California universities that give you the real college experience?

College Search & Lists
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<p>I feel like my search for a university in my home state of California is leaving me disappointed. I have been looking for a school (preferably public, but also looking at privates) that will give me the true college experience (for example: majority of freshmen live in dorms, larger than usual amount of undergrads living on campus, known for school spirit, competitive sports program, etc). However, I keep finding that a lot of schools here (especially public schools) are commuter schools that seem to lack in school pride.</p>

<p>What California schools will give you the best college experience?</p>

2

<p>USC, Stanford, UCLA, UCB, SDSU</p>

3

<p>waitingforcal, you may feel that way because most public schools in California are way overcrowded and can feel impersonal to some degree. It’s a challenge to feel the “college experience” you express at Cal Berkeley when 11,000+ new admit letters went out for Fall 2009 and housing is so spread out around that campus.</p>

<p>It’s not that you won’t make friends on a “big campus” college, but it IS easy to feel lost in the crowd" sometimes.</p>

<p>Consider a private college with a smaller entering freshman class and smaller campus, more intimate classroom sizes, etc.</p>

4

<p>Thank you. GSPSiliconValley, that seems like a great idea. You’re right, I feel as if I would get lost in the crowd.</p>

5

<p>Without knowing your stats, it’s hard to answer. Besides the schools listed in post #2, the Claremont schools are very hard to get into, but would seem to offer a great college experience. Then there would be Santa Clara, Loyola-Marymount, Saint Mary’s, U San Diego, Redlands, Occidental, UOP, Pepperdine, Chapman,and Cal Lutheran (I’ve left off USF since it’s very urban). Of those schools, my impression is that Santa Clara has the most sports (I could be very wrong, so feel free to correct me). There’s also Cal Poly SLO for a public school.</p>

6

<p>Stanford, UC Berkeley, UCLA, USC, UCSB, UCSD and UC Irvine.</p>

7

<p>There’s a definite trade off when it comes to athletic success and school size. Some of the schools mentioned above are in the WCC (like LMU, Saint Mary’s and USD), but they’re nothing like UCLA, Stanford, USC and even UC Berkeley.</p>

<p>If you’re really concerned about getting “lost in the crowd” I think a small school would be better than some place that offers “the real college experience.”</p>

8

<p>Whittier, University of La Verne, Westmont</p>

9

<p>At UC-Santa Cruz, 47% of the students live on campus, that’s the highest percentage among the UC schools.
Also at UC-Santa Barbara, most of the students live in Isla Vista so while only 31% of the student population lives on campus, the others live in a student community.
If you’re looking for a sports school with lots of school spirit, USC would be your best bet but only 41% of students live on campus.</p>

10

<p>At the Claremont schools, the majority of students live on campus, and you get a true sense of living on a college campus. However, sports are not huge, but there are fun rivalries (Pomona Pitzer VS CMS, and also each team performs exceedingly well in certain areas.</p>

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<p>The “on campus” figures are often misleading because a lot of people live in adjacent apartments.</p>

<p>Also, it’s silly to say any one school is a “best bet.” In terms of overall sports, USC has the 3rd most championships. In the major sports, they have the best football team right now, but their basketball fan support is generally pathetic and the team itself is crumbling at the moment. All 4 schools have very good athletic programs.</p>

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<p>says the person going to UCLA who’s probably not looking forward to being beat by USC in football every year :wink: just kidding</p>

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<p>UC Davis</p>

<p>Big college + small town = “college experience”</p>

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<p>But what does that have to do with basketball? lol</p>

15

<p>Uck, I agree with you OP. As a CA resident, when I’m done with cc I want atleast half of the true college experience. I seem to find something wrong with every college here, unlike any other state with what I find “flawless” colleges (Pennsylvania and Virginia come to mind).</p>

<p>“USC, Stanford, UCLA, UCB, SDSU”
All of those are VERY difficult to get in, except SDSU which is very commutery. But if you got the stats to get in then you’d be set! </p>

<p>Where to begin with Cali. From what I’ve seen, many schools make you move off campus after fresh year (and I don’t wanna be in an apartment! dorm please!). Some are in sketchy areas. Others listed have huge numbers of asians (I don’t consider this “diverse” - if anything it’s too similar to high school!). Several are lopsided with too many females (OK - that’s being REALLY picky, but still). Nearly all CA colleges are extremely liberal, while the ones that aren’t are semi to very religious. I sadly have to eliminate UCD because the area and vibe is too similar to my hometown. I can deal with semi-religiousness as opposed to extreme liberality, I suppose. After all that - what’s left?</p>

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<p>If you like (watching) baseball, Cal State Fullerton might be a good option. I think Irvine has a good team too.</p>

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<p>Nov9th, I couldn’t agree more! I don’t want to leave California but no school seems to fit!</p>

<p>To be honest, my stats are very very average if not below. 3.4 UW, 3.7 W, 1760 (retook yesterday however, feeling pretty good about it) so most of these schools are such reaches that it’s depressing.
I’m definitely looking at CSU Long Beach and Cal Poly SLO, but SLO is only about a 20 minute drive from my house so that’s a bit of a turn off. CSULB is a big commuter school (or so I’ve heard). I’m also looking at Davis but I doubt I have the stats for that.</p>