<p>Hey how's California State University, Los Angeles like? Is it in a safe area? What are the people like? How good is the education?</p>
<p>My gf's sister went there and she's stated that it's probably not a school people should consider, unless one decides to major in engineering, business, nursing or education. It's considered pretty strong in these areas and a pretty average school otherwise. </p>
<p>The student population apparently is very diverse with the majority being hispanic, which my gf is. It's adjacent to the suburb of Alhambra, which I heard is pretty safe although I don't know about how safe the school is.</p>
<p>It's decent, but if you can go to a different school, definitely do so.</p>
<p>The area is nice and the people there are pretty cool. </p>
<p>The problem with CSLA is that it doesn't have much of a college atmosphere. I think only like 5% of undergrads live on campus. It's not a good choice unless you are already a Los Angeles resident and you have no interest in living in dorms. </p>
<p>Cal State Northridge and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo are probably better options. Although Cal Poly is slightly difficult to get into.</p>
<p>What are your GPA and SAT scores?</p>
<p>Here are my stats:
3.85 weighted GPA
3.5 unweighted GPA
1750 SAT I (retaking)
24 ACT (retaking)
SAT II's taking in November
I'm a Latino in San Francisco, I'm in five clubs with one leadership position, 100 hours of community service, blah blah blah</p>
<p>So yea I was thinking about CSULA as my backup, because Berkeley's my dream school and my grades/scores aren't good enough. I was thinking about 4 other top UC's and USC, but again my grades/scores aren't good enough. Therefore, I want to go to a CSU to get my GE and then transfer to Berkeley. I don't want to go to a CC because my college counselor and teahers have told me I would be stuck there for more than 2 years, and frankly I know I might not have the best grades but I didn't work this hard just to end up at a CC. And out of the CSU's, my main choice is CSULA because I REALLLY REALLY want to go to LA, and the other state colleges are in areas that are too secluded and I'm definetely gonna live off campus anyways in Hollywood. And by the way does anybody know how far Hollywood is from CSULA? I hope not too far. So yea what do you guys think?</p>
<p>Anyplace you can afford in Hollywood will be a total dump. I think the idea of someone your age living off campus in LA is not a great idea. You should go down to LA and look at the school and the area.</p>
<p>concur with ebeee. Definitely visit CSLA. Bcos it is a near 100% commuter school, it won't feel much different some community colleges. Your gpa should also get you into some lower UCs. But, if Cal is your dream school, and you think you can pull good grades for two years, you might seriously consider a juco feeder school to Cal, such as Diablo Valley, or one to UCLA such as Santa Monica college.</p>
<p>If you do your homework, you'll see you have a MUCH better chance ending up at Cal from a cc. Your counselor doesn't know what she's talking about.</p>
<p>If you just want to go to LA and the commuter school feel doesn't really bother you, then by all means go for it. I agree, however, that much of Hollywood is a total dump (don't believe what you see on TV shows). Hollywood is about 10 miles from CSULA. The Los Feliz area right next to Hollywood is a much better area. </p>
<p>Why would you want to go to a CSU to transfer to a UC? As mentioned on other threads, the way to go is through community college, or more appropriately stated, junior college. Much easier to transfer. This a "loophole" inherent in our state system of higher education that you may want to take advantage of.</p>
<p>Alright first of all, I actually kinda laughed that "bobby100" thought my college counselor is a girl, lol. anyways, no I do not think my college conselor is out of HIS mind, but yea I do sometimes doubt some of the advice he gives me. Unless somebody can give me some real evidence that says for sure I will be at a community college for only 2 years, I know I'll be stuck there forever. AND somebody in another thread told me UC's take students from a CC first, then their own students, then students from other schools, does anybody have factual evidence for that too? And again I would want to go to a CSU to transfer to a UC, because I've worked to hard to go to just end up at a CC, but I'm not saying CC's are terrible. OH and I do NOT want to attend a school in the middle of nowhere or in a suburb, I want to live in a big city. And also CSU's aren't that expensive. And thanks for the advise, and I will look into the "Los Feliz" area.</p>
<p>sf:</p>
<p>The Master Plan for Higher Education in Calif dictates that the UCs give priority to juco transfers. It is more difficult to transfer from a Cal State to a UC than from a juco. But, don't trust us, e-mail one of the UC campuses and ask. </p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>Alright then I'll consider CC's I guess. So I just asked "bluebayou" in another thread, but if I enter an honors program at a CC would that guarantee i get my GE in 2 years? Oh and does anybody know about Los Angles Community college?</p>
<p>Just go to a local community college. There is no need to come to Los Angeles for that. They are all equally good.</p>
