@“aunt bea” What would the downside be? Thank you, I will.
Look at MiraCosta Community College in Oceanside. It is just west of San Marcos. There are apartments in the area, and limited bus and sputtering E-W train possibilities maybe. You could transfer to CSU San Marcos. Housing North of the freeway, in Vista and up into the more rural parts may be passable, or you could commute from the San Luis Rey area along the 76. Going south or east may be more difficult to find reasonable rent.
Some students at UCLA will get a 1 BR and put two beds in the BR and 2 beds in the common room for cheap rent (4 in a 1 BR). There are spare rooms and granny flats around San Marcos and Vista and on into Oceanside.
CSU Channel Islands is in an affordable area around a Navy base and agricultural fields (Port Hueneme, Oxnard, Camarillo). It is in the place that is rumored to be the model for the song “Hotel California” and supposedly is the site of the Album cover photo; also the subject of Zappa’s “Camarillo Brillo”. Converted from an old mental hospital.
CSULA is possible, but may not be the most pleasant experience possible compared to the other schools. Some parts of Boyle Heights, if you choose the right block, may be a good place to rent, or just up the hill from Lincoln Park, towards the 110 freeway.
You really may find some luck in applying to a private school such as Cal Lutheran, Soka, or perhaps even Chapman. Check out available scholarship money. You may (or may not) be surprised. Have you thought about going through Questbridge.org for some guidance?
Unfortunately, the downside is the town of “Bakersfield”. My brother lives there. It’s a pit stop on the way to Inland Northern California (the Sierra’s-Yosemite, Sequoia, Sacramento, and Lake Tahoe). We spend the night there before driving another 6 hours north to the Davis/Sacramento area. (DD goes to UC Davis)
It’s a farming community several hours north of LA. It’s mostly highland, flat, dry desert with tons of dairies, vegetable farms, produce trains, trucking stations, oil companies, and manufacturing plants so there are jobs there. (BTW: Great fresh fruit is awesome in their grocery stores, we tend to wash the fruit REALLY WELL) This is a huge farming community that is largely hispanic. It has the worst air quality in the nation because of the oil derricks, the pesticides and desert “tornados” formed from the farmers kicking up the dirt with their tractors.
But for the most part, it’s a relatively safe area. Rents are very cheap and the places are clean but can be old. They are building in a lot of new areas, so there are newer neighborhoods and schools by my brother’s place. Temperatures do get to extremes: summer can get to 110-120 degrees and hotter. Winter is somewhat wet and gets down to the high 20’s in the same day (that’s cold for us native Californians)!
CSU Bakersfield, however is a good school and it might be really affordable for you. You need to know that it is NOT near any beach but there are a lot of whitewater rafting trips on the Kern River and all of the mountain stuff just north.
I do have to say that I would recommend the town of Bakersfield over Merced. Everyone drives through Bakersfield at one point or other, so watch that speedometer 'cause lots of people get ticketed in Bakersfield.
If you want to stay cheap, you have to go inland: Fresno, Stanislaus, Bakersfield.
San Bernardino might not be that cheap. Not sure about party school Chico. http://www.calstate.edu/search_find/campus.shtml
Now that you’ve told us you plan to attend grad school, you’ve added an extra 2-3 years of tuition to your plan.
I see that at CSULA, Social Work is impacted for 2016-2017 http://www.calstate.edu/sas/impactionsearch/
and you’ll be subject to additional admission criteria. The Sociology major at any other CSU or CC would be a good alternative and you can apply for the MSW program afterwards.
To save money, I still suggest attending a CC. Your estimate is incorrect, however. The $23K probably included housing estimates. I have a friend’s DD, OOS like you, coming over to attend Orange Coast College (CC), and her budget including room and board, (living by herself) is $25K. The tuition portion as I mentioned, is ~$11K.
We have an excellent transfer system from our CCs - my DD did it. Classes at CCs are smaller. You can go to multiple CCs to meet your prerequisites for transfer. Should you decide this route, I believe, if you transfer to a CSU, you’re still considered a nonresident for tuition as you complete your BA.
If you are interested in CCs, I can recommend that all the Orange County CCs are in good to excellent areas.
@ItsJustSchool At MiraCosta, my net price is 21K. So, with the Pell Grant, that’d be 16K. That is pretty high for a CC, but not terrible. I didn’t think I had the test scores for a low tuition at a private school, but I’m checking them out now. Cal Lutheran: 39K before loans, 12K after. At Soka, I’d be eligible for free tuition! Unfortunately, they don’t have my major, but they’ll add more as more students attend. For Questbridge, I’d need better scores. Still, thanks so much!
@aunt bea I think I’d be happier in a city, although I don’t have to be right next to the beach. I don’t think I could deal with 120 in summer, either! Would UC Merced be a good match?
