Think about moving to CA and need some advice! (Los Angeles: extended stay, rent)

[ck201014]

Hi. I am a high school senior and I live in Ohio. I plan on attending college in the fall, and I applied to a few Ohio and PA colleges. But, I've always wanted to live in California, and was thinking that college could be my way to get there.

There are many reasons I want to live in California. I am in dire need of warm weather! That is one of my main reasons for wanting to live in CA. Also, I really want to try out big city life, as opposed to the small town I live in here in Ohio. I just need a lifestyle change; I feel like I am not meant to live in wintery, boring Ohio. I want to meet diverse, interesting people, visit new places, and most of all I want sunshine 24/7!

So, I am wondering if anyone from CA can help me out. I don't know anything about your state or your univerisities, I need some insight. What colleges/universities would be the best to apply to in California? I have a 3.4 GPA, 23 ACT. I'm a decent to average student, so I need to find universities that will accept me.
Please help me out! Thank you so much!

[sll3454]

Does it matter what the tuition is? Do you have an idea what you want to study?

[ck201014]

I would like the tuition to be lower than $30,000. I want to study psychology, to become a clinical psychologist. My goal is to open my own practice someday in California, but we'll see. That's many years away!

[Island_OnThe_Land]

California has some very good public and private colleges.

The public colleges include TWO systems:
1) the UNIVERSITY of CALIFORNIA which are regarded as the best PUBLIC universities in the state.
2) the CALIFORNIA STATE SCHOOLS...not as prestigous as the Univ. of Calif. system but still GOOD.

The University of California schools include: UC Berkley, UCLA, UC San Diego, UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine, UC Santa Cruz, UC Riverside, UC Merced. Of these, the best are Berkeley, UCLA, and UC San Diego.

The Cal. State System has more to choose from and are easier to get into.

California ALSO has some very good PRIVATE schools: Stanford, Cal Tech, USC, Occidental College (where Pres. Obama attended for 2 yrs before transferring), and the Claremont Colleges which include Pomona College, Claremont McKenna, and a few others whose names I don't recall.

I am far removed from my college days so can't tell you for sure what your chances are but UCLA and BERKELEY are VERY DIFFICULT to get into. But you have good enough grades/marks that I think you could get into one of the other Univ. of Calif. schools.

[sll3454]

The Largest Universities in Southern California
(Student Population)
from education-portal.com
1 University of California, Los Angeles 37,476
2 California State University, Fullerton 37,130
3 California State University, Long Beach 36,868
4 San Diego State University, San Diego 35,695
5 California State University, Northridge 35,446
6 University of Southern California 33,408
7 University of San Diego 27,020
8 University of California, Irvine 26,483
9 National University 26,363
10 California State Polytechnic University, Pomona 21,477
11 University of California, Santa Barbara 21,410
12 California State University, Los Angeles 21,051
13 University of California, Riverside 17,187
14 California State University, San Bernardino 17,066
15 California State University, Dominguez Hills 12,082
16 California State University, San Marcos 9,159
17 Loyola Marymount University 8,977
18 Azusa Pacific University 8,084
19 Pepperdine University 7,582
20 University of San Diego 7,504


Your high school should be able to help you find universities that would be good possibilities for you.

[Lifeshadower]

Originally Posted by ck201014

Hi. I am a high school senior and I live in Ohio. I plan on attending college in the fall, and I applied to a few Ohio and PA colleges. But, I've always wanted to live in California, and was thinking that college could be my way to get there.

There are many reasons I want to live in California. I am in dire need of warm weather! That is one of my main reasons for wanting to live in CA. Also, I really want to try out big city life, as opposed to the small town I live in here in Ohio. I just need a lifestyle change; I feel like I am not meant to live in wintery, boring Ohio. I want to meet diverse, interesting people, visit new places, and most of all I want sunshine 24/7!

So, I am wondering if anyone from CA can help me out. I don't know anything about your state or your univerisities, I need some insight. What colleges/universities would be the best to apply to in California? I have a 3.4 GPA, 23 ACT. I'm a decent to average student, so I need to find universities that will accept me.
Please help me out! Thank you so much!

Hello! I just graduated from college in December, so I can help you greatly.

First off, what do you plan to study in college? This question is probably the most important thing you need to ask yourself, because this will dictate how your lifestyle will be no matter which university you go to. If you're doing hard sciences/math/engineering, you won't be probably out as much enjoying the weather since you will be in class/lab most of the day.

Second of all, is that 3.4 GPA weighted or unweighted? If its weighted, you're looking at state schools (Cal States) in California. There is almost ALWAYS priority enrollment for California residents, and for most UC's, it's still difficult to get in. The only real UC you can get into as an OOS is UC Merced, which is 280 miles north of Los Angeles and 150 miles east of San Francisco in the Central Valley (agricultural community, very hot in the summer, mild but chillly winters. Pretty sure that's not what you had in mind when you thought of California)

University of California - Admissions (http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/undergrad_adm/selecting/camp_profiles/camp_profiles_ucm.html - broken link)
University of California - Admissions (http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/undergrad_adm/selecting/camp_profiles.html - broken link)

You could probably get into most Cal States, but be warned that due to budget cuts, enrollment is impacted and you may find it difficult to get into even the most basic general education classes.

CSU Impacted Campuses and Programs | Student Academic Support | CSU

As an OOS student going to any public university in California, you are looking at a hefty price tag as well, since they all charge non-resident fees. To be honest, I don't know if its worth the price.

As for private universities...well, most of the major ones won't accept you because your stats are too low (Claremont Colleges, Stanford, USC, CalTech), unless you are some super duper athlete, then Stanford or USC might take ya

My advice: If you really want to go to college in California (like your heart is really set on it), you would have to enroll in Community College first and rent out a place wherever you want to live. However, during this time, you could also gain residency in California, so when you apply to transfer to a university, you would pay a whole lot less and probably get into a lot better schools. A bunch of my friends were failing students in high school, and ended up transferring to UCLA or UC Berkeley. All is not lost!

Think about these questions: what university do you want to go to? where in California do you want to live? Is living here worth that much sacrifice?

[Charles]

Originally Posted by ck201014

I would like the tuition to be lower than $30,000. I want to study psychology, to become a clinical psychologist. My goal is to open my own practice someday in California, but we'll see. That's many years away!

My wife is a clinical psychologist who practiced in Southern California. Are you familiar with insurance coverage for private practice psychologists? Can you justify your service above an LCSW? Are you familiar with what the competition for business will be like? Tuition of $30K per year X 8 years is $240K, is that OK?

[sll3454]

If you're open to attending a Christian University you might take a look at Azusa Pacific.
A Top Christian College in Southern California - Azusa Pacific University

[Melissa R.]

I'm not sure how it is now, but I know when I was looking into California colleges years ago, most of them required the SAT instead of the ACT so you might want to do some research on that. I would also advise visiting Los Angeles multiple times for as long as possible before even thinking of moving here. Find an extended stay (there is one close to the airport) that rents rooms weekly and get a feel for the city.

[ck201014]

Thank you so much for all of your replies! I'm still looking around at colleges in different states, but I really do love California. I'm not sure what I am going to do. I have looked at Azusa, thank you for the suggestion. I said I wanted tuition to be lower than $30,000, so I am okay with low thousands to mid $20,000. To lifeshadower: I plan on studying psychology, my GPA is unweighted, I understand my stats are lower than what some universities want to accept (UCLA etc), but I'm not a failing student and it is kind of insulting for me to go to a community college--but I understand your suggestion. I'm still researching many colleges and I've been accepted to a few around where I live..so we'll see. Thanks again!