I live in Southern California & just recently enrolled in CU Boulder. I visited the campus a few years ago & from what I remember, I loooved the town & campus & everything about Colorado. I enrolled just to secure a spot in housing because I felt as if I’d end up there anyways… CU is a very popular school amongst my high school, & I found it very troubling that many of my close friends decided to enroll in CU as well, because I want to escape high school & meet / experience as many NEW people as possible without feeling held back or constricted from the people I already know.
A few days ago, I was admitted into Cal Poly SLO as a nutrition major. I was extremely shocked & excited when I saw my acceptance bc I had considered slo my “number one” school until I had fallen in love with Boulder. The more I research slo, however, the more I feel like I need to leave the state of California to get the true college experience. I am visiting both cal poly slo & Boulder within the next month but the thought of having to choose between the two is seriously keeping me up at night.
I THINK I want to study something similar to psychology w/ an emphasis on art history to pursue art therapy. I also want to study religion (I’m not religious just out of curiosity) but could also totally be interested in interior / environmental design. Is Cal Poly SLO flexible with classes / could I take many courses that interest me & dont pertain to my major? I get the vibe that SLO is more if a businessy / engineering / science based school but I feel like I would truly thrive receiving a liberal arts education.
I also fear that I would get bored living in SLO for four years, but again I’ve never visited!! I’m a little turned off by the intense social life at Boulder & also feel that I would be better off being a big fish in a small pond & being more driven academically at SLO.
Keep in mind that I am a first generation college attendant & have three younger sisters who are planning to go to college as well. If I were to choose Cal Poly SLO over Boulder I would be saving my parents $40,000/year.
40k more a year doesn’t seem worth it if you’re going to get a religion degree. One of the most useless degrees out there.
CSUs have a distribution of general education classes you’re supposed to take.
http://ge.calpoly.edu/content/ge-requirements-and-courses
Also perhaps you posted this in the wrong section lol, this is for college application essays.
I’m actually going to CP SLO and I’m so excited because it was my first choice, I’m actually visiting it again next weekend. Personally, I would make a decision once you have visited the town/campus. I personally love the campus and town. It is a very college town. Also see which college dorms you like better, since you will be living there for at least a year. I’m doing the housing tour next weekend. If you say you don’t like intense social life, slo has apartment style living in campus that’s great. You can live in a 6 person(share a room) or 4 person(don’t share a room) apartment. You meet friends but since it’s not a typical hallway dorm style, it’s not sooo social. That’s where I’m going to apply to live, Cerro Vista. Also, saving 40k is a lot, especially since the school you will be attending is really good. I don’t know about you, but at my high school, getting into SLO is like getting into a good UC. I’m in the same boat you are in, I want to start my life over and make new friends. I do have a couple friends going to slo but I’m not rooming with them. If you do go to boulder, don’t room with them and it’ll be nice to get coffee with them every couple of weeks. But if you really want to get away, slo is the right choice. I am from Northern California, and I don’t see the need to leave the state to get the college feel. As long as your a couple hours from home, you’re good. I don’t know too much about SLO’s majors, you would have to do research on your own about that. What I do is that SLO is not boring and you’ll see that once you visit. Obviously I’m being biased here because I think SLO is great, but I wish you luck to wherever you go, and congrats on getting into both schools
My daughter is also a California student accepted at SLO, not sure where she’ll attend yet. SLO is far more selective than CU… I can’t see why you would spend more money to go to a much less selective university, especially with younger siblings coming up behind. Lots of kids we know apply to CU, ASU, University of Oregon… because they can get in, yet they can’t get in to UC’s, SLO, or SDSU. If you are in at SLO I can’t see why you wouldn’t go.
Go to SLO and save your parents the money. $40,000 is a lot of money and SLO is a great school and town. My D has been accepted at both as well. She will choose SLO over Boulder, and it will save us a lot of money too.
For SLO FYI: I would look over the nutrition curriculum since it shows some GE’s and very few electives to pursue Psych/Art. Also if you want to change majors later, switching from the CAES to CLA can be done but difficult SLO. If visiting, I would suggest finding out how flexible this major will be by talking to a department advisor.
Yeah I accidentally posted it in the wrong section? Sorry? & I never said I wanted to get religion degree, just want to take religion classes
The only reason I would attend CU over SLO is for the experience. That sounds silly to a lot of people… but I’m itching to get out of my hometown & fear that slo is too similar
We have a few friends whose kids are at SLO and it has been very difficult for two of them who wanted to change majors. They had to declare a major when they started and would have had to stay a lot longer, one a full year longer, if they changed majors. I don’t know flexible CU Boulder is, but I think SLO is pretty inflexible.
Changing majors at SLIO is easier if you switch within your current College vs between Colleges. Since you start taking major requirements right away, switching into a different major many times prolongs your stay.
First of all, you have an “approach approach” conflict – where both of your options are good ones! Congrats! I know this may sound old fashioned, but I suggest you make a pros/cons list – yes, actually get out a piece of paper & write down pros & cons. Then you need to assign the proper weights to the pros & cons as only you & your family can do— the financials is going to be a big one! $40,000/year (x 4-5 years) is a huge difference in cost for your family (or you) to absorb. If your family is well off enough that you don’t need to worry about that, then erase the financials from the list. Other things to consider are: majors/classes you have to take, ease of switching your major, location of both schools (both are relatively out-doorsy), housing, end goal (advanced degree?), etc.
Just a note – if you are from SoCal, SLO is decidedly NOT SoCal (& neither is it NorCal) – the Central Coast has its own vibe so going to SLO may seem like getting out of SoCal more than you may think.
Another consideration may be to go to SLO for 2 years & then think about transferring to CU (or another school) if you feel like you need a different sort of college experience. That way you get many of your GE’s done at a cheap in-state rate, but your major will be from a big flagship school (or other type school).
Good luck!