Summers are hot in Merced…(100+ is not uncommon) besides, I don’t think you’d make it in.
With your stats, you’ll need to look at the non-impacted campuses - which looks to be an ever shrinking list. If you want temperate and urban, East Bay is probably worth a look. Channel Island is a bit isolated from the SoCal madness (many think that’s a good thing)
Channel Islands is about 3 miles outside of the town of Camarillo, pop. 70,000. To save on parking you can park at the train station in town and take the bus to campus- I think it’s around $25 per semester, but you can use buses all around Ventura County for that. Camarillo rents are not cheap but you might be able to find people to double up with to reduce costs. The town is fairly slow but is close enough to Santa Barbara, Ventura and LA if you need more to do. Campus is in a gorgeous setting and is very close to the beach. The fairly new campus has been able to bring in a high caliber of instructors as this is a very desirable place to live- pretty perfect weather, beaches nearby, and close to a lot of bigger cities. We also have one of the biggest outlet malls in CA. The campus is still small but as a result you will get a lot of personal attention.
Issue with Channel Islands is that there is no Social Work undergrad major for the OP. I sent her a CSU major matrix which shows the campuses that offer the BSW.
OP if you can get your scores up a bit, you might have a decent chance at Cal Poly Pomona. Good Location, nice campus and safe neighborhoods of Diamond Bar, Covina, West Covina, San Dimas and La Verne for housing.
You may want to expand upon your undergraduate major, since MSW is ultimately required for a job. What would you need in order to transition to a MSW? What undergraduate degree is acceptable preparation for a MSW? For example, at Soka you get a BA in Liberal Arts with a concentration in . Might work? You may want to try the ACT- higher scores will help, of course!
At CSU CI (colloquially called “C”-Suckey), you could drive in from nearby Oxnard, which has its low-rent regions and is cheaper than Camarillo.
There are lots of privates around. Perhaps check out University La Verna. Located close to Cal Poly Pomona.
Whittier College maybe?
MSW is a popular degree, I would guess lots of students do not have a BSW. I bet you’d find lots of psychology, sociology, etc. majors in the MSW programs.
I have to agree with @NCalRent. UC Merced is hot and smelly.
It gets the high stat kids who only chose to apply to one or two other UCs (like Berkeley and LA) and are surprised, after not being admitted, that their only options are CCs or MERCED.
FYI: The towns of Merced and Stanilaus are a lot smaller than Bakersfield. Fresno is bigger. (Fresno is too industrial for my tastes but it does have an active student population.)
Even with all of that, I would still choose Bakersfield over Merced.
The inland universities are going to be a lot cheaper in rent and cost of living so this is
why I would choose Bakersfield:
The people are really friendly. Lots of families.
Lots of outdoor activities year round.
Concerts do come to Bakersfield. La radio stations are accessible.
Movie theaters, good taco trucks and catering. Medical facilities.
Lots of cheap shopping (TARGET, SAVE MART, etc.) and outlet malls. Cheap air conditioning everywhere!
Costco is on the same highway as CSU Bakersfield.
Access to LA, San Francisco, and Sequoia in less than a day.
Sister in law liked CSU Bakersfield and feels she got lots of individual support and small grants.
They also have farmers (with their own helicopters!) who support independent scholarships at CSU Bakersfield.
The weather is a major issue,as it is with all of the inland empire.
You’ll have to visit.
Look into the privates and check out more of the CSUs
@ItsJustSchool I’m definitely planning on a MSW, I know it’s required. Im not sure if Soka’s LAMs would work, I’ll check them out. I’ve heard the ACT is highly math, which I’m TERRIBLE at. (Is this true)? I’m a great reader, which is why I took the SAT.
@arc918 I have been looking at Whittier. A MSW is required for a social worker, I just thought it’d be easier not to transfer. Thanks.
@aunt bea Thank you! I’ll definitely look into Bakersfield when I visit.
@auntbea @gumbymom @happy2help I just learned that in 2016, CSULA is opening a downtown campus! I’m not sure if they have associate/bachelor classes, but they will have MSW classes. So, at least for graduate school, I won’t have to worry about the bad location.
Yes DTLA has been described in my alumni newsletter. DTLA is in an interesting location of downtown. The garment district is blocks away. I suspect parking rates will be high. It’s a mile away from the homeless encampments, yet close to the Metrolink stations.
The downtown CSULA satellite location is initially planned to service older workers with continuing education and professional development classes. Hopefully, they will host a full MSW curriculum by the time you need it. DTLA is enjoying a renaissance, and rents are very high. However, the Metrolink expansion allows pretty easy access from a growing slice of the city, from Woodland Hills in the West Valley to Pasadena and soon beyond Miracle Mile to West LA.