I’m from England and I’m looking to do a term in California next year. Which university is the best in terms of parties and social life ? UCSB seems like the obvious answer. What others Could you guys recommend?
There are parties at colleges all over California. I’ll be a mom about this question: what else are you looking for in addition to an active social life? What are your academic interests?
I am studying business at the moment. I plan to specialize in management & sales. I believe most Calo universities offer business courses. The thing is, I will spend a lot of money to come to Cali and I want the best college experience possible.
Does your school have a list of schools for you to choose from?
UCSB doesn’t have an undergrad business program. Their accounting students get a business economics degree. They are on the quarter system, so you need to make sure that works for you.
Cal (UC Berkeley) would be good if you have to ability to study there. USC has good business (undergrad & graduate) and plenty of partying.
Will you be over 21? Are you looking for some prestige in the name of the school you attend, or does it not matter either way.
I’ll have to figure out if could get courses in economics & accounting accredited or not. After all they will probably be almost identical to the courses I have in business studies. Other options are: Cal State Chico, Cal State East Bay, Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Los Angeles, Cal State Northridge, University of California Davis, University of California Riverside & University of California San Diego.
I am 23 & really the main thing I am looking for is to have a good time and enjoy myself as much as possible & party like there is no tomorrow.
Any recommendations from that list ?
None of those will have the beach or party scene that UCSB has, so from that list, I think you have chosen correctly. Are you dead set on being in California? Nationwide, there are many schools with better party scenes than UCSB.
One issue you will have as a 23 year old male is that many college parties will be closed to you, since as a one-term student you will not be a member of a fraternity.
College life is what you make it. The UC system is VERY competitive and will be difficult to get into and for older students not super social because they are so focused on academics. Of the CSU’s you mentioned, Chico is a good choice as far as school/community experience but it is in a very rural small town and far away from any city or beach. Davis is the same. Riverside is pretty isolated too. San Diego is amazing and in a beautiful area, and it has a party rep, probably more than Santa Barbara and is closer to a metropolitan area.
Good luck with your choice.
Chico is a legendary party school, probably because there isn’t much to do other than study and party. It’s an interesting town, too. Half students. half cowboys.
For party scene here’s how I’d rank the other options:
CSU Chico
big drop off
UC Davis
UC San Diego
big drop off
UC Riverside
CSU Fullerton
CSU Northridge
big drop off
CSU LA
My main concern with Chico for an international is how isolated Chico is from the “rest” of California. Personally if I had only a term to spend in the US, I would want to be as close to a large city as possible. UC San Diego, UC Riverside, and UC Davis are all an hour or less from a large city while still having an active social scene. Chico State is in the middle of nowhere, over 2.5 hours from downtown San Francisco. To me that makes a huge difference in how much you could get out of your time in the US, and more specifically, California.
Also, don’t call it Cali.
@whenhen I’m a current student at UC San Diego, and while I don’t think it’s socially lacking or dead, I definitely think you meant to indicate San Diego State University.
One is a top research university in La Jolla with D-2 sports and a very secret frat row, and the other is a D-1 party school.
@groverrohan No I didn’t. Look at the schools the OP has to choose from (post 6). Most of the CSUs are heavily commuter or suitcase in nature, while the UCs include Davis and Riverside.
The OP will have one term to party in California. I think he’d be better to do it at a school with access to SDSU, the city of San Diego, and some internal parties (there are more than just frat parties at the school), than at UC Riverside or one of the suitcase Cal State schools. Notice also that I put UC Davis above UCSD. That’s because the bike friendly college town makes getting to a party easy for students without cars, and because IMO there are probably more parties on a per capita basis than UCSD. If San Diego State were an option, I’d rank it higher than Chico State, but it’s not.
@whenhen You’re right, I missed that. Sorry!
@SamGotti UCSD will have the beach scene that UCSB has, but nowhere close to the party scene. My comment which was mistakenly addressed towards whenhen still applies, as does whenhen’s fairly accurate response.
Getting into UCSD will not be a problem, as they give out the places on a first come first serve basis and I will apply before most others do. I also believe (not trying to be judgemental here) that the standard of public universities is much lower than the standard of universities in the UK.
San Diego State is an option but what I don’t like about it is that of the 4 courses you take, 2 courses are with other Europeans. I mean, I don’t travel across half of the globe to be surrounded by the same people again.
There are quite a few schools on this list that I would describe as perfectly good places to get an education, but won’t really fit the the bill for the “California college experience” for somebody coming from abroad.
SDSU generally trumps UCSD for fun & partying. UCSD trumps SDSU for academics & location.
Davis is cool little college town, but it is a couple hours inland from San Francisco/Bay Area. Lake Tahoe is a couple hours in the other direction, so if you have any desire to ski or snowboard, that’s a good location. But it is not the CA beach scene you may be after. UC Davis is well regarded academically.
I think your best bets (all programs being equal) are UCSB, SDSU & UCSD. That said, I don’t believe either of those UC schools offer undergrad business programs. Do note that SDSU is about 12 miles from the beach.
UC schools don’t offer undergraduate business programs but they do offer undergraduate economics programs which will probably work as well. I would’ve fancied SDSU if not for the fact that there will be so many Europeans around. UCSB seems to be the favourite up until now.
" I also believe (not trying to be judgemental here) that the standard of public universities is much lower than the standard of universities in the UK."
If you think this about UCSD you’re going to be in for one heck of a shock. Which university do you attend back in the UK?
I attend City College London
UCSB does offer “business economics” major which enables students to become CPAs. Looks like UCSD does offer accounting and business minors, so that will help the cause as well.
SDSU has 40,000 students. The whole time I was there for grad and undergrad, I met maybe 2 students from overseas. Where are you getting the news that there are so many Europeans at SDSU?
If you mean this City College http://www.citycollege.ac.uk/ and you are doing an HND in business I would rule out UCSD unless you had very high A level math grades. If you weren’t doing business courses involving math it might be another story. SDSU won’t be quite as hard, but be aware that business is one of their most competitive majors and attracts high achieving students.