<p>I'm a New Jersey kid who'd just like to ask people that are currently attending a college in California how they feel about the differences between the east and the west - what positive and negative aspects each have, how the general populace act and look, etc. Also, i'd like to know how the higher tier California colleges (UCLA, USC, etc.) stack up relative to each other. Thanks!</p>
<p>lol schools in the west are not very good. besides berk. all schools in the west and mid west are full of pot smoking hippies. Its here in the east coast that real schools are. WE ALL KNOW THIS. lol by now you've figured out that i was being humorous. Anyways east coast schools, i personally think are better.</p>
<p>I'm planning on going to a California college (born and raised) and I've visited several, so to try and answer your questions:</p>
<p>-I don't really know of the differences, except for maybe the admission requirements.
-Now this is where it gets tricky. Southern California (again, born and raised) people tend to be more name-brand obsessed. NorCal doesn't really care as much, especially around the Bay Area (I was just in SanFran back in May, I'm actually planning to attend SanFran State if I get in)
-I know that UCLA and USC are both really good, but really different. Also, since USC is private, it is MUCH more expensive. I visited it once though, and it has a beautiful campus. It's in a weird area though. I've never visited UCLA, so I don't know much about that one. But a few of my teachers went there, so I could put you in touch with some alumni if you'd like. :) Hope I was of some assistance!</p>
<p>PS. If you have any general questions about Cali, feel free to get in touch with me.</p>
<p>I live in southern california, 50 miles east of LA.
USC and UCLA will stack up evenly, one may go the other way depending on major
Stanford and Berkeley are usually regarded higher than the other two, but a good amount of kids turn them down to stay south. (they are basically two whole different states really).
I love Southern California, especially the weather, girls, places to go. For example. Where I am right now, its a 35 minute drive to Huntington/Newport, 50 minutes to Los Angeles, 30 minutes to Wrightwood or Big Bear for snowboarding, and 30 minutes from the high desert for Dirt Bike riding... 3 hours to vegas... just... tonsss to do.
Southern California, inland at least, is more conservative than up north. Even towards the coast and city it is decently liberal, but nowhere near Berkeley status.
USC and UCLA have big reputations around here, the support about split come football.
USC is in south central, but has a very nice and very safe campus... UCLA is in Westwood surrounded by Bel Air and the like. But don't let the USC surroundings turn you off too much
hell in the yearbook I had a quote on the college page saying "im staying in CA, the east coast is dirrty"</p>
<p>If you like warm weather, laid back atmosphere, casual attire, friendly people but terrible drivers, attractive females... traffic and smog... and beaches. SoCal is for you...</p>
<p>If you like Pot, treehugging, birkenstocks, praobbly a little more prestige from your school, the "yay" area (Hyphy is lame to me), notsopretty girls... go for NorCal.</p>
<p>Although Berkeley out of state is hard... and stanford is hard for everyone
Tuition will probably be slightly more for USC than UCLA for out of state, but USC is liberal with their scholarships if your well qualified</p>
<p>I wouldn't go anywhere in CA other than Stanford unless you're planning to stay there. The UCs are very big and overcrowded, not worth the money OOS for undergrad. USC gets no respect outside of CA.</p>
<p>Applying to CA colleges other than state run schools will give you an advantage coming from the East.</p>
<p>Ya that's another thing kinda
UC's ARE overcrowded
and... If you want to live in california post graduation, go to a CA school. But similarly, if you want to live in Texas, go to UT, and the Northeast... Tufts or wherever.</p>
<p>LOL my S couldn't wait to leave CA for the east coast. I understand your desire to experience a different part of the country though. College is a great time to do this.</p>
<p>
[quote]
If you like warm weather, laid back atmosphere, casual attire, friendly people but terrible drivers, attractive females... traffic and smog... and beaches. SoCal is for you...</p>
<p>If you like Pot, treehugging, birkenstocks, praobbly a little more prestige from your school, the "yay" area (Hyphy is lame to me), notsopretty girls... go for NorCal.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I don't know what part of SoCal you live in, but that is nowhere near like where I live. And I'm only about 10-15 minutes from Huntington, 30 from LA, and so on and so forth. I think that type of stereotyping really only contributes to the misconceptions that out-of-staters have.</p>
<p>You are right about the drivers though. Too many stupid people here.</p>
<p>California is, alone, the world's 7th biggest economy! Silicon Valley is THE center of innovation! San Francisco is one of the most beautiful and diverse cities in the world! Stanford is the best school in the country!</p>
<p>Therefore, NorCal > SoCal (gets props for its suspiciously high frequency of attractive girls) > rest of country</p>
<p>Pretty much all the East Coast has going for it is its lengthy history. <em>snooooore</em></p>
<p>california ROCKS!! i live in long beach, a pretty good-sized city, about 25 miles southeast of downtown LA (it can take 30 mintues or 2 hours to get there...just depends on traffic). if I drive straight south I can get to Pacific Coast Highway in under 10 minutes (it's about 5 miles) and go to whichever beach I chose. (Newport is about 30 minutes down PCH). I don't have the east coast perspective, but here's pretty much how the UC's stack up (in terms of selectivity, atleast)</p>
<p>UC Berkeley: the best of the best
UCLA: not far behind, similar admit rate (around 23% for both). Great education all across the board. My personal favorite :)
USC: of course not NEARLY as good as UCLA, but still alright, in most respects :p (although they do whip UCLA...and everyone else...at football).
UCSD: Good school, notable sciences.
UCSB, UCI, UC Davis: all of similar admit rates, Irvine is pretty new, Davis is known for it's vet school, and Santa Barbara is known for it's wild party scene and top knotch engineering.
