<p>So I know that most of these schools are not considered by CCers but I am helping someone in CA who has been accepted at all three and is deciding where to go. Anybody have experience with any of the three? </p>
<p>There are financial and other issues that make a CSU the best choice so please don't post telling me that they are all lousy or that the applicant should look at the UCs.</p>
<p>Better than CC to UC? Of the 3, Monterey, good size and not the party school the others are.</p>
<p>Well i visited CSUMB and it really didn't appeal to me. It dosn't have a nice campus and it's kind of out in the middle of nowhere. Chico is a major party school so I guess if your friend likes that then it might be a good place. I havn't visited Humboldt, but it seems pretty nice, and I myself would pick that over the other two. Hope you can find more information and help your friend. Good luck!</p>
<p>Monterey Bay is a beautiful campus and is 10 minutes from downtown Monterey and a relatively short distance from Santa Cruz. Excellent dorms and wifi all over the campus. It has unique majors and a friendly student body. Good class size.</p>
<p>Humboldt State = cold, pot-smoking future forest rangers
Chico = warm, beer-drinking cow tippers
Monterey Bay = lives in paradise, what a beautiful place; why wouldn't you?</p>
<p>These are parodies, with some grains of truth.</p>
<p>I have to step up in defense of Chico. I have repeatedly tried to get one of my kids to go there (unsuccessfully) but I can say that I know a lot of very successful people who graduated from Chico; I'm impressed with the campus and the community, and I'd recommend that anyone looking at a NorCal CSU give Chico careful consideration. It's a bona fide "college town" campus with all of the benefits that flow from that. If you're looking for that "college experience" I don't think you can top Chico for an affordable California opportunity.</p>
<p>Humboldt and CSUMB, while I don't know as much about them, also have a lot going for them. The rap is that CSUMB is still sort of looking for an identity, and that Humboldt can feel kind of isolated if you don't find your niche, but I suspect that either would be great for a person who's more "individually" oriented towards life.</p>
<p>Each school has academic areas where they excel, and while students do change majors often it is a consideration. Chico is good in business; Humboldt is better known for natural sciences.</p>
<p>Thanks to everyone...Anyone else out there please feel free to chime in.</p>
<p>I looked into all three with each of my children (I can't say for sure how serious they were, but I certainly was). All three had much to recommend them and a few significant (to my children) drawbacks. Each of my children has friends attending each school. The ones at Chico are quite happy and feel they are getting the full college experience on a beautiful campus in a nice town. Their complaint is that it is too far from a real city. The Humboldt students we know are very artsy, very individual, and very happy as well, although even they feel the school is isolated. I can't say the same for the CSUMB students, all of whom (remember these are just kids we know, obviously not everyone who attends there) are unhappy and looking to tansfer (or have already transferred). The uniform complaint is that the campus is sterile (perhaps maybe it looks more so because it is on the Monterrey Penninsula which is othewise spactacularly beautiful and CSUMB inhabits the old Fort Ord Army base, which was truly ugly. One felt the program she went there for was not what was promoted. Another felt a lack of "campus feel". For whatever reason, about six kids we know ranged from unhappy enough to transfer to just not particularly satisfied. They may well be not at all representative of the student body. Since each school has a very different look and feel, visits should be helpful. I had my fingers crossed that my little darlings would love Chico, but they chose out of state schools.</p>
<p>Good post, Lalady. Much better than my impressionistic one.</p>
<p>lalady, thank you so much! I had hoped someone with first or second hand experience of the schools would post. Your comments were very helpful. I had heard the same comment about Monterey Bay from someone in my area whose son was there and since is at SDSU.</p>
<p>Monterey Bay does not have a very nice campus. It’s located on an old military barracks and does not look like a college. On the plus side, the dorms rooms are huge. You need a car there since all the stores are 10 miles away. I would not recommend going there.</p>
<p>Humboldt is in the middle of nowhere and is also very hippy. The school is filled with stoners. The school is actually pretty solid academically, but you have to be a special kind of person to fit in there.</p>
<p>Chico is the best all around out of the three. The campus is midsized and it’s very nice. Chico has some good programs, particularly business. The social life at Chico is great and there are always things to do on and off campus. It is definitely not a commuter school. I wish I had gone there out of high school instead of my current college, but thankfully I’ll be transferring next year.</p>
<p>chico is the better of the three</p>
<p>I'm a Humboldt alum. It and Chico are both resident schools--the majority of the students come from at least 50 miles away and usually have to move their residence to attend schools (although I did know a few who lived 70 miles away in Crescent City and commuted--crazy!).</p>
<p>There is a large marijuana presence in the community, but after living their for four years I never was offered or witness anyone on campus using it (it's another story about off-campus parties--I was a theatre major). The administration actually had an outside society survey the pot use, and in comparison to other CSU campuses, it was present at about the same levels. The reason for the big pot reputation is because the local community is know for growing it (They don't call that region the "Emerald Triangle" for nothing).</p>
<p>Humboldt's academics are difficult. If you don't go to class and do your work, you won't graduate. As with all colleges, if you are distracted by the party scene, you will wash out. But the party scene does not encompass the entire campus.</p>
<p>The biggest draw back to Humboldt is the isolation factor. There isn't a whole bunch for under-21's to do on the weekends, so they usually fall back going to off-campus parties and drinking, etc.</p>
