I’ve read a lot here in CC and see things about how (some?) UC’s can be stressful, very difficult, highly competitive, etc… Is this true of most or all of them, or only the top tier? My son is intelligent, and a good student, but only increased rigor now in his senior year, and only in a couple STEM classes. He’s not a strong writer. He was “allowed” to take it easy through all his younger years, and is only in the last two years coming up toward his potential. He’s been able to be balanced with high-demand sports, and time for purely social stuff, and still do well in school. How can we know if he would get in over his head at UC’s if accepted, or if he might just be happier at other schools? He is undecided on major, but it will probably be something math (pure or business-y) or science.
I appreciate any thoughts on what to consider in making these decisions. He’s applied to UCR, UCSC, UCSB, and UCD. Most are reaches. He’s been accepted to SFSU, SJSU, CPP, and some private and out of state schools.
CSU’s were originally established to make a good quality education accessible to local students and educate these students towards joining the local workforce so very hands-on type learning.
UC’s were originally established for Research and Graduate school/Advanced degree aspirations.
The lines have blurred significantly but in regards to rigor and competitiveness, it really depends upon the intended major along with the work ethic of each individual student. An engineering/STEM major at a CSU or UC will inherently be more difficult in terms of course rigor than other types of majors.
If your son is doing well in HS these past 2 years, can handle the current demands you have listed and has developed a good work ethic, he should be fine at either a CSU or UC.
Personal experience: I have one son at a CSU and one son at a UC both which have different personality types and work ethics.
Both son’s have come across the so-called “weed out classes” at both types of universities and have survived. My older son has always worked hard and some areas of study have not come easy but always did well in school, while my younger son has always challenged himself in regards to course rigor but didn’t have the same work ethic as his older brother and may have not lived up to his potential in HS.
I believe my older son works harder at the UC only because he puts the extra pressure on himself to get the good grades. Also being on the Quarter system you need to hit the ground running or end up way behind in your classes.
My younger son at the CSU is on the semester system, which is a perfect pace for him since he tends to put things off to the last minute plus has more courses that demand a lot of outside class time to complete.
Each student is different and there is no One Size Fits all. I suggest you visit all schools of interest and see what fits him best academically and socially. A happy student is usually a successful student.
Thank you for your valuable comments! My son is also a late bloomer. And I always wonder whether a semester or quarter system would be more appropiate for him.
Then, whether funding is more an issue to CSU or UC campus or no difference at all? For example, student faculty ratio for SDSU is 28 to 1, CPP is 25 to 1 but UCSC is 18 to 1 and UCR is 22 to 1
@tintinhope:
Students will have large classes for many of the GE courses at both the CSU’s and UC’s. The Faculty ratio can be misleading. Usually the upper major courses is where you have the better faculty ratios. I would not consider the faculty ratio’s a major deciding factor on selecting a school.
Both my son’s (one at SDSU and other at UC Davis) never had a class with more than 300 students. Also large lecture classes are often broken out into discussion sessions with around 30-50 students so more one to one time. There is always professor office hours if more help is needed.
My younger son has several friends at UCLA which have had some GE classes of around 800 students (17:1 ratio?)
Only 2 UC’s are semester: UC Berkeley and UC Merced while almost all the CSU’s are semester based. The main thing to remember about quarters is they you need to hit the ground running to keep up. My older son had some difficulty the 1st year, but actually prefers the quarter system now. My younger son sometimes wishes SDSU was on the quarter system, only to get finished with a less than desirable class sooner.
Are Student Services of the colleges effective in helping freshmen “hit the ground running”? e.g. Son is using a paper school planner for his assignment deadlines, I’m sure he would need something more sophisticated. It appears that son (admitted also as a CS major by SDSU & UCR) favors attending a CSU because of its semester system. This decision factor may sound little silly to others! But he will after all be the one who has to feel comfortable in adjusing his learning habits to handle the challenges. I am reading college transition tips from CC to evaluate this issue.
I was under the impression that UCB was on quarter in the old days but I could be wrong. I wonder whether more UC’s will be on semester in future.
I’m not familiar with a quarter system, so this may be a dumb question, but does it end up meaning that students, for the most part, take three quarters (worth) of classes per year? Then does this mean that they get to take more classes? Like, is a year of calculus 3 quarters, but maybe when it comes to electives classes they can just be one quarter and so a student gets to experience more variety in classes? This question was hard to explain! Can someone clarify?
@jesse’sgirl: Yes, you take 3 quarters of classes and you end up taking more classes. For series classes, like Chemistry, Biology, Calculus etc… (year long series) you would take 3 quarters of each which equals 2 semesters.
Quarter classes are usually 10 weeks long and you by week 3 you are taking Mid-terms. The classes are very fast paced and you need to hit the ground running, be very organized and do not procrastinate or you end up behind.