<p>i know that, but one of the main reasons to go to college is to move away from home. and I REALLY want to go to LA</p>
<p>If you REALLY want to go to UC-Berkeley, but you don't feel you have the grades or SAT scores to get admitted, you best option is to go to a JuCo and then try to transfer to Cal. </p>
<p>With your stats though, I still think you can at least get into UC-Riverside of UC Santa Cruz. </p>
<p>Oh you could do what my friend did in high school. He went to a Cal State for a year, transferred to a JuCo, and now he's attending UCSD. It's very much possible.</p>
<p>However, I must forewarn you that even trying to get into Berkeley though the "backdoor" way via a junior college is highly competitive. I have other friends who did something similar to what you're contemplating. Many of them turned down very good universities including UC Irvine and UC Davis to go to a junior college. They then tried to transfer to either UCLA or Berkeley after finishing their time at JC. Some were succesful, others failed. Funny enough, several of those who failed ended up at the university they were originally supposed to attend but turned down during their senior year in high school! They justify their acitons by thinking, "well, at least I saved some money." </p>
<p>A more famous example is Aaron Rodgers. He was accepted to Illinois-Urbana Champaign but turned it down to attend a JC. He had a 3.8 GPA and 1300 SAT score but i believed Berkeley turned him down during high school. After finishing his time at a JC, he transferred to berkeley, became its starting quarterback, and the rest is history. </p>
<p>My advice: keep your ego in check. If you don't get into Berkeley, your life's not over and you're not doomed to mediocrity. There are plenty of great universities in California that aren't name brand.</p>
<p>Hey dude! don't insult me by saying I can't even get into at least Davis. Dude I might not have the best grades, but I know I can get into Davis. Damn dude, the only hard ones to get in for me will be UCLA, Berkeley, and UCSD. But I really want to go to Berkeley and YES i do have my reasons, and I'm NOT applying just because of the name. And come on how competitive can it be at a CC? I know I can pull off AT LEAST a 3.5 GPA or above.</p>
<p>Since we are talking about the UC system, can you please let us know what your UC GPA is?</p>
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Hey dude! don't insult me by saying I can't even get into at least Davis. Dude I might not have the best grades, but I know I can get into Davis. Damn dude, the only hard ones to get in for me will be UCLA, Berkeley, and UCSD. But I really want to go to Berkeley and YES i do have my reasons, and I'm NOT applying just because of the name. And come on how competitive can it be at a CC? I know I can pull off AT LEAST a 3.5 GPA or above.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I was not trying to insult you. All I said was that UC Davis is not beneath you, and based on your current scores and grades, Davis is actually a good match for you. If you think that's insulting, you need to keep your ego in check. Don't apply to Berkeley just for your ego. </p>
<p>Second, yes, junior colleges are competitive for those who want to go to Berkeley. California's junior colleges are different from many other states. I don't live in California; in fact, where I live right now, junior colleges are considered an absolute last resort for those who can't get into ANY college. In California, it's different. Yes, there are lots of slackers who end up at junior colleges, but there are lots of ppl like you who end up going to junior colleges as well in order to bolster their chances of attending a prestigious UC school. Many of those I happen to know personally have similar stats to you, but instead of choosing UC Davis, Irvine, or UCSB, they take their chances and go to a junior college instead with the hopes of attending an elite UC school. My point is that sometimes, that plan completely backfires. </p>
<p>Don't be too cocky. That's my point. If I'm insulting you by saying this, perhaps you really are too cocky for your own good.</p>
<p>No I was being that serious, but still. And I already said my weighted GPA is 3.85</p>
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No I was being that serious, but still. And I already said my weighted GPA is 3.85
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<p>I wish you the best of luck, but you're still taking a risk if you decide to take the junior college route and try to transfer to Berkeley. I've personally seen many friends try that route and it totally backfired. </p>
<p>What I mean by "risk" is that if you set up such high expectations for yourself but you don't achieve them, you'll end up feeling very disappointed and it'll be hard to recover from that disappointment.</p>
<p>Alright I totally agree with you on that last sentence, but even if I do take that "risk" and not get into Berkeley or UCLA, then I'll go to Davis. And yes I'll use the reason that I went to a jc first just to save money, and no that isn't an excuse. And if I were too cocky for my own good, then wouldn't I think I had a sure chance of getting into Berkeley? Thanks anyways for the advice.</p>