<p>A relative of mine lives in California and his son is a high school junior looking ahead to attending college. The young man is a good student, but not quite good enough to get into most of the institutions of the UC system (i.e., Berkeley, San Diego); he does plan to apply to UC Riverside and UC Davis and possibly UC Merced.</p>
<p>His father and I wondering about some the second tier colleges in California -- the ones with "State" in their name, such as California State University at Northridge or Long Beach State, for example.</p>
<p>I thought I heard that certain "State" schools in Calfornia were quite competitive. Among the more competitive ones, I think, are Chico, San Diego, Humboldt and San Jose.</p>
<p>The question is "are the 'State' universities so inferior that they aren't worth applying to? If not, which are the 'State' school worth applying to?"</p>
<p>My cousin is also wondering if his son cannot get into a UC or a good "State" school, then which private colleges his son ought to apply to. His son is thinking about Pacific, St. Mary's, San Francisco and Santa Clara, with Loyola Marymount and the University of San Diego as other possibilities.</p>
<p>My cousin's son has a 90 average, is strong in English, history and foreign Languages, not so strong in science or mathematics. He is in the top 25 percent of his class at a Catholic college high school and will probably major in one of the social sciences or humanities.</p>
<p>Any advice that CollegeConfidential forum members can give would be appreciated.</p>
<p>I think Cal Poly San Louis Obispo is the state school that rivals the UC's in selectivity and prestige. The rest aren't bad at all, at least by CC standards.I think the other choices are good ones, and I am especially fond of the Jesuit ones.</p>
<p>There are 23 campuses of The California State University system. In the Fiske guide, it mentions that the CSUs do not get the respect they deserve simply because they are in the same state as the 10 excellent University of California campuses. </p>
<p>The CSUs focus on undergraduate education and most of them award through Master's degrees, so are on the "Master's Universities" list in the USNWR rankings. (There are a few doctorate programs offered at a few campuses, mostly in conjuntion with a UC campus.) They are not "inferior" at all. (I have decided to take no offense, I understand that your question is asked in the CC context where the only schools considered "good" seem to be Ivy's.)</p>
<p>California's system of higher education consists of more than the 10 UC campuses (9 undergraduate), which are aimed at only the top 12.5% of students statewide. California offers great opportunities for students who do not fall into that group.</p>
<p>The Calfornia State University system is aimed roughly at the top 30% of students, and are spread out across California so that many students are able to commute to school and make it much more affordable. The 23 campuses range from very selective campuses like California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly for short), huge campuses like CSU Long Beach with over 36,000 students, and small campuses like CSU Monterey Bay with about 3,800 students. All offer excellent educations. Here is the CSU website where you can explore the campuses: [url=<a href="http://www.csumentor.edu/%5DCSUMentor%5B/url">http://www.csumentor.edu/]CSUMentor[/url</a>]</p>
<p>Note: Out of state students pay more than in-state. Be sure to check costs.</p>
<p>I didn't mean to offend any one when I used the term "inferior." If I offended any one, please accept my sincerlest apologies. Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.</p>
<p>I have noticed when UC Riverside or UC Davis is mentioned, there is seems to be sneer coming from the Berkeley/San Diego/UCLA crowd. I can only imagine what they must think of Sacramento State or Chico.</p>
<p>Again, if I insulted anyone, please accept my apologies</p>
<p>One problem with the cal state schools is they are generally quite underfunded. It can be difficult to get into classes, some people find that they simply cannot graduate in 4 years because they cannot get the classes they need. This depends on the school and the major, of course, but this is a chronic problem at many CSU schools.</p>
<p>Don't worry, Khipper - I have been lurking on CC long enough to have seen the same posts that you have seen. I understand completely.</p>
<p>Khipper, the students on CC tend to be the super-achievers, and as they enter their college selection and application process they start to think that only admission to super-selective colleges will "prove" their worth. I'm not sure the UCB/UCLA/UCSD crowd (as in students attending those schools) does any sneering, but yes, the potential applicants to those schools here on CC (a very small sampling of the nearly 50,000 who will apply to each of those campuses) tend to view the other 6 UCs as not as desirable as the top three.</p>