UC Santa Cruz: Don't know much about it
UC Riverside and UC Merced: If you have taken all the A-G courses and have a certain GPA and test scores, the UC system will garauntee you admission to one of these two schools.</p>
<p>Don't forget the LAC's - in Claremont, you've got Claremont McKenna, Pomona, Mudd if you're into engineering, Scripps if you're a girl, or Pitzer. In LA up by Pasadena there's Occidental.</p>
<p>California is AMAZING!!!</p>
<p>I was apprehensive about going, having never been there before my prospie visit, (and then the first night at college). But I went for it, and it has been the greatest time of my life. I came from the Northeast to Southern California, largely because I found what I considered to be the perfect school for me, but also because I knew that college would be an optimal time in my life to live in a new place, meet new people, and see a whole new part of the world I had never seen before. My parents understood that once I was >5 hours away, it would only be Thanksgiving and Holidays anyway, so the distance really doesn't change anything. </p>
<p>Be brave!</p>
<p>I highly advocate going to a whole new place for undergrad, ESPECIALLY if its California!</p>
<p>Adding: The hot girl thing about socal is no myth, I honestly didn't believe it until I got there...but WOW</p>
<p>lol brassmonkey</p>
<p>The problem is that it can distract from your studies. Its really hard to focus on your biology teacher when you are sitting next to a 6', 115 pound half chinese half mexican girl in a mini skirt. Y'know?</p>
<p>But in all seriousness, is the attractiveness of the collective members of the opposite sex at a school or its surrounding area REALLY a prime factor in college selection? Pretty much anywhere you go there's bound to be someone of the opposite sex who is nice, intelligent and attractive, right? Or have I just been living in CA for too long?</p>
<p>
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San Francisco is one of the most beautiful and diverse cities in the world! Stanford is the best school in the country!</p>
<p>Therefore, NorCal > SoCal (gets props for its suspiciously high frequency of attractive girls) > rest of country
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Los Angeles has hollywood, beverly hills, and beaches which naturally attracts all kinds of girls in bikinis. It is THE most diverse city in the World and is reknown for having the best kind of weather in the nation. </p>
<p>therefore, SoCal > NorCal > Rest of the country > Texas</p>
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<p>Yeah, Ms. Salad Shooter sounds real attractive there, but whatever floats your boat, dude. Sir Mix-a-lot I am not, but that is just plain emaciated.</p>
<p>Haha. I've been born in raised in SoCal. They are right about the large discrepancy between SoCal and NorCal, but one thing you'll find here, or at least I have found here, is quite a bit of pride as a Californian, in general. </p>
<p>There are tons of careers here - especially Silicon Valley if you're into tech, but it's difficult (in SoCal near the LA area, at least) to find a job while in college or high school. Not sure about after, but I know some of the engineering companies around the LAX have lots of baby boomers retiring, which means LOTS of jobs in the tech/aerospace industry in the next decade or so.</p>
<p>Let's see...How schools stack up? I think people painted a pretty good depiction. Stanford/UCB have great reputations. UCLA and USC are overcrowded, but still very great schools and lots lots lots to do in the surrounding area. I personally think UCLA is a beautiful campus. UCI is, in my opinion, the only UC that's somewhat small and intimate but has a great reputation (especially in computer programming, English). That's just the feel I got when I visited, but I haven't visited all of the UCs, either. SB is BEAUTIFUL as well as SD, which most people tell me is BEAUTIFUL (personally, I don't think so...too big, lots of construction going on there right now and for the past few years).</p>
<p>In regards to the populace, I can only speak for SoCal. Someone mentioned some stereotypes - cute girls, label-driven people, etc.. Personally, I think it is unfair and ridiculous to label an entire populace. SoCal is incredibly diverse. You'll find career-driven people as well as very laid back individuals. You'll find people who only care about labels and many more that don't. My experience, for the most part, with people has been that (once you get out of high school, being a teenager, etc. shallowness) people really don't care how you dress. They expect appropriate attire, and if you're wearing something like a super miniskirt and half a shirt, they will think you are a hook** or judge you, but besides being presumptuous like most other people anywhere in the world, they're nice. People are helpful and kind unless you are at the DMV or on the road.</p>
<p>I think going to school here, if you don't mind the large amount of people here and the effects of that (ex. traffic) is great. I'd recommend it.</p>
<p>Yeah I don't know about the emaciated biology student, but from my experience, the girls have been healthy, beautiful, sun-kissed and fun.</p>
<p>There are also (ahem) some schools in CA with outstanding academics;
Stanford, Caltech, Pomona, Harvey Mudd, USC, CMC, Scripps, Pitzer, Occidential, not to mention the UC system.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Los Angeles has hollywood, beverly hills, and beaches which naturally attracts all kinds of girls in bikinis. It is THE most diverse city in the World and is reknown for having the best kind of weather in the nation.</p>
<p>therefore, SoCal > NorCal > Rest of the country > Texas
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Los Angeles has hollywood, beverly hills, and beaches which naturally attracts all kinds of superficial phonies and girls with more plastic than a recycling center. It is THE most diverse city west of Palm Springs and is renown for having the best smog and gridlock in the nation.</p>
<p>therefore, SoCal < Rest of the country</p>
<p>(p.s. i hope you were kidding about it being THE most diverse city in the world... i'm guessing you've never been to London, Paris or even New York)</p>
<p>I live about 10 minutes away from the Claremont colleges (pomona, mudd, scripps, cmc, pitzer, scripps... I think), and the whole setup is pretty cool. Check out the Claremont College system</p>