<p>HI–I’ve never been to California, but my son (11th grade) is really excited about looking at colleges there. I’m planning a spring trip–but don’t know how to help him decide where to visit. He reads the descriptions, but it’s hard to see the difference among all the Universities of California. </p>
<p>Based on last year’s PSAT scores, he might get 700s or higher on math and verbal SATs, has a B average, gets along great with kids and teachers at school, but doesn’t love many classes other than math.</p>
<p>And he is great at ultimate frisbee.</p>
<p>Does anyone have advice about how to go about deciding which CA schools to focus on? Thanks so much for any help.</p>
<p>Is he interested in Privates or Publics or LACs? </p>
<p>One suggested itinerary (assuming Universities and not LACs) would be Berkeley, Stanford, and UCSC in Northern California and UCLA, USC, and UCI in Southern California.</p>
<p>Of course, if he is interested in surfing, he may want to swap UCI for UCSB or UCSD.</p>
<p>As for Ultimate, my S has played on the Berkeley team. And, UCSC, UCD, UCSB, and UCSD have teams</p>
<p>With a B average and o.o.s., he’s not a likely admit for UCB, UCLA, or Stanford. Though Stanford’s campus is so spectacular that it’s worth a visit anyway if you’re in the area.</p>
<p>Junebug, the UCs are public which means if your son attends from out of state, the cost is nearly double the instate cost. I think it is an EXTRA $18k for OOS fees. So, it had better be worth it for a very valid reason. If I were going to consider paying that amount, I would want to be looking at privates in hopes of getting more attention. He could possibly qualify for financial aid, but still it is a huge fee.</p>
<p>There are many campuses in both NorCal & SoCal. Most people consider Berkeley (aka Berzerkely) and UCLA to be the flagship campuses. It is very difficult to get in, each is in a city area, no car is a possibility, Berkeley is more hippy-blue collar in feel and UCLA is more yuppie in feel.</p>
<p>UCSD & UCSB are both on/near the beach. UCSB has more of a fun-loving reputation whilst UCSD has more of a serious student reputation. I do not know about the viability of no car. </p>
<p>UCI is near the beach (Newport Beach is very close and many students live there after their first year), you need a car and there is a real commuter campus feel. UCD is inland and I think has enough village feel you would not have to have a car, but I have not been there lately.</p>
<p>UCSC is near the beach and has had a different style of admissions. Car? I don’t know?</p>
<p>UCR is inland, about an hour from the beach (plus traffic) and you would likely want a car.</p>
<p>Merced is totally inland and brand new, so much smaller, but less “cool” simply because it is new and not on the beach.</p>
<p>What about Chapman in Orange County or University of San Diego (Private) or University of Santa Clara? There are many small privates that could be an attractive option.</p>
<p>Definitely come visit. The different UC campuse have different feels about them. The top three are typically considered to be UCB, UCLA, UCSD although they all offer a great education. Besides the UCs, there are many CalState campuses as well. There are also many privates.</p>
<p>I can offer more specific info on UCSD and UCLA if you’d like to PM me with your questions.</p>
<p>What does he want to major in? Is money an issue? If you are looking for financial aid, it would influence where I would look. I would agree with the above posters that the UCs might be a reach. What about Chapman, Pepperdine, Loyola Marymount, etc. etc.</p>
<p>Junebug, the U of C’s weight grades a lot more heavily than SATs. If you look at the GPAs of the admitted students at the different campuses, the average for Berkeley and UCLA is well over 4.1; UCSD is about 4.0, Davis, Santa Barbara and Irvine are all around 3.6 - 3.7, etc. Unfortunately a B (3.0) average is pretty much a no go for any of the UC’s except for Riverside, Merced and maybe Santa Cruz regardless of how high his SAT scores are, although strong grades this year could open some of the others up. UC only looks at Sophomore and Junior year grades and does weight AP and IB classes. If he’s strong in math, science and engineering he might want to look at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo - cute college town a half hour from the beach, very well respected engineering department, etc. San Diego State is strong in business and is about 8 miles from the beach, and not quite as pricey as the UCs for out of state.</p>
<p>Being out of state there are lots of private schools you might want to look at - Loyola, Pepperdine, and USD come to mind in the south; Santa Clara, USF, UOP and St. Marys in the north. And the there are the LAC’s, but I don’t know too much about them. USC is a reach for most students, but the tour is worth the trip Highly recommended!</p>
<p>Junebug, one other comment. I have noticed a lot of posts from OOS kids about UCs where they did not take the required courses and then were surprised when they couldn’t apply. If he does decide to apply to a UC check out the specific requirements, including a visual or performing arts class…</p>
<p>thanks so much for your help. Yours and the other comments have given me a much clearer idea–definitely seems that he should look at the private schools there.</p>
<p>Math and ultimate frisbee — should definitely look at Harvey Mudd in the Claremont Colleges! B average might make this school a real stretch…but should at least visit the Claremont Colleges.</p>
<p>Pitzer would probably be a better target for the Claremont Colleges… and I haven’t seen anyone mention Occidental yet. If the PSAT scores are NMS qualifying, then he should definitely check out USC, which offers half-tuition scholarships to NM finalists.</p>
<p>I agree with the others that the UC system is a needless extravagance for out-of-staters – well worth the in-state tuition, but it makes no sense to pick up the cost of OOS tuition.</p>
<p>Your son may do better if he considers some neighboring states. If he wants west coast, then he should definitely check out colleges in Washington & Oregon… Lewis & Clark, Whitman, etc. If he is looking for warmth & sunshine, then he might be interested in Arizona where, unlike California, out-of-state tuition is more likely to be waived for a kid with high test scores (free ride + a stipend to NMS finalists at ASU).</p>
<p>Beautiful small town on the ocean in kind of central California.
I always smile when people have an appreciation for our state!<br>
Also–is it California per se, or the west coast that he wants? Because Oregon and Washington have a number of wonderful private colleges too. Rain is the difference, I think…</p>
<p>hi–what a great list I’llhave to give my son to look at. And how kind of you and the others to take the time to respond. //I think he’s interested in the west coast in general bc people there seem to do more outside than here in western PA. The qq is how many places we could visit in one trip.</p>