LSkaiWalk

What would be the top 10 / 15 undergrad business programs in CA?

I've already started a college list and stuff, but I'm just curious how the programs rank.

I'm a 3.25 GPA, 3.6 Weighted GPA, 3.45 UC GPA, 2010 SAT, Terrible SAT IIs (560 & 540) (good thing only UCs look at them), good public school in LA subburb, Good ECs (i have leadership, sports, good community service, and a few more things) student.

I'm looking for a sunny school, a fun social residential school that offers a good social experience, not neccessarily a party school (im not much of a partier / but like to here and there, and i like to have fun) per say, but friendly and happy students who like to have fun & have a good college experience), with a good undergraduate business program. I'm looking for a good experience. I'm a very relaxed liberal Christian, so I am considering applying to some relaxed more liberal christian / catholic colleges too. However, I like diversity, so I'm not sure..

I can afford a private education, my parents have saved quite a bit, but obviously being cheap is nice.

I'm looking at:

Probably applying:
-USC (as my mega reach)
-Cal Poly SLO
-SDSU
-U San Diego (the private catholic one)
-Loyola Marymount U
-Santa Clara
-Chapman

Maybes:
-Maybe abother Cal State like LB, Fullerton, San Bernardino, or Chico (but i dont like how they're commuters)
-UCI (but i heard not that great of a campus / social life - and super competition, only accepting like 150 spots)
-UCR (but i heard area sucks and program not that great / social life sucks.)
-Other UCs (however i dont really want to do bus economics.. which they all have instead of traditional business)
-Pepperdine (I heard unless your a super conservative you wont fit in, and its super strict, so i think i wont apply even though bus school is good and nice location)

My out of state choices that I am thinking of:
U Miami
ASU / U of A

Any other schools, preferably in CA or sunny weather, that meet my criteria that I have not added to my list that fit me?

Can you rank the schools that I have listed by my criteria? So not just that they have a good program, but that the students are happy at there experience there??

Any reccomendations??

Thanks!!

openedskittles

When you said top 10/15, my first thought was the ones in the top 10 or 15 in the nation that are located in CA and I was about to come in here with USC at the bottom of my suggestions. I guess Berkeley is out of the question, but (keep in mind, I don't know much about the UC system) wouldn't it be easier to get into UCLA than USC? Other than the three mentioned, I know nothing of the undergrad business programs in CA.

demoz

How come you're not trying for Berkeley? (Haas)

a_mom

How about Pepperdine?

Hass is really hard to get in. Freshmen admitted as prebusiness, then only 50% of Berkeley applicant accepted into Haas in junior year.

Only rank the school you listed and I've known:
USC
Santa Clara
Cal Poly SLO
SDSJ

Edit: Oh you already know Pepperdine

LSkaiWalk

kk thanks guys.

ya im considering pepperdine.

thanks. and ya i dont think i have any chance at berkely..

a_mom

You might also check UCSD, its school of management offers under business courses, and the newly added Accounting Minor starting 09-10. The major is probably BS of management or sth like that. But I'm not sure how strong is the program comparing others on your list.

mayfield7

USC is a bit of a reach, but believe me you CAN get in. Me and my friend got into 'SC and he had similiar stats to yours. His application wasn't incredible, but his essay was EXCELLENT(extremely well-written, great topic, WOW!) and he had a lot of leadership positions in his ECs. USC uses a holistic admission process.

mayfield7

In addition, you say you go to a good high school. When your secondary school report is sent in, the difficulty of your classes will compensate for your GPA. Make sure you take difficult classes in the first semester of senior year(don't overwork yourself though), get good grades first semester senior year(if your GPA >3.7 1st semester, I GUARANTEE you will get in), work on the ECs, start working on the essay NOW(topic should be posted). If you have more questions send me a private message or an e-mail through my username.

silkenfloss

I think you should consider ASU. The WP Carey School of business is really decent and some of the concentrations are amongst top 20 in the nation (CIS, Accountancy, Supply Chain Management). With your profile you will get easily accepted. ASU is fun, social, most students are pretty relaxed and easygoing. It can be a bit of a party school but if you are serious about studying it won't be much of a problem. ASU is also not super expensive compared to a lot of other schools.

LSkaiWalk

Wow, guranteed I will get in?? wow. well my hs is a pretty good public school. ranked about 50th in CA and 500th in USA. over 50 percent asain, not to be racists, but shows its pretty good..

thanks for the input though!

I'm taking 2 APs first semester sr year. and im going for a 4.0. im not taking a math though.. i did adv alg, pre calc, stats, and for senior year my options are ap calc or no math.. so i did no math cus i got Cs in pre calc and our ap calc is knwn that every single person gets a 5, it's 3 hours of work a day, and lots of people drop out its sooo hard.

im working on my ECs. Yeah i would love to go to USC. I plan on writig my essay about my travels. i've traveled to over 10 countries. 1 of them being one of the poorest in the world that i have storis about, and 1 i will talk about doing community service in one of these countries. im pretty sure i can get a strong essay.

yeah. thanks for the input! ASU is going to be my safety. im more looking into management / entrepreurship / finance though..

what is a school in my criteria that is just a tad bit easier to get into than USC? on my list there seems to be a big drop after that.

also for more info.. my class rank is like 35th or something.. i know terrible. i just found that out recently. our school might not rank though. the counselors never give you your rank, and always say they dont rank, and then i saw a glitch on our online grade software recently saying my rank.. is we dont rank, even though there is a rank, im not sure if that'll go on my apps cus that would hurt me.

any more input??

thanks everyone though!!

Kulakai

If Haas is out, I'd go in this order:

USC
USD (if you want to work in socal)
Santa Clara (if you're aiming for SF area)
Chapman (regional)

USD sounds like the best fit if you don't get into USC. Keep in mind USD does not have a strong finance program if you are leaning towards finance versus a general management, marketing, or accounting concentration etc.

LSkaiWalk

k thanks. yeah USD sounds like a great match. im more of so cal guy. thanks! im still not sure about my concentration.

nujabes29

right off the bat i noticed you meant to say : per se : not per say.

lol.

anyways, you might also want to take a look at this site; very helpful.

Business School Rankings and Profiles: EMBA, Executive Education, MBA, Part-time MBA, Distance MBA

we're sort of in the same situation. my college list is similar to yours but i want to attend an urban, big city college environment so SCU is definitely not for me. i'm favoring either USC, USD, or UCI

jook

Santa Clara isn't urban enough for you? It sounds like your in the South Bay. Why not try SJSU? I guess if you really want urban then you'll have to head to the city (San Francisco). I grew in a much smaller community than the Bay Area, so the whole area feels urban to me.

beckybfc

im after the same, an undergradute business degree in California, starting from Fall 2010. im an international student, dont know the area or the credibility of schools etc, though i am visiting in October.

The two I know I am deffos applying to are

USC - (where i want to go)
UC Riverside (not hearing good things though )

other than that I am stuck for ideas, but I want to make sure I get accepted into at least one, can anybody recommend others?

thank you