<p>After a recent dip in my GPA (3.6 1st semester, 2.8 2nd semester, junior year), I’m gonna be looking at less competitive schools. I’m an underachiever, and I really don’t care about school (at least the classes they have me taking, I like one or two of them). My grades have fluctuated all through high school (3.0, 3.8, 3.6, 2.8) for personal and family reasons. My GPA is like 3.3, but my SATs are pretty good. I got a 2120 on the SAT, and a 800 on US History SAT2 (I’m planning to retake the SAT and to take more SAT2s). I took one AP junior year and I’m taking three senior year.</p>
<p>My mother was diagnosed with cancer in January (it was stage 1 breast cancer, she had surgery and she’s ok now), and my father constantly travels and works in a different town (it’s a 2 hour commute, so he stays there during the week; I rarely see him), so I’d like to stay somewhat close to home so I can visit my mother often (I live in NorCal). I’d prefer to stay in California, but I also like Oregon and Washington. Out-of-state tuition might be too expensive, though. I want to go to grad school, so I don’t want to blow all my parent’s money on undergrad. </p>
<p>What colleges do you think I should look into? I’m looking for preferably large, public and affordable universities. I really want to go to some of the UCs, but my GPA probably killed me for most of them (and I don’t want to go to Merced or Riverside). I’m okay with going to state school, which are the better ones? What other schools should I look at?</p>
<p>The California State University system sounds right up your alley. In NorCal there are tons: San Jose State, San Francisco State, Cal State East Bay (formerly Cal State Hayward), Cal State Chico, Cal State Sacramento, Cal State Monterey Bay, Humbolt State, Sonoma State, and Fresno State. Some of these have a lot of commuter students (Cal State East Bay), others are mostly students living there (Cal State Chico) and some are inbetween. There are 23 campuses altogether, so if you don’t fancy these ones you can consider some of the Southern Californian ones. (And admittedly, if your mom is in the bay area, some, like Humbolt and Chico might be closer geographically but would take more time to get home than schools in SoCal.)</p>
<p>The problem is the Cal state Us are not likely to turn someone who doesn’t love school into a fan. They are mostly commuter schools and they have lots of distribution requirements. You sound like someone who might benefit from a smaller school with more attention.</p>
<p>What do you enjoy? What are your strengths? Will you qalify for any need based aid?</p>
<p>If I remember correctly, the western state schools participate in a special fee program whereby if you are a California resident, you pay 1.5 times the instate tuition in Oregon & Washington. Hawaii, Arizona and Nevada also participate. The LACs in those states are generouis in their grants-ie Lewis & Clark up in Portland, Oregon. I hope this helps-Good Luck!</p>
<p>“The problem is the Cal state Us are not likely to turn someone who doesn’t love school into a fan. They are mostly commuter schools and they have lots of distribution requirements. You sound like someone who might benefit from a smaller school with more attention.”
While UCgrandmary does have a point, small schools tend to be both more expensive and more challenging. While Cal States may not seem as attractive as other schools, I know plenty of people who attend as commuters and love it. Not only are you sure to find one close to home, but they are less expensive than most other schools. Sounds like a good fit to me.</p>
<p>I actually know quite a number of people who attend or graduated from Cal States as residents, living in dorms, etc. Some of the Cal States are in smaller bucolic towns, so commuting wouldn’t be feasible. Think Humbolt or Chico. Sonoma has very few commuters also. Even San Jose State has less commuters than UC Irvine. I think the number of commuters depends on the campus you pick.</p>
<p>You might benefit from a couple of years at community college. The classes are relatively small, you will be exposed to some adult students who can give you career guidance if you befriend them, you will have access to professors who can also give you career guidance, and you can experiment with a variety of courses. Some kids take three years at community college to go through 2 years of core curriculum just so they can experiment with courses. You can try a variety of languages, accounting and business courses, computer courses, etc. Many community colleges have a generous transfer policy to the UC’s (3.0 avg and you’re in), and they are dirt cheap at around $100 a class.</p>
<p>If you want to stay in norCal I highly recommend looking at University of Pacific. You sound like a good fit for it. Maybe they will offer financial aid.</p>