Seattle or California for college student? (Starbuck: fit in, apartment, rent)

[DomiDom]

Hello I was looking to transfer to an out of state out of state school. I am looking at Seattle Central Community College & Santa Monica College. Know I now that I will have to establish residency for tuition reasons. I am working now so I am able to save money during this time & im taking basic classes at my local community college, Also looking for a job I have work history at Safeway,Forever 21, Barnes & Nobles & Six Flags. Easy to find a part time or full time job find maybe student housing I see some for 900 some for 1200 and go on there website to find roommates or someone looking for roommates & save my money again, gain residency maybe take one or two classes in the years time of gaining residency depending on how much I save or how much i should save? (I am mostly likely going to come into a large sum of money)Is a year a good time to save enought money? Then apply to school for lesser tuition.I really want to be in a city enviroment, Between the both I really want to go to SEATTLE! I see things like rent are higher in California & things like groceries are cheaper there also. I will also be eligible for financial aid at a lesser tuition.Would Seattle or California be a good place for 19/20 year old (i guess it would depend on what im looking for) I want to major in Marketing & Communication (i want to get into advertising management) which city is better for this career field this is where (I really want to start fresh & new) I'm not staying where im at so please dont say just stay in this horrible place.(Maryland) maybe make new friends( i don't talk to anyone i used to talk to here anymore) HAVE A LIFE, GAIN SOME INDEPENDENCY, START NEW. If anyone has moved away from home went to school in another state please message me I really have nobody to talk to about this

[evergraystate]

Why waste your youth in Seattle?

[sidewaysvulture]

I grew up in LA and went to Santa Monica College before transferring and getting my degree at University of California, San Diego. Now I have a great job in Seattle and love being here.

For starters, I would suggest taking evergreystate with a grain of salt, not everyone finds Seattle to be their cup of tea and in that evergreystate is not unique. However, I am a transplant that loves Seattle and so do many other people I know...Seattle can be polarizing but it's really up to you to do the research (and visit in the winter if you can) to find out if Seattle might work for you. Personally I wish I had found Seattle when I was younger but that is me. Regardless, it sounds like you are young enough that if you are sick of it after college you can move

If you go to school in Seattle proper and you live in Seattle proper (and if you are young that will most likely be Capitol Hill or the University District) you will have lots to do. It's no big city but it is one with quality stuff happening on a regular basis if you know where to look. For myself, as a foodie, this city has lots of affordable awesome food (as compared to LA or SF - which has a lot of unaffordable awesome food). If you stay in the city it is very walkable and as a student you will not need to have a car. Lots of awesome parks, lots of neat bars and restaurants, and lots of smart people (and more dogs then kids...no joke). I love Seattle and wish I had discovered it sooner in my life...

With that said, Santa Monica College is an awesome community college. It has major respect from a lot of big Universities and transferring from there to a top 4 year university is not too difficult. The WA schools might be the same but I haven't had any experience with them so I could not say from personal experience. The big downside for LA (and SMC) is cost of living...I had parents to live with while I was going there but I can't imagine trying to go to that school and pay for my own place if my parents couldn't help me out.

[phoenixmike11]

I do not know about the quality of colleges but like the previous poster stated-in central Seattle you will not need a car (its very walkable (decent public transit), lots of college students in the city (University of Wash is in the city), it somewhat cheaper than LA (although still expensive) and there are plenty of things to do here. There are a lot of corporations downtown like Amazon, Starbucks etc in downtown as well

[xcalgal]

My two cents for what it is worth: I agree with Phoenixmike11 about things to do in Seattle and the ability to get around with public transportation. I love Seattle. That said, Santa Monica is so much fun for young people. You can just sit and watch the beautiful people roller blading (gosh do they still do that?), go to the beach, wear shorts and flip flops year around, and people actually want to socialize and have FUN. Also, once you get through the community college system, there are SO MANY great colleges for which you would be a resident thereafter. Your options for a 4 year college are so much better. The downsides are that LA is so incredibly spread out and it takes ages to get anywhere. Also, Santa Monica opened their city to lots of public assistance and with the perfect weather, the place is populated with the largest homeless population that I have ever seen although maybe that has changed since I was there 10 years ago. SMCC is also a commuter college so I would imagine most students drive there and then drive home. That can be difficult for those looking to socialize. Best of luck on your choice.

