Anyone here go to CSU San Marcos? (San Diego, Long Beach: credit, transfer)

[california_guy110]

I'm looking at possibly going to school here since its too hard for me to get into SDSU and I want to get finished with college. It looks like it has small class sizes and is actually a more interactive learning experience (I am going to major in business) than big schools like SDSU, I'd be interested to hear what other people's experiences were.

[305guy]

My girlfriend graduated there in 2005, it is a small school but it is growing rapidly. She says she enjoyed her time there because it's not intimidating to talk to your teachers directly.

[305guy]

She says parking is really bad there though...nice gym

[SouthCali4LifeSD]

sup! if ur gonna major in business, no offense, but you do not want to go to cal state san marcos. do what you can to get into sdsu. your future counts on it.

cal state san marcos needless to say doesn't equip students to be visionary and practical nearly as well as sdsu does, and in reality, sdsu business grads are always preferred to cal state san marcos students, other things equal. sdsu is not intimidating at all once you get acclimated to the environment and it is so easy to network with so many sources for future success, whether it'd be with professors, students, organizations, clubs, etc.

cal state san marcos is located in surburbia with a lack of things to do, however, the sprinter train that opens up in december will open a few doors for the area, especially public transportation. sdsu is located near the urban center of san diego, and has excellent public transportation and is in the middle of many great things to do, including being 15 minutes from countless beaches. sdsu is also within 8 miles of 4 interstate highways and 3 other major highways, where cal state san marcos is only near the 78 and kind of close to the 15, which takes you no where special.

gpa requirement for upper division in business is 2.0 for cal state san marcos and 2.9 for sdsu for good reason, so if you don't meet the requirement, i recommend a community college to boost your gpa to the requirement and sign a transfer agreement to guarantee entry into sdsu.

if worse comes to worse, and you cannot meet the requirements of sdsu, cal state san marcos is not a bad school, it's actually sufficient in many areas, but you want to make sure it's your last resort if you're going to major in business in this region. companies are vey picky these days, even if you earn a bachelors, and local companies absolutely love sdsu business students, aside from stanford, ucla, usc, harvard, nyu, etc. business schools that is!

[california_guy110]

Thanks for the input, I already have tried getting into SDSU numerous times but since my GPA is fairly low due to some mistakes made when I first started college and the fact that I'm not counted as a local student I can't get in any time soon.. I think I'm going to go to CSU Long Beach which seems comparable to SDSU in terms of academics since I can actually get in there.

[jamesh]

Originally Posted by SouthCali4LifeSD

i recommend a community college to boost your gpa to the requirement and sign a transfer agreement to guarantee entry into sdsu.

This is a really great recommendation. Doesn't SDCC and Mesa have transfer agreements with both SDSU and UCSD? I think I remember hearing that you can even get priority transfer from those schools. That seems like a good way to boost the GPA and save $$$ on school to boot.

[Sassberto]

Originally Posted by california_guy110

Thanks for the input, I already have tried getting into SDSU numerous times but since my GPA is fairly low due to some mistakes made when I first started college and the fact that I'm not counted as a local student I can't get in any time soon.. I think I'm going to go to CSU Long Beach which seems comparable to SDSU in terms of academics since I can actually get in there.

CSULB is as good as SDSU, definitely go there instead of CSUSM.

Why not just go to JC for a year, re-take the classes you screwed up and get residency. JC's have a transfer agreement, that's how both myself and my wife got to SDSU.

[california_guy110]

Originally Posted by Sassberto

CSULB is as good as SDSU, definitely go there instead of CSUSM.

Why not just go to JC for a year, re-take the classes you screwed up and get residency. JC's have a transfer agreement, that's how both myself and my wife got to SDSU.

Thanks for the advice, I've already been in college for a while and I'm sick of community college (I'm 22) so I feel the need to get into a 4 year school as soon as I can so I think CSULB should be a good fit as it sounds like San Marcos isn't that great.

[california_guy110]

Originally Posted by jamesh

This is a really great recommendation. Doesn't SDCC and Mesa have transfer agreements with both SDSU and UCSD? I think I remember hearing that you can even get priority transfer from those schools. That seems like a good way to boost the GPA and save $$$ on school to boot.

Yes they do, however you have to have half of your units from the San Diego area and I already have 45 units or so from other areas so it would take me a while to get half my units and by that time I could already have a four year degree at another school.. I agree, though that its great for people who are either from San Diego or move there within a year of starting college as they can get guaranteed admission, I wish I would have realized that when I was 18 or 19.

[Sassberto]

Originally Posted by california_guy110

Yes they do, however you have to have half of your units from the San Diego area and I already have 45 units or so from other areas so it would take me a while to get half my units and by that time I could already have a four year degree at another school.. I agree, though that its great for people who are either from San Diego or move there within a year of starting college as they can get guaranteed admission, I wish I would have realized that when I was 18 or 19.

You can petition SDSU to accept your out-of-state credits. You need to really get in there and see what your options are. In the grand scheme of things waiting a year to go to the school of your choice is probably a prudent decision.