I live in San Diego right now and currently enrolled in a community college living with my parents. I’m either majoring in Computer Engineering or Business but I’m still not sure yet. Luckily I’m only taking my general ed classes currently. Both schools have different recommended Lower-Division preparation so I would need to know which courses to take for preparation. I was never really a party person in high school because my parents are the strict, helicopter parent types but I do not know what will happen when I transfer to a 4-year university as it does interest me. Is there a major difference between the two universities?
Differences: Costs since you will be OOS for ASU and in-state for SDSU.
For ASU OOS Cost of attendance (living on campus) is around $35-45K/year. For SDSU in-state COA (living on campus) around $20K/year. Are you parents willing to pay?
Although both are considered “party schools”, there are many students that do not participate so this really should not affect your decision and as a parent of an SDSU student, the “party school” image is way over blown. So are you afraid you that will have no self control once you are in college? You can find a party at any school if you try hard enough so it is up to you…
Have you visited ASU? I think a visit would be warranted if you are trying to make a decision. Check out each school’s program to see if one is better than the other for what you plan to study.
I’m gonna have to take out some loans and my parents will help pay with an additional $4k set aside for college but that isn’t enough for either college. I would proabably need a job and balance it out with my class schedule and study time.
I think I’ll be able to control myself if like going to parties. I just mentioned it because nearly all “which college” questions always asked about party college.
I’ve visited SDSU but never as a tour but with only programs that use the dorms for SDSU. I never understand the importance of visiting a college. Isn’t just based on the credibility of the college and how it looks with your major? ASU sounds like a good idea to visit, possibly during one of the breaks but I still don’t understand why.
I think it is important to visit a college, especially if it is a distance away just to get an idea if it “feels” right since you will be basically living there for 4 years. I made a point with my son’s to visit as many schools as possible and they could tell within a few hours upon stepping on campus if they would feel comfortable attending. SDSU has a good size student population (approx 30,000) but compared to ASU (approx 82,000) spread over several campuses, it will be a completely different environment.
Regarding loans, as an Undergrad, you can only take out a total of $27K for the 4 years. Anything over that amount will have be funded by your parents. You need to run the Net Price calculators for both schools to see if you qualify for any financial aid and/or merit aid and do this with your parents. Since you live in SD, commuting would be an option and keep your costs low so you would only need to pay for tuition/books/gas. Tuition is $7084/year along with books which could range from $300-1000 depending on classes. If you parents contribute $4000, then you are left with anywhere from $3-4K which could be covered by your student loan and/or Cal grants/Pell grants etc… If you qualify.
I do not know your stats, but why just these schools? You are lucky in that being a California resident, you have some many good colleges from which to choose. You need to first figure out how much you can pay, if you qualify for FA/Merit aid and then start researching colleges that may fit your needs academically/socially and financially.
If you know want to live and work in San Diego after you graduate, then I’d go with SDSU for sure.
Also perhaps look at Northern Arizona in Flagstaff, as you may qualify for a WUE scholarship (pay 150% of in-state tuition). There are lots of other schools on the WUE as well. You just need to look carefully at each school, as the requirement and majors available vary greatly from school to school.
Visit ASU before you fall too in love with it.
As a CA resident, SDSU or another CSU is a smarter bet - .
Agree, take a “tour” of each campus. Ask questions. You will see various parts of each university. Ask your questions about majors and where the departments are located.
You will know after the tour, if you want to attend.