The difference between US News’ “national” and “regional” classification has nothing to do with geography.
So called “regional” universities correspond to the Carnegie Classification of “Masters” Universities - which confer graduate graduate degrees, but not enough doctoral degrees to be categorized as a “Research” University.
I would recommend deciding on the attributes of the particular programs you are interested in, rather than the number of doctoral degrees awarded at the university level.
@liaxdraws , what is it about the CA schools that you like? You may be able to find that in a different “package” including a private that offers merit aid. But I’ll agree with everyone here that Rutgers is a great option.
It’s a very good school (as is TCNJ). Many very bright kids go there, including ones with much more “prestigious” but expensive options. We routinely hire folks out of their excellent grad programs. But for all the posters here who are NOT from NJ, I’m guessing that OP views it as “mediocre” on the basis that so many of his/her not so exceptional classmates are headed there. That , at least, is the opinion of many of the local kids in our area. They judge the school not by what it offers, but by their perception of the students they see headed there. Not saying it’s right or that I agree, just sayin’… I think that’s how a lot of in-state schools lose their luster for in-state students. The OOS schools seem much more selective. Any school will be what you make of it, so dig a little deeper before you write it off.
I’m not sure if this applies to the OP, but many students want to go to school in California for a few reasons. They see California as having the perfect sunny weather, beautiful people, pretty beaches and being the best place for young adults to have fun. If the OP wants to go to school in California for these reason, they should consider applying to some universities in Florida. Florida schools have cheaper prices for OOS students
True, there are not that many blond people in California. There are lots of brown people in California, but that tends to be more of a year round coloration than a seasonal one. California has relatively lower rates of smoking and obesity compared to other states, although New Jersey is not that much worse.
The difficulty in graduating in 4 years is something that many people fail to take into account when looking at UCs. To be safe, you really need to add 20% - 25% to your budget for the cost of a degree. If you’re lucky you can make up the slack at a CC summer school near home, thus saving a lot of money, but that limits your ability to take potentially valuable summer internships.
Why do people think it is so difficult to graduate in 4 years at a UC (compared to the same student at other colleges)?
It does appear that UCs generally have slightly higher 4 (and 5 and 6) year graduation rates than expected due to frosh characteristics (like HS GPA and test scores), despite having relatively high percentages of students on Pell grants who presumably have to work part time to help pay for school.
I’m just going by what I hear from kids returning home from UCs over the past few summers. Many of them are reporting difficulty getting the classes they need to graduate in time. It may be that their majors are impacted or just factors of their specific campuses. Or maybe they’re just stressing as high achieving kids will do. My knowledge is anecdotal but it’s definitely something that parents around here are talking about.
@GreenTeaFanatic and North Carolina publics!! Great weather and excellent prices! Not to mention an absolutely world-class education at all of the state’s fantastic public options! 
What makes one English department better than another?
I would not be surprised if they were too picky about not wanting to take the 8am sections or some such, or because they did not pay attention to the sequencing for their major requirements, or because they were too picky about which breadth or free electives to take, or because they changed their majors late. Remember, many people like to blame external factors for problems of their own making.
Majors are restricted or impacted specifically to avoid exceeding departmental capacity to offer the courses needed by students in majors that need them. I.e. they will not let more students into the major than they can provide space in the needed courses for.
@LBad96 Yeah, North Carolina has some very good options. UNC Chapel Hill, North Carolina State and UNC Charlotte are great. Although, UNC Chapel is pretty pricey for OOS students ($50,000 per year). I’m not familiar with North Carolina weather, but does it snow in NC?
@GreenTeaFanatic don’t forget UNC Wilmington, Appalachian State, and UNC Asheville!! All of which are academically quite a bit better than Charlotte, by the way (compare the stats). Yes, Chapel Hill is pricey indeed, but UNCW, App, and UNCA are all very affordable for OOS students, as well as being fantastic value (UNCW is rated best in NC and in the top ten in the ENTIRE COUNTRY for best value public schools - App State just below us and NC State and Chapel Hill not far behind either).
It snows in NC, yes. It doesn’t snow at all in Wilmington (port/beach city) or Oak Island or Ocean Isle or the Outer Banks area, if it does then rarely so. Inland towards the Research Triangle (Chapel Hill/Raleigh/Durham) and Charlotte does get a little cooler and sees some snow on occasion. But in the Appalachian Mountain area (Boone/Wilkesboro/Asheville/etc), it snows a LOT. North Carolina has very interesting and compelling geography - hard to believe that all those cities are in the same state.
Where do you see that? I can’t find it.
Your description of NC is similar to Texas. In the southern part of Texas the heat is extreme and humid. But up in the North Texas and the panhandle, they get a fair amount of snow.
“UNCW is rated best in NC and in the top ten in the ENTIRE COUNTRY for best value public schools - App State just below us and NC State and Chapel Hill not far behind either)”
-Yeah, where does this come from? I’ve never heard of UNCW (although, I’m not super familiar with all of the many different college ratings and rankings).
Prolific faculty scholars who author important books and articles. Faculties that are deep in various specialties. Faculty members who can get students into top Ph.D. programs.
@GreenTeaFanatic @“Erin’s Dad” http://uncw.edu/news/2015/07/uncw-recognized-by-premier-college-guides-for-affordability,-quality-and-beauty.html
The very reputable Consumers Digest says so. 
There’s a lot of great schools on that list (I almost applied to a few of them)
@ucbalumnus At least at UCSB, the low 4-year graduation rate seems to be a concern. I went to the admitted students day in April and a dad next to me asked an assertive question of why such a selective school had such a low 4 year graduation rate. The Dean on stage acknowledged that the grad. rate was lower than it should be but that it rises significantly after 2 additional quarters.
The problem is that attending UCSB for 4 2/3rds years is that in additional to the extra tuition and living costs is that you would miss out on a whole year of on campus recruiting and mgt training programs. This was the main reason why my son turned down UCSB.
Consumers Digest? Are we buying a dishwasher?
I see #1 on that list is Truman State. #49 is Georgia Tech. Enough said.
a great oos option south is Virginia. Schools like U of Richmond, Vtech, U of V, not to mention other top like in the country VCUARTS or programs like VCU medical , etc. In NC I totally agree with GreenTea those are some very good schools especially UNC Chapel.