<p>Hey. I was wondering if anyone had any info about the university of san diego or university of san francisco. Academics, social life, dorms. I am from new york and the only place I have ever been in California is the LAX airport so I don't really no to much but I am seriously considering going to California for college. Is it crazy to move all the way across country without even visiting? Does anyone have expierence with moving from the east coast to the west coast. And if anyone has any info about some other schools in California that would be great. Thanks for the help.</p>
<p>sorry forgot to add that i plan on majoring in either biology or chemistry and plan to go premed</p>
<p>University of San Francisco, always appealed to me b/c it was the closest thing to the ideal if you're looking for a small urbran campus, but no that urban campus for San Francisco is not your general NYC or Boston type of place.</p>
<p>You should definitely visit first, the main campus is one the hilltop. I personally loved being right in the middle of everything, mornings in San Francisco with the radios, coffee shops, and sunrise breaking through the fog.</p>
<p>UofSF doesn't have your ideal college weathher, winters on the hilltop of the SF peninsula are cold and rainy compared to what most expect. The campus store has a good stock of heavy coats and sweatshirts for purchase b/c people come there never knowing how much they would need it.</p>
<p>As for social lif, the main draw back is that on-campus social life is low on the richter scale. People take thos MUNI passes and leave the campus on weekends, which starts Thursday :p You could say that the city is a bigger part of the school than the academics, as strong as they are :)</p>
<p>I could right a novel on any school in the Bay Area so if you have specific questions just ask...I've barely scratched the surface.</p>
<p>The University of San Francisco is far behind the University of San Diego in terms of academic quality in my opinion. For anyone interested in a science major, there's no question: The University of San Diego is FAR superior. They have an awesome new science facility and students have opportunities to do research and internships in San Diego's booming biotech community. USF isn't a bad school but it can't compare to USD in terms of academics and science opportunities.</p>
<p>Personally, I think the USD campus is one of the prettiest I've seen anywhere (and I've visited many, many schools.) It has an old world spanish or italian feel with lots of beautiful buildings around a central area. They must spend a fortune on landscaping because there are always masses of flowers blooming everywhere. The campus sits on a hill overlooking Mission Bay and the ocean in the distance. It's an easy cab ride from the airport. It's not in downtown San Diego, but you can easily take the Trolley into downtown or to shopping. USD runs regular shuttle buses to the Trolley. </p>
<p>San Diego itself actually has a larger population than San Francisco but since it's spread out over a larger area it doesn't seem as urban. I'd describe the Bay area and San Francisco as being more like cities back east (Think NYC on hills and with fog and you get an idea of what downtown San Francisco is like). San Francisco is far more cosmopolitan than San Diego. San Diego, on the other hand, has the southern california feel - beaches, sunshine, warmer weather, everything tends to be newer than up north. </p>
<p>Socially, USD students tend to be upper middle class students who dress kind of California-preppy - you'll see lots of skirts on girls, but also lots of shorts and sweatshirts. It's not uncommon to also see surfboards stacked up on the dorm balconies. You won't find too many "hippies" or alternative types at USD - USD does have a bit of a rep as a "rich kids school" but I think that is overblown: the students seem friendly, down to earth (in a preppy kind of way), and very happy. There isn't much diversity on campus, however. USD has always attracted out of state students, but in recent years it's been working hard to attract even more, so you will meet lots of kids from all over.</p>
<p>There is a small Greek scene on campus but no Greek houses, so it's not overwhelming. </p>
<p>San Diego is a fun college town --- we actually have five colleges in the city limits with over 50,000 college students, so there's a lot going on in terms of concerts, etc. There isn't much immediately around USD, but as I said, it's an easy trolley ride to downtown san diego, San Diego State, and Old Town (the original settlement).
Many college kids also spend time in the Pacific Beach area, a very beachy community with lots of bars, etc. That's about a 10-15 minute drive from USD. Trips down to Mexico are also popular as San Diego sits right on the border.</p>
<p>One of the turnoffs to my daughter at USF is that they only guarantee on campus housing for the first year as they have a huge housing crunch. After that you have to find an apartment off campus, which is another reason why there isn't much social life on campus. Unfortunately, there aren't many affordable apartments near USF or in San Francisco for that matter. When we asked about cost of living, we were told to expect to spend $700 a month per person for a shared one bedroom apartment. Many students at USD do move off campus after sophomore year, but there are plenty of apartments/houses for rent within walking distance. USD also has some of their own apartments. Others move to Pacific Beach. Rents are cheaper in San Diego than San Francisco but still not "cheap" --- still, you could probably get a shared one bedroom and pay much less than $700 a month per person.</p>
<p>Some other schools you might want to check out in California: Santa Clara U, Occidental, University of Southern California, the Claremont Colleges, Pepperdine, the University of Redlands, Chapman U.</p>