A little about me: I’m located in NorCal, currently a Senior in HS that is about to graduate. I consider myself a high school slacker that picked it up in junior year, and very sadly I still am a slacker but when I do try I do very well. I got into 3 CSU’s, Sac State, Chico, and San Francisco. UC’s: Denied at Davis, I applied to UC Merced and UCR, I’m waiting from them I expect to be denied from UCR and a 50/50 shot at Merced. My ACT score is 27, and SAT 1600 my HS GPA is a 3.4. I have a small mount of EC and zero community service hours. I’ve only took 2 AP classes, one of them I’m actually taking right now. My major is computer engineering.
The colleges I really want to go to is #1) UC Davis or #2) Cal Poly SLO. (UC Davis is my dream school) I’m satisfied with the colleges I got into, it’s no surprise in fact that I got into them, but all I want to do is go to a good and reputable university for my major and my future career. Money is no issue, financially, my parents have no problem paying for a 4 year college. I’m deciding whether I should attend one of the 4 year universities I got into or attend my local CC, suck it up from being a HS slacker and work my butt to get into a good UC (preferably Davis). I know Davis has TAG, that is what I’m really wanting to work for, however them saying that impacted majors may not guarantee admission is throwing me off, and things could change in two years. (I know computer engineering and engineering in general is being more impacted each year) That and I’m not too confident in a CC I heard too many stories about people staying more than 2 years to finish up due to shortage of classes and whatnot, and other stuff like credits not transferring and end up being more screwed over in a 4 year.
Anyways, I’m seeking opinions to help me make the best choice.
Use http://www.assist.org to see if your local CCs cover the frosh/soph courses for your major at UC Davis.
Of course, whether you start at a CC, SFSU, CSUSac, CSUC, UCM, or UCR, you need to get more self-motivation in college. Read the books, go to class, do the assignments, and start the projects early. Slacking off and then cramming at the last minute will result in doing more work for poorer results, and lower quality of life in school.
I went to CC, and have been a big proponent of them to the high school kids I teach. I finished in 2 years with my Associate’s, and went on to graduate from a local university, job offer in hand, 4 years after I graduated high school.
But I think their one failing is when it comes to “slackers.” I think that those kids are less likely to get the academic “push” they need. I think they’re more likely to fall through the cracks in a CC (or at least a large one like the ones on Long Island) than at a smaller college. And I think those kids are more prone to stop after receiving an Associate’s Degree than to push on for their Bachelor’s.
I would rather see those “slackers” attend a smaller 4 year school.
UCM would be the only small (relatively, about 5,500 undergraduates) mainly residential school (79% of frosh in the dorms) four year school on the OP’s list. The others are significantly larger and have a higher percentage of commuters (30% of frosh in the dorms at CSUSac, 50% at SFSU, 61% at CSUC, 62% at UCR).
Of the few CSUs still accepting applications for fall 2015, HSU has about 8,000 undergraduates and 88% of frosh in the dorms, while CSUCI has about 3,300 undergraduates and 61% of frosh in the dorms. CSUB and CSUDH are mainly commuter schools (13% of frosh in the dorms) of about 7,000 to 8,000 undergraduates each. California Maritime Academy has under 1,000 students and 90% of frosh live in the dorms, but it is very academically specialized.
Both CSU Sacramento and CSU Chico have decent computer science departments. Choosing one of these and graduating with a Computer Science degree is a much better option than attending a CC and planning to eventually transfer to a UC. Introductory computer science course are very critical to success as a Computer Science major. In practice the quality of courses at a CC is unlikely to match those at the CSUs. Also, as is indicative with the low graduation rates at CCs, you’ll no doubt encounter many un-motivated students. With discipline you can overcome the CC challenges. But you’ll find a much more challenging environment at Sacramento State and Chico.
CS is a very challenging and time consuming major at every campus. To succeed, you’ll need to engage in your courses day 1 - and stay that way until you graduate.
As long as your budget allows, I’d nudge you toward Chico. The residential environment gives you a chance for a full re-set. Nearly all freshmen live on-campus. It is big enough that you won’t see the 3-4 people from your high school. Your local CC will feel like an extension of high school - with familiar scenery and faces. Perhaps it would lull you back into your old habits.
Sac has a good CS program but, most students commute from family homes in the surrounding area. You won’t get the college town experience.
As discussed in the book “Predictably Irrational” people are pretty level-headed about decisions regarding future actions. They readily agree to stop smoking, exercise more, eat healthier, study more. Ring any bells? You talk about “work my butt to get into a good UC” which is an action conveniently 6mos or more away. Talk is cheap. A turnaround committment would be a lot more convincing if you decided to buckle down and show that effort these last months of your senior year in HS, but, as I’m sure you’d say, “why bother? It doesn’t matter now. I’m sure to work hard when college starts.” And that’s just the point. Future vs now. The same tempations and thought patterns that held you back in the past will be there in the future, and chances are you’ll react similarly. I hope not, that you really do turn over a new leaf.
So back to the 4 year advice. Maybe you do end up slacking off for a while at college before turning your act around. If you start at a 4 year, as long as you don’t flunk out then you’ll get your degree, and employers will only look at the most recent years. Go to a CC and since you only have 1.5 years before you apply to xfer you might end up burying your GPA so low that your xfer choices are quite limited (perhaps even none for Computer Science)