From Italy to Cali (there is a hope) (San Diego, Long Beach: transferring to, movies)

[Lombard-i]

Hi everybody!
(i'm sorry for having posted here.. but i didn't find the right place...and i apologize for any grammatical mistakes i did/will do )

I'm an Italian guy and i'm planning to go there in California to study in 1 year now.I have to choose a community college but there is a huge variety.

these are the colleges I took a look at:

Santa Monica Community College
Santa Barbara City College
San Diego City College
San Diego Mesa College
Long Beach City College
Golden West College (Huntington Beach)

What college among these would you suggest me to go?
What would be the best one for a guy coming from a village of 700 inhabitants(actually i'm an everyday commuter from a 30.000 inhabitants city)?

The cost of each college are almost the same...so i have to decide considering other factors
i noticed that the average climate of california is similar to the italian one....a sort of a Mediterranean climate...maybe more arid in some areas.

[apollyoncruiser]

I think you should figure out if you want to live in Santa Barbara, LA, Long Beach or San Diego. These are the places where the school choices are.

Santa Barbara is very upscale, quite posh. Very expensive.
LA is urban, mixed economic status. Expensive but manageable. Long Beach, is about the same as LA but somewhat lesser. San Diego is ok but it's not LA! (I'm partial)

Consider if you'll have a car or if you will have take public transportation. LA is a very big area and if you're not living right at your schools dorm, getting back and forth to handle your all business and personal affairs can be a challenge.

Will you have access to transportation when you need to go grocery shopping, the movies, out on a date, etc? Consider what things you'd like to do a way from school. What's available in the 4 places? What's the nightlife like? Is there an Italian community there? Which school seems to have a diverse faculty and roster.

The weather is somewhat cooler the further north one goes so Santa Barbara may be degrees below LA's temperature.

Where ever you decide be sure to think hard about the transportion part of the equation. LA is not a great public transit city. I have no knowledge of San Diego or Santa Barbara's provisions for public transit.

[UB50]

What do you plan to study? I would think that would be the most important thing.

[Chatteress]

Keep in mind that if you were to attend any community college in California, you will have to pay the international student rate. Also, these colleges only offer two year associate's degrees and certificates. If you are looking for a 4-year bachelors degree, you would need to transfer to a university which would be costlier especially given that you are an international student. As another poster stated - the major you select should be factored heavily into the decision you make. You also want to realize that these schools are not all within the LA area (only Santa Monica and Long Beach are within LA County). You also want to research the area you would like to live in. Also, if you are looking in terms of transferring to a CSU or UC campus, you might also wish to consider attending a community college within that campus service area to increase your odds of getting accepted.