<p>Hey everyone, </p>
<p>I’m visiting California this summer and I’m trying to figure out which colleges I should visit. </p>
<p>So far,
I have UCB, Claremont McKenna, Harvey Mudd, Stanford, Occidental, Pepperdine, Pomona, UCLA, USC, and Cal Tech. </p>
<p>Any more?</p>
<p>All help is appreciated. </p>
<p>Cal Poly-SLO is excellent for both business and engineering, and if you are competitive for the schools you have listed would be a safety for most majors. Another plus: OOS tuition is significantly lower than the UCs.</p>
<p>Cal Poly SLO is a safety for no one anymore… </p>
<p>We have seen some shocking rejections for sure! But although those were high stats kids they were in the hardest to get into majors - MechE, CS, BioMedE and Bio (the bio one really shocked me until I looked up the number of applicants). But you are right - probably not safe enough to call it a real safety.</p>
<p>Can you afford the sticker prices? </p>
<p>@auntbea I figured that the CSU’s are much cheaper than the UC’s so I’m trying to find good CSU’s but I’m out of luck. </p>
<p>Although Cal Poly SLO engineering acceptances were extremely tough this year, you still should check it out. You might want to also look at Cal Poly Pomona for engineering. Same price tag and very good reputation. Again if you are OOS, there are many good schools which are less expensive than our California universities.</p>
<p>The “good” Cal state universities are uber difficult to gain admission. They all will give preference to California residents since their parents pay state taxes. The CAL Poly’s are not safeties at all! It is difficult just to gain admission, compound that if you are OOS and ask for financial aid. </p>
<p>SDSU and LONG BEACH are impacted with STEM majors. Northridge and Fullerton are also getting impacted by state residents. There is also an additional $20k+ fee that is required for OOS students that is not covered by financial aid. SO at any of our state uni’s, you’re looking at $50k per year minimum as an OOS student. The private schools you’ve listed will cost you $60k and the scholarships at those schools are extremely competitive. Just a heads up.</p>
<p>Cal State’s are quite a bit less expensive than UCs- the tuition surcharge for Cal Poly for OOS is about $12000 a year (in addition to the $8000 base tuition and fees), making the total cost of attendance for OOS about $36,000, but don’t expect need based financial aid for OOS.</p>
<p>For Business: Bloomberg Businessweek has undergrad rankings. To view by state, click on the “state” header. <a href=“Bloomberg - Are you a robot?”>Bloomberg - Are you a robot?;
<p>Bloomberg’s California list is ranked in this order:</p>
<p>UC Berkeley (Hass)
USC
UC San Diego
Santa Clara
Chapman (Argyros)
Cal Poly SLO
Loyola Marymont
Univ. of the Pacific
UC Riverside</p>
<p>Also, private schools such as Chapman, Santa Clara, Loyola might be a better deal for you financially since you are OOS. </p>
<p>Note that a number of the CSUs offer engineering. However, many CSUs have a heavy commuter population, so they may be less than ideal for an OOS student looking for a residential college experience (in addition to the lack of OOS financial aid, though CSUs’ OOS list price is significantly less than UCs’ list price). Those with engineering that are mostly residential are Cal Poly SLO, San Diego State, and California Maritime Academy (the latter is a specialty school emphasizing ship-related subjects). Cal Poly Pomona and San Jose State are about half residential.</p>
<p>Note that some of the schools mentioned above, like Pomona and Occidental, have neither engineering nor business. Some have only business (e.g. Pepperdine, Chapman), while have only engineering (Caltech, Harvey Mudd, Stanford).</p>
<p>Pepperdine, Chapman, Santa Clara, and Loyola Marymount are religiously-affiliated, and the religious influence at Pepperdine is said to be relatively heavy.</p>