<p>QuantMech: Oh, it’s actually better/worse, depending on how you view it. The entire California school system is integrated into the public university system, as a sort of giant conveyor belt. The UC/CSU system has giant influence on what is taught at the high school level, and students must take a particular curriculum in order to be considered. But most public HS’s in CA do not provide that curriculum to the majority of their students, thus “locking them out” of the university system. CA is also very particular in requiring that students take some core required courses in CA, and again, exceptions are rare/difficult to obtain. (For example, though I have professional writing credits and upper division English coursework at other universities, I have had to take several basic English courses because the CA requirement is for ONLY X course ONLY taken in CA, ONLY taken within past 5 years, etc.) </p>
<p>I think the problem is largely that the CA system is so big, and the state is so involved in it that so much of the process is regulated at the state level, with very little room for schools themselves to be flexible. It’s both amazingly affordable and difficult to navigate.</p>