<p>The area is absolutely gorgeous, and because of the unique setting, Humboldt's professors have usually given up better-paying jobs because they want to teach and they care about the students. For the most part, the administration allows the professors to run the classes as they want, provided they meet the goals of the classes they teach. Another strong point is that very, very, very few of Humboldt's classes are taught by grad students. You might get a grad student in a science discussion session or lab, or possibly in freshmen English. Usually there are no more than 10 classes in the entire class schedule for the semester taught by grad students.</p>
<p>Moreover, Humboldt has unique research facilities if you will be studying in the sciences: a marine research vessel solely for undergraduate research, a marine lab, a natural history museum, fish hatchery, demonstration and experimental forest, Arcata Community Forest adjacent to campus as a living bio and botany lab, game pens, Schatz Energy Lab, the Arcata Marsh and Wildlife Research Center.</p>
<p>As a theatre arts major, I was able to work on crews, perform, and direct much earlier than my counterparts in most Southern California CSU's. I had a friend who was studying lighting design at CSUN, and he wasn't even able to get on a crew to hang a light until he was a junior. He couldn't design until he was in his last semester as a senior! Humboldt provided many opportunities for hands-on learning, including having 6 performance spaces (including one in the music department and a dance studio in the PE department) available with full lighting and sound equipment in each. Additionally, we were able to take classes in other departments that complemented our studies in theatre arts: art, music, history, psychology, speech communication, etc.</p>
<p>Chico is also a residence campus, which I was considering at the time I enrolled at Humboldt. I was not pleased with its ratings as a top party school back in the late 80's. That made up my mind. (I think the hot climate in August, September, April, and May as well as the cold climate in the winter would dissuade me now.) I'm not even sure if I ever checked out their facilities.</p>
<p>Monterey Bay is a relatively new campus in the CSU system. As such, the facilities are newer and the programs are more cutting edge. It is actually classified as a "commuter" school on the CSU website, which means most of the students will commute from home on a daily basis. This will make a difference in the on-campus living arrangements: while there are a number of residence halls and other on-campus options, most of your student body won't be on campus at night or on the weekends. This may be a positive or a negative to you, but it's important to note. Being in an urban/suburban area, the look of the campus will greatly differ from Humboldt and Chico.</p>
<p>If you are deciding based on major, I would choose Humboldt if you are planning on majoring in any of these areas: sciences, arts, psychology/social work.</p>
<p>I would do my research carefully for any other major.</p>
<p>Lastly, since you are deciding on three campuses that are at least in the same geographic region, I would spend some time and tour each one before making a decision. You'll never know what a college is like unless you visit it.</p>
<p>why revive dead threads?
"The ones at Chico are quite happy and feel they are getting the full college experience"
hahaha! Yes im sure it is a great college experience being in a boring town, and being educated in mediocre academic, but more importantly, passing and still being drunk for for years straight.</p>
<p>All i ever hear about humbolt is "don't go there. Everyone is always stoned. As for Chico, everyone i ever knew that went there said they wish they got a better education, and were not drunk for four years straight.</p>
<p>Know nothin about monterey really other than it is a cheery little coastal city.</p>
<p>Chico is the best academically and socially of the three.</p>
<p>As other posters mentioned Monterey is a very new school that right now is housed in the former Fort Ord Army buildings. The dorms are actually the former munitions storage buildings, so the thick walls keep the rooms cool in the summer and warm in the winter. However, the dorms are not close to the classrooms right now. There are plans to fill in buildings and make it a truely beautiful campus, so if you don't like it now, don't necessarily cross it off for students looking in five years. It will be different.</p>
<p>I've worked with many people with degrees from Chico; their graduates are talented, and apparently well educated. There are only enough dorms for most of the Freshman class, so understand you will be living off campus most of your college years, though apartments don't seem to be that hard to find. The surrounding community is adorable, and is a very college oriented town.</p>
<p>I don't know anything about Humbolt. (Other than they used to play Davis in football many moons ago...) I was interested to hear they seem to have a marine biology type facilities. Avcastner, do they have a marine biology program?</p>
<p>Humboldt not only offers a marine biology degree (actually a biology degree with marine bio. emphasis) but an oceanography degree as well. Plus you can get a minor in scientific, recreational or leadership diving (a minor within the school of kinesiology and recreation administration). Lots of outdoor opportunities (climbing, kayaking, backpacking, skiing and mountaineering on Shasta, surfing, etc.) Great Natural Resources and Geography Departments as well.</p>
<p>Thanks, a friend is looking for a marine biology program where he can use his diving experience. Sounds like a school to add to the list.</p>
<p>I live right next to CSUMB and have to say that the students I 've talked to love the school. It is fairly new but definitely does not have the party rep that Humboldt and Chico have. Monterey is absolutely gorgeous and most students go to downtown Monterey for the clubs and parties. CSUMB’s renovations are truly amazing with their new library, science building, dining commons, and dorms. Hope this helps in any way!! PM me if you have any specific questions I know a ton about CSUMB. ;):):):):):):):</p>
<p>This thread is over two years old. I think they made their choice.</p>