I am working towards an automatic full ride scholarship at Louisiana Tech and I’m from California. I did like it there but people keep telling me that I should just go to a UC because it’s more worth it even if I have to pay. I am unsure if I am going to move back to CA for work but I want to be a high school chemistry teacher. What should I do?
UC is a very ambiguous term that people sometimes throw around like, “Oh yeah just go to a UC” as if they were all the same. There’s a big difference between UCR and UCB. Since you’re from cali you qualify for instate tuition, so any of the UCs will actually be pretty cheap. But ultimately it depends on which one. If you’re talking about full price UCSC vs full ride LTech, I’d go with LTech. However, replace UCSC with UCB or UCLA, and it may be worth it to go to that school over LTech as long as it’s not a massive burden for your family. However, if LTech is where you’d be happiest, go with that if it’s all paid off.
Would picking LA Tech over a UC affect my job opportunities? People say a UC education is exceptional and I am not sure if it will really be that different from LA Tech. I definitely agree that not all UCs are that amazing even if they hold a UC title. @gdlt234
It depends on where you want to work. If you want to work in california, I don’t think LTech is very well known, however this doesn’t mean you can’t get a job, just maybe not the one you want the most. I’m not sure about LTech’s reputation elsewhere, but I’d assume it’s a lot better in Louisiana. Likewise a UC will probably mean better job opportunities in California, and if you go to a big name like UCB or UCLA you’d probably be set for jobs wherever you’d like.
@gdlt234 what about to be a teacher? Does the name matter to be a high school teacher? & what types of students thrive in a UCLA or UCB environment. I’m very shy, hence why I wanted a smaller school like LAT.
At my high school, most teachers come from Eastern Washington University of Washington State University. My history teacher (who went to Gonzaga University) told me when he was interviewed, he was basically given the job right there when he told them where he went to school. Not saying that happens all the time, but names can carry weight.
Both UCB and UCLA are large schools. UCB usually has somewhat of an activist reputation, whereas UCLA is very very social. But the way I see it is, you can always make a large school small, but you can’t make a small school big.