I have not heard this myself.

This policy was not an issue when you were accepted.

No, and I repeat, ZERO transfer students were accepted into any Cal States for this current spring semester.....

Very few transfers will be accepted for fall 2010..... Because of the budget crisis, many, if not most, (I gave up checking since my daughter was accepted at several prestigious out-of-state schools), will only be accepting students from their closest local community colleges.....and many freshmen will only be accepted from local nearby high schools. 'Impaction' is the key word to look for when you are checking out a school site......

Examples: over 60,000 applied to San Diego and they are only accepting @ 6,000. Long Beach is only accepting students from their 3 closest community colleges. San Marcos is only accepting from their 2 closest.

Tuition is going up, teachers are getting laid off, students are unable to get the classes that they need in order to graduate in 4 years, kids are running out of money to stay any longer, on and on......

[Wurzig]

Originally Posted by EscapeCalifornia

Because students don't pay the full cost of their education. Every student that goes through the system costs the taxpayer money. Since the state is broke, it can't afford to give away money, so you get rationing.

This is a sad state of affairs. True, there are many excellent private schools in California, but the public college system was originally started to give eveybody an opportunity at higher education. Currently, probably the only students that ARE welcomed are from out-of-state and foreign countries because they bring higher tuition money along with them.

btw: Riverside is a good school. It just isn't 5 minutes from the beach, etc.

[JT24hr]

I disagree about CSUF not being the best area for a College Student. While it certainly isn't UCSB/UCLA as far a colleges are concerned, there's a decent college community in the area. Fun is not a problem at CSUF/surrounding area.

I would definitely highly recommend UCSB like one of the other posters suggested.

[Morphous01]

Originally Posted by Pattym05

My daughter is looking at Cal state Fullerton, UCR, and possibly Pepperdine we are from Iowa and need a little help with the good and bad of all of these schools. I do realize the out of state tuition will be a killer so that is a given. She is doing a college visit next month but any advice or suggestions would be helpfull!

Thanks.

You got my vote for Cal State Fullerton. It's close to everything and it's clean and safe around the area as well has neighboring cities.

[preppyglam]

It would only be worth it to send her here if she went to Pepperdine. The other two schools are state/UC's that mostly local kids go to (a few of the UC's attract out of staters....UCLA, Berkeley, Santa Barbara, San Diego, Long Beach in some cases....) but Fullerton and Riverside?! Nope. Those are schools that mostly local commuters or "live at homers" attend. They *may* have some dorms....but its not like the college experience she sees in movies. And both are inland where its really hot, too! haha! Honestly, the schools in Iowa would be just as good (if not better) and give her more the college experience than UCR and Cal State Fullerton.

Send her to Pepperdine. It would be the only one I would allow her/encourage her to come to CA for (out of the three). Its more prestigious, its private and its in Malibu! Everyone loves Malibu! haha! She would have a blast and a great experience attending there. I know Pepperdine alum and they loved that school. Gorgeous campus, great location (also for the LA adjacency).

[CA4Now]

Originally Posted by preppyglam

The other two schools are state/UC's that mostly local kids go to (a few of the UC's attract out of staters....but Fullerton and Riverside?! Nope. Those are schools that mostly local commuters or "live at homers" attend. They *may* have some dorms....but its not like the college experience she sees in movies.
Honestly, the schools in Iowa would be just as good (if not better)...

Actually, UC Riverside does attract students outside of the area. We have two friends from No CA whose kids are there now. Plenty of dorms available. The campus has undergone upgrades in the past few years.

Cal State Fullerton has dorms available for about 8% of their freshmen. The remaining freshmen live at home or off campus, and it's definitely a commuter school, not unlike Cal State L.A. The city of Fullerton has a lot to offer college age kids, though.

Pepperdine is beautiful....but I agree; why Pepperdine (of all CA private schools) if you're from Iowa? And a year there now, including room and board, must be close to $50,000. Add travel costs to and from home as well.

[Pattym05]

She will be attending college in the fall of 2011. That is too bad about all of this. What a mess you all are dealing with out there. I feel for you. It is such a beautiful place I hope the state can recover from this crisis. Well, we are going out next week for our college visits, I guess if nothing else it will be a good vacation!

[austpwrs]

Patty,

If your daughter is considering private schools in CA, why not also look at Pomona (small liberal arts college with excellent education and a good college feel) or Stanford. Cal Tech is another great school, but it offers a slightly different college experience. I'm not familiar with ACT scores and if a 27 is competitive, but a 4.1 GPA is definitely respectable and an application to Stanford would be worthwhile. Although not next to the beach, the beauty of the Stanford campus rivals that of Pepperdine.

[technocrat]

Patty, If education is the top priority, the University of California system boasts some of the best universities in the world(that includes the IVY and other top private schools) in the category. One of the schools your daughter is looking at is one of them, and it may surprise you. See the lists below:

Worlds Best Top 400 schools in 2009 by US News and World Reports(based on QS World University Ranking)

UCLA #32, UC Berkeley #39, UCSD #76, UCSB #106, UCDavis #108, UCI #161, UCSC #252 and
UCRiverside #285.
Of course Harvard was #1, CalTech #10, Stanford#16 and USC#112

Among the 'worlds best 8000 universities' ranking in 2009 by Web o Metrics, the largest public research body in Spain:
UCBerkeley#4, UCLA#17, UCSD#26, UCI#47, UCDavis#51, UCSB#59, UCSC#95, UCSF#175 and UCRiverside#185
Again of course Harvard was #1, Stanford#3, CalTech#11 and USC#32.

Even with the tuition increase in the UC system, it is still a fraction of what it costs to go to a comparable private institution in the USA. For decades, UC has consistently ranked among the best in the world

[wikiwikirunner]

Originally Posted by austpwrs

Patty,

If your daughter is considering private schools in CA, why not also look at Pomona (small liberal arts college with excellent education and a good college feel) or Stanford. Cal Tech is another great school, but it offers a slightly different college experience. I'm not familiar with ACT scores and if a 27 is competitive, but a 4.1 GPA is definitely respectable and an application to Stanford would be worthwhile. Although not next to the beach, the beauty of the Stanford campus rivals that of Pepperdine.

seconded. Stanford is GORGEOUS. She will be treated to an A1 education and star treatment as far as college goes at stanford. Also close proximity to San Jose, San Francisco, the rest of the bay area, and Santa Cruz. If i was smart enough I totally would have gone there, no question about it.