Someone who knows that there is a CSU Fullerton also probably knows that there is a CSU Fresno. Both can be abbreviated CSUF, which can be ambiguous when the context does not make clear which one is meant.
Have you looked at Colorado State in Fort Collins? Big Ag program and very outdoorsy students with tons of sunshine. With WUE would be right at 40K. Not sure of they have industrial design, but maybe something will click and switching majors isn’t typically an issue like some of the CA publics.
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Thanks for all the help and suggestions. Much of it validates and adds to the list of western Publics I have built.
After a bit research:
Iowa State seems like a better cultural fit than Idaho State
NMSU has an Aerial silks facility down the street, and her stats could make is uber cheap leaving funds for activities like silks etc.
Google also thinks CSUF Is Fullerton. I haven’t looked into CSUF much, questions to answer: is it a commuter school? What would it add over a CPP?
Because it’s Cal State Fullerton vs. Fresno State.
Fresno State is technically Cal State U, Fresno I suppose but it’s far better known as Fresno State.
When I was a kid, maybe (can’t remember),we called it Fullerton State - but it’s always, as least in the last 20-30 years, been CSUF.
D24 reiterates she wants the low stress/expectations of a low cost/low pressure school. Discussed Cognitive Science yesterday. Depending on the program it might be great match. At a place like UCSD I believe the class load would turn her off, but the UCSC program looks like a possibility. She is looking through the class list today.
UCSD, even for the B.A., requires the full year of Calculus. UCSC BS on the other hand requires a single semester of calculus or AP Calculus AB score of 4+, AP Calculus BC score of 3+, or CLEP Calculus score of 60+
UCD BS was similar to UCSD, the UCD BA was similar to UCSC.
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This is college.
I’m not sure low press or low pressure exists. Well it might but it might also depend on the kid and how they handle the stress. I would presume a UC will be hard work and depending on the profs - intense. Now, we all handle intensity differently.
But if she wants low stress / intensity and I don’t know if it’s there, but perhaps a school like High Point?
It’s college - it’s not meant to be chill.
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The summer camp we attend as a family calls it Challenge by Choice. Some schools don’t have that no matter what major you choose, others will. I think many people come away from school visits thinking the students at school A (UCSD for example) look stressed, while the ones at school B (UCD) look noticeably less so. Some privates have the same reactions. Fortunately, it frequently aligns with admissions selectivity.
I don’t think there is any reason that a student who is fortunate enough to not have to work their way through college can’t have a pretty ‘chill’ four years and still track towards a meaningful career.
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Agree Puget Sound will offer more than Whitman, Lewis and Clark would too but not sure these LACs are even in consideration.
We found it really helpful to go through the catalogs to see class requirements and descriptions for each major and if they sounded appealing. And then to compare the major at one college to another to see which were more in the direction DD wanted to go.
I get wanting to not have high stress. I tended to encourage my kids to back off if the stressor wasn’t something super important in the scheme of life.
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Level of pressure and stress can vary, however. If the desired major is oversubscribed with a competitive secondary admission process, that can be more stressful than otherwise.
Of course, some paths are more likely to be stressful. Pre-med is a typical example, but the student in this thread is not pre-med.
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My point is that different kids handle stress and pressure and intensity differently.
We don’t know this kid.
But I don’t think any college is intended to be “chill” except maybe a High Point type - where you are paying for - chill and luxury.
But you can have two kids on the same schedule and environment - one handles it wonderfully and the other not.
Many have mentioned engineering type majors for this student or engineering adjacent.
They will all be intense - whether it’s Stanford, UCD or your less pedigree state school. They will all be math intensive, etc.
Really I’m just saying - a lot will depend - yes on the school and major - but mostly on the student’s makeup.
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OP stated up front that the D doesn’t enjoy math.
So why are we worrying about engineering programs being too intense? A kid who doesn’t like math will last a week in engineering. This seems like a non-problem for this particular kid!!!
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I said that earlier!!!
but many, not me - based on the description OP provided, threw out engineering or adjacent majors such as industrial design. I don’t see these being a fit.
I just think - what the OP has described - truthfully doesn’t exist.
Elements do - but not the full package.
I think the OPs student should find the right college for them, maybe go in undecided, and experience things from there.
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I agree with where this thread is headed. The kid here is crazy bright but lacks motivation. Capable and achieved an A in AP Calc AB, but then decided not to continue on to BC. 1.5 weeks in and finds AP Stats fun and can get all the HW done in class. It’s been a crazy hard balancing act with a goldilocks who thrives when the challenge is ‘just right’. So yes, I am thinking of an engineering adjacent career that doesn’t require the hard deep math but still allows for challenging problems to solve.
Example, student would love AP Physics and really enjoy the learning, but the HW and problem sets would leave such a bad taste it would sour the entire class.
And this is my point about a “chill college” - college isn’t high school.
Especially in engineering or adjacent - there will be hours each night of homework for one night for one class. My engineering kid was 7 days. My poli sci/Intl Studies kid is in the library six nights.
There may be classes with effort like you describe but there won’t be an entire four year experience or even semester like this.
Both are commuter schools. CPP is stronger in engineering/STEM and CSUF has a stronger business school.
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Your Goldilocks may just be up for the challenge when she finds the right topic. I was a bit like that, and I have a kid who is crazy smart yet mostly hates school, but loved Japanese. He’s great at languages. And logic. He loved logic. He found out later that advisors at his college steer students away from that class because it’s so hard, but he got a rare A in a core class with that one. He called it word math. He did all the copious amounts of homework and showed me his notebook and told me what he was learning. He went to class. Breezed through. Crazy things happen when you capture his interest.
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It seems CPP is a few years ahead in trying to create the campus residential experience. It’s not fully there and may never, but it appears to have more housing then CSUF.
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That is true. CSUF is (was) the biggest cal state in enrollment numbers. Parking has always been hard to come by on campus. Although that is probably true for most campuses these days.
Industrial design which is what the OP requested, does not seem to require high level math classes at the handful of schools I looked at - if they took Calc AB as a junior, they’d be fine. I’ll also say that don’t underestimate growth in college. Lots of kids learn to apply themselves when the find something they love.
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