<p>Your relative's son should investigate several CSU campuses to add to his list. The requirements in terms of classes are the same as for the UCs, so if he is eligible to apply to UC, he is eligible for CSU. His counselor should be able to direct him to some that might be a good fit. Different campuses have different strengths, and he may find just the right one for him.</p>
<p>Cal Poly definitely stands alone at the top of the Cal State pyramid. Nearly every Cal State virtually guarantee acceptances to students who live in the local cathment area (and apply early). SD is much more competitive for those living outside of San Diego County, for example; ditto Long Beach and its catchment area. As a result, the majority of Cal States are commuter schools (particularly Northridge), with few dorms (exceptions are Cal Poly, Humboldt, Chico, SD).</p>
<p>With a 90 average, your relative should easily qualify for admission to the UC system, but class rank of 25% would make Cal and UCLA a big stretch. Davis has become much more competitive over the past few years. IMO, Davis offers a nice college town feel, and they just moved up to D1 sports, so school spirit is on the rise.</p>
<p>I'm a big fan of the privates that you list.</p>
<p>kenf1234 makes a good point about funding. I would check that out since it can really affect things. As a general comments the schools are good and you can get a good education at them. But under current budgetary conditions, they get squeezed first in the state budget.</p>
<p>Has anyone heard the rumor that CSU Northridge might be "elevated" to the UC system. I understand that the Merced campus, planned in the 1950s, didn't open until a few years ago. How long would it take to add another UC campus?</p>
<p>^ I attended and live near CSU Northridge. I haven't heard any rumors about becoming a UC. </p>
<p>CSU Northridge is nice...it has a very diverse student body, strong engineering, education, and business programs. They've been building new facilities like crazy since the Northridge earthquake in '94.</p>
<p>Downside is that it is still a large commuter school and student life is not as active. However, CSUN is building 3 new large dormitory buildings on-campus.</p>
<p>
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Has anyone heard the rumor that CSU Northridge might be "elevated" to the UC system.
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<p>Actually, there is a state law that prevents the CSU's from being turned into UC's. This law dates back to the 1940s when the state college in Santa Barbara was turned into a UC. The Cal State college chancellor complained that his system's campuses were being taken over, and he got the law passed. Ever since then, UC's have started up from scratch, like UCSD, Santa Cruz, and Merced.</p>
<p>Cal Poly SLO is on par (undergraduate) with the middle tier UCs -- Davis, Irvine, Santa Barbara. It's also about $4.000 cheaper than they are. The mid point SAT score at SLO is actually higher than those three.</p>
<p>San Diego State and Cal Poly Pomona are also excellent/ San Diego State is extremely popular owing to its location and strong sports programs. Many would pick these two, and maybe even a couple more States, over UC Riverside or UC Merced. There is a little overlap.</p>
<p>there are some outstanding majors in a wide variety of CSU campuses. an obscure example might be forestry at humboldt state. a more common one is communications or nursing at cal state fullerton.</p>
<p>but because of funding challenges very few cal states are strong across the board like leading privates or UCs. cal poly SLO, san jose state and san diego state are the most frequently cited exceptions.</p>
<p>cal poly pomona is very strong in engineering, architecture and hospitality management but very weak in the arts and humanities and totally near the bottom of the CSU in business and communications.</p>
<p>For engineering, which is the only subject I know much about, there's a philosophical difference between the CSU and UC approaches. CSU tends to be more hands-on, "learning by doing", while the UCs place more emphasis on theory. It's not that one approach is better than the other, it's more about what the student is most fired up by. Cal Poly SLO, Pomona, and SJSU are all excellent in engineering.</p>
<p>Some anecdotal evidence on the strength of CSU engineering:</p>
<p>When asked who he would hire given a choice of 2 candidates, an employee of a leading medical robotics firm in Silicon Valley said he'd choose a Cal Poly engineering graduate over a UC graduate any day. His company recruits exclusively from Cal Poly SLO.</p>