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And this is where the culture surrounding the town in which each college is located will come into effect. SF will have a vibrant and fast paced environment for an aspiring journalist to work in. They have a great newspaper, The Foghorn, which I semi-reviewed (compared to another similar local Jesuit school) in posts 11 and 12 here: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-san-francisco/1287556-usf-admitted-student-visit-2012-a.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-san-francisco/1287556-usf-admitted-student-visit-2012-a.html</a>
They also have a website.</p>
<p>While UCSC and UCR will have great writing programs (I’ve heard more about UCSC’s than UCR’s), I’m not sure there will be as much opportunity involved with those campuses compared to SF. Technically, there will be less students as well, so less competition for those positions (unless you base it off competing with the entire city). But if they end up being cheaper that USF, then they still deserve some serious consideration.</p>
<p>There are also a lot of differences in in geographic make-up of where each of these campuses is located. USF is somewhat small (in acerage) because it’s in a condensed city. Definitely a big city feel with tons of people (off campus and right out of the immediate neighborhoods) and the bustling of busy busy. UCSC on the other hand, for example, literally feels like it’s in the middle of a forest. We saw a deer just munching on some twigs about 10 feet away from us when I went on a tour there. They have their own bus system on the campus for students to get around easier. There are more students than USF, but they’re spread out among more acerage, so it has the potential to feel like a small private. However, the city of Santa Cruz is a bit isolated (separated from the nearest major city, San Jose, by a 15-20+ mile stretch of two-lane highway, also feeling like it’s in the middle of the forest). Weekend getways would be no problem since there is public transit to take you to these farther cities, but if you wanted the opportunity for writing or journalism internships during the school year, then they may be hard to come by. I’ve never been to UCR.</p>