[spotlesseden]

i would go with Santa Monica College. I'm from CA, living in Seattle area right now.

[DomiDom]

Thankyou all so much for all your input! I really looked at Seattle because alot of the shared apartment are cheaper. I really love California also might be easier to make friends since I'll be comming alone. Easy to make friends in seattle?

[mtestify]

I actually went to SSCC and it's a really great school. SSCC has a verrrrry, very high number of Asian international students. Capitol, where the school is located, is very hipster; better yet it's starting to look like the entire city is hipster. Everyone is pretty easy going, and friendly. But I can't say that it's a Seattle thing, since everyone I know here is a transplant, including myself. Since the Seattle area isn't that grand it's easy to figure things out, public transportation is great. Also if you're planning to transfer to a 4 year college University of Washington has a great reputation. There are a lot of hiking trails, biking trails, snowboarding/skiing opportunities. So, Seattle is nice if you're into the outdoors. The city is very liberal so there's always some sort of protesting or strike going on. Things start closing around 8pm; so that can be annoying... Overall Seattle is a safe city and you'll fit in no matter who you are.

[xcalgal]

Originally Posted by DomiDom

Thankyou all so much for all your input! I really looked at Seattle because alot of the shared apartment are cheaper. I really love California also might be easier to make friends since I'll be comming alone. Easy to make friends in seattle?

Easy to make friends in Seattle? Most people would say no. The College environment and working in the places you mentioned may make it easier. Once you make friends, there is lots to do. Do you have hobbies you can do in 9 months of rain?

[415_s2k]

Originally Posted by mtestify

I actually went to SSCC and it's a really great school. SSCC has a verrrrry, very high number of Asian international students. Capitol, where the school is located, is very hipster; better yet it's starting to look like the entire city is hipster. Everyone is pretty easy going, and friendly. But I can't say that it's a Seattle thing, since everyone I know here is a transplant, including myself. Since the Seattle area isn't that grand it's easy to figure things out, public transportation is great. Also if you're planning to transfer to a 4 year college University of Washington has a great reputation. There are a lot of hiking trails, biking trails, snowboarding/skiing opportunities. So, Seattle is nice if you're into the outdoors. The city is very liberal so there's always some sort of protesting or strike going on. Things start closing around 8pm; so that can be annoying... Overall Seattle is a safe city and you'll fit in no matter who you are.

SSCC and also NSCC up in North Seattle are great schools (FWIW, NSCC was my dad's first stop on a path that led to a master's at Yale and doctorate at Harvard, and he's said that a few of the professors he had there were vastly more talented and engaging than the ones he had in the Ivy League). I took classes at both to bide time when I lived in the areas and meet girls, and found that the quality of the classes was pretty good overall, and SMC has a huge number of foreign, Asian students - it feels like you're walking through Seoul between classes. My Japanese class was 75% Korean, my music theory class was 50% Korean....

The COL in Seattle is lower overall, though generally speaking, wages from working are lower and food is more expensive, so for me, it balanced out so that I was actually coming out better living in Venice (just south of Santa Monica) and working in Santa Monica than I was living in Seattle. A lot of it depends on how you balance your life and whatnot, as well

All this said, Santa Monica is just about the most expensive place after Beverly Hills or any of the exclusive hilly communities to live in here in LA. You could get a decent studio in a decent part of Seattle for what you'd pay to share one of three rooms in Santa Monica. I'd look on Craigslist and try to find some deals. You get what you pay for in terms of weather, nightlife (Santa Monica has its own condensed nightlife separate from Hollywood, DTLA, etc), shopping and dining... whether it's worth it to you is a question only you'll be able to answer, ultimately.

If at all possible, I'd try to visit both cities, and definitely visit Seattle in the winter. Summers in Seattle are gorgeous but are very misleading - you won't see any weather even approaching that for 9 months out of the year, while in LA, it's pretty consistently sunny, just a bit cooler in the winter. In many ways, they couldn't be more different - though IMHO, Las Vegas is the inverse of Seattle, a 180 if you will, Los Angeles is about a 150.