When people refer to rankings, they often look at USNWR. USNWR ranks UCSB at 35 and Rutgers at 40. The difference is negligible. Are you looking at a different ranking source?
Earning top grades is on you, not on the school. That said, I would not enroll at either with the intent to transfer to another school.
I am not looking at a different ranking source but 2024 is the first year Rutgers entered Top 50. Honestly ranking is not important to myself but important to my parents and I need to convince them.
Starting your college journey with the intent to transfer is a very bad idea, unless there are specific and compelling reasons to transfer (like finances, choice of major/program, etc). Where do you plan to transfer and why?
Going in with an eye out the door will prevent you from fully engaging in and enjoying your freshman year.
I should also mention that if your plan is to transfer to a prestigious school like an Ivy, most of them have very few spots for transfers and many utilize these to bring in non-traditional students. Plus, if you applied and were denied as a freshman, it’s highly unlikely you’ll be accepted a year later.
My kids judged the school by “FIT”. In other words, does the personality of the school match where you want to live for four years?
Does it matter to you how large or small the school is? Does it matter to you about weather and location? Santa Barbara is on the coast. The kids ride a lot of bikes to class. It’s a “beach” community. Just because it’s on the beach, doesn’t mean that the rigor is any less.
Santa Barbara is north of Los Angeles so a number of people fly into LA from the airport and drive up a good distance to Santa Barbara. It does have a small regional airport but that can get expensive. It does have a party school reputation but that’s at every university. It is a diverse university.
I don’t know too much about the Rutgers university area as I am from Southern California.
If you could visit that would be great.
Our daughter went to UC Davis and loved the experience there. She met people from all over the world and made great friends. What she liked was the campus was very collaborative. The students work together to earn good grades.
The campus is large and very green (environmentally active). The classes, initially, are large but the professors are very good about getting the information to their graduate assistants and having them meet with students in small groups. The tutoring is free there and is generally held in the dorms. The students are extremely happy there. The town there is very cute. It’s a biking town and campus as there are 40,000 bikes on campus.
That’s not at every UC. All the UCs are very different from each other. Not one of them is alike; they all have their own unique character, location, size, students and weather differences. That is what is meant by FIT. You and the campus culture have to jibe.
Santa Barbara is somewhat like that, but not as exact. Students are generally happy there.
For the vast majority of Americans, affordability is the number one factor because higher education is very expensive here. And among affordable choices, most choose a school within 250 miles of their home.
Only a small portion of the student population has the luxury to choose a college based on fit and other factors. Among these, they may consider rankings - but rankings are really a proxy for other benefits a school offers, such as reputation, quality of education, peer group, alumni strength, access to unique opportunities, etc.
Fit was very important to our kids. We didn’t let them apply to schools that we could not afford, so the main factor after “Costs of Attendance” was “fit”. They wanted to be sure that the schools they selected were places that they would be comfortable in attending.
Then what is wrong with Ohio State? It is highly ranked and kind of east cost.
I didn’t do a research on it
Why? If you are choosing you need to compare all options.
Were you admitted to Geography at tOSU?
It could be a “happy medium” for you if you don’t want to be on the West coast (if usnwr matters tOSU is higher ranked, and you wouldn’t have to deal with the split campus at Rutgers.)
It has 7 different Geography majors and you can major in one/minor in another.
https://geography.osu.edu/undergrad/majors
UCSB will NOT be easy- just because it’s near a beach doesn’t mean students spend all their time there (also, the water is too cold to swim in, it’s not like tropical Florida). It’s very difficult to get into and students there are competitive. The weather is very good and the university is very strong.
UCD is another strong university with a college town vibe. Read the detailed description above.
UCD is a bit colder and rainier in the Winter and a bit warmer in the summer, UCSB has the same type of weather all year long, tOSU and Rutgers will have colder winters with snow. Does one type of weather appeal to you more?
Did you get into Honors anywhere?
Geography is a fantastic major but with many, VERY different concentrations. Beside GIS, as a focus/concentration/minor, some depts have greater offerings in Physical Geography, linking it to Earth science and Environmental studies; others may have a more Urban studies focus; some may be very strong in Human Geography, perhaps with cross offerings with demographics, economics, border studies, or sociology; finally, some may have cross over appeal with marketing&business, especially if they offer courses in rebranding or tourism. Geography departments and majors can be quite different so look carefully at the required courses and at the electives or concentrations.
You have tOSU above and can compare with
All will be well regarded in Europe.
Ohio is Midwest. Not east coast. But it’s way closer to the east coast than California🙂 But tOSU is worth researching!
If you…
a) want to transfer anyway, and
b) value your desired location over the attributes of the college and
c) can’t work up the energy to do thorough research on the handful of schools you’ve been accepted to (other than asking strangers on the internet for advice)
then the answer is simple.
Establish exactly where you want to be, on the east coast. Pick a state, based on proximity to your desired location and quality of the state flagship university for your major. Enroll in a community college there, with a transfer pathway to this university.
This way, you’ll save many tens of thousands of dollars in the first two years. You’ll get your student visa, and you’ll get to enjoy yourself in the location of your choice. You’ll graduate with the degree you want, from the university you want, without compromising on whatever it is you are seeking short-term. Simple, and no money wasted on an expensive school that you want to transfer out of anyway.
I was admitted to GIS at OSU. Today I just asked my GC and she told me that GIS at OSU is “nice”, but I haven’t done any more research until now.
Good suggestion, but: do east coast schools have defined transfer pathways, like in California and other states? I didn’t think so (especially for elite schools which is what Op wants) but I might be wrong.
Second, OP needs to make sure the community college is SEVP-certified, otherwise they can’t issue documents needed for a student visa.
That’s true. I’m sure it depends where he really wants to be, which he’s being coy about. In New York, for example, there are both transfer pathways and international student programs in the community colleges, some of which even have housing… plus, he could shoot his shot at a Cornell transfer. But it all depends. I’m still unclear on what he really wants, and why he has applied to universities in which he seems so completely uninterested.
tOSU GIS is a FANTASTIC program! In addition, it’s STEM-approved for STEM OPT (section 45.0702).
Did you get into honors anywhere?
Email Housing and say you didn’t realize there was a Living Learning community for internationals but you’d really want to participate, first, because you’re international and it’ll create a ready made community with people from all over or interested in other countries, and second due to your major of Geography/GIS. Indicate you understand the desdline passed a week ago but if there’s a waitlist or a space you’d like to be put on it.
https://housing.osu.edu/learningcommunities/international-house-living-learning-community/
This will create a smaller community on the large university campus and it comes with other perks.
UCSB, it’s not even close.
Class of 1990, Math
Then how about comparing USCB and Ohio State?
sry for typing UCSB as USCB
Are you looking for votes? I vote for digging into tOSU programs you are interested in.