S24 is leaning UC Davis (he’s been wearing the Physics club sweatshirt he bought at Aggie Day) over UC Santa Barbara even though UCSB has Nobel Laureates and renown graduate program. TBH we (my DH in particular) were definitely impressed with the UC Davis Physics department having guided tours of 3 labs and their building at Aggie Day, and bummed that the UCSB Physics building was locked during theirs. Cal Poly SLO is in the mix. While it is “too close” for S24, it is hard to let go since he’s met 1 on 1 with the Physics Dept Chair and another professor.
Note: For FAFSA, S24 kept UC Irvine (which he opted into waitlist) and our local community college in case anything goes sideways with the provisional acceptances.
Our HS is still doing its College Decision Day on May 1, even though a majority % of our students go to California public universities… and it would seem more appropriate to have it on May 15.
Edited for grammar!