<p>what would you guys say are the best california state schools?academically, socially...</p>
<p>If you are referring to state schools in California, UC Berkeley, UCLA, UCSD and the like comes to mind.</p>
<p>If you're talking about Cal States...hmm. I think Cal State Long Beach is one of the better ones. SDSU is also a good one in a good location.</p>
<p>The 3 top public schools in california would be UC Berkeley, UCLA, UCSD. The three best California State Universities would likely be Cal Poly SLO, SDSU, CSULB. Of course, different schools have strenghts in different areas and other schools could be stronger than these in specific areas. However, UC Berkeley, UCLA and UCSD are clearly the top 3 public universities in California, and in my opinion Cal Poly SLO is the top Cal State, followed by SDSU and CSULB.</p>
<p>The UCs are all-around great schools, more prestigious than the Cal States.</p>
<p>if you're talking about just public schools, pretty much all of the UCs are pretty good -> great (except maybe merced), depends on the kind of environment you're looking for i.e. santa cruz = laid back, funky, norcal, hippie-ish, sort of in the forest; santa barbara = big city, sunny, beach, party all the time, etc. </p>
<p>as for CSUs - based on academics and social life, from what I've heard: san luis obispo is the best overall, it might as well be a UC. The next best are probably san diego, humboldt, sonoma, chico, san francisco. fullerton and long beach are good if you want to go into film or media. CSUs are very much commuter schools but if you want an actual school community and at least decent academics those might be the best ones. That's probably it. The rest are either okay or not that great if you want a more traditional college experience.</p>
<p>i didn't know cal poly slo was a cal state. That one should with no doubt be on top of the Cal state list, followed by long beach and san diego.</p>
<p>The top three: UCB, UCLA, UCSD.</p>