csulb v.s. ucsc

<p>hi, as May 1 approaching, i am getting nervous on what to do. i only got accepted to csulb and ucsc, and waitlisted by university of michigan &LMU. Also i am waiting for the appeals for 4 uc's including ucla uci ucsd ucd. i don't know if i should choose csulb over ucsc or vice versa.
my stats below:
only been in the usa for 5 years
asian
3.98(unweighted) & 4.0(weighted)
plan to major in neuroscience, but csulb does not have the major, so i have to major in botany bio if i do attend the school
worked very hard through out the 4 years
very poor sat, high 1600
my family can not afford the tuition, if i go to csulb and commute, i only have to pay under 1500/ year; if live in campus i have to take out 7000 loan. Then for ucsc, if i go, i have to take out 8400 loan per year...</p>

<p>do you have any suggestion on what should i do??/thank you so much</p>

<p>also i heard that it is impossible to graduate in 4yrs for csulb, is it true because i do not want to spend another year in college. i wish to transfer to ucla after 2 years. what do you think i should do. thank you so much.</p>

<p>it is extremely impossible to graduate in 4 years at csulb. and ill warn u right now the commuting gets old. I got into csulb as a transfer but i will probably be attending a UC instead. generally, if u want to go to grad-school, i would recommend a UC over a cal state (not always, but generally).
im honestly surprised u didnt get in to those UCs especially with ur gpa for irvine SD and davis. i hope u called the schools to check y u didnt get in!
when it comes to ur major, i will advise that u might change ur mind. alot of my friends have changed their major (myself included).</p>

<p>and this may be the hardest part for u to understand because u havent been in the college or transfer system yet, but
IT IS NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO TRANSFER FROM A CSU TO A UC. even from a UC to another UC is hard. In the end, if you are dying to go to UCLA and can keep ur gpa up, go to a community college. if u dont believe me, look at the UC transfers forum</p>

<p>hope this helps!!</p>

<p>I agree with what HiAcceptMe said and I would add my feeling that it’s going to be really tough to get community college classes in the next few years, plus many are cutting enrollment. Here is a recent article about the situation. There have been many articles lately regarding cc so Google News probably has something specific regarding the campus you’d attend.</p>

<p>[Rough</a> road ahead for El Camino students - The Daily Breeze](<a href=“http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/ci_17921685]Rough”>http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/ci_17921685)</p>

<p>My overall feeling is that you are in the 4-year system and that you’d have to reapply and jump through higher hoops in two years. </p>

<p>I assume that UCSC has the neuroscience major? With the CSULB botany bio degree, would you be forced to pursue a Masters in neuroscience if the transfer didn’t work out. I recommend calling, emailing, or visiting (in CSULB’s case) each college’s sciences advising office and getting some specific advice and feedback. They field a lot of questions from prospective students.</p>

<p>From a student who’s been in the community college system for 3 years I have to disagree about the “state of things” (Note: this statement is from my experiences alone and should be accepted as such)</p>

<p>I don’t necessarily believe it’s harder to get classes although I do have to admit you may have to take odd hours (like a class in the morning to afternoon with a four hour gap till your next class) but this is what you should accept as a sacrifice in getting out of the cc system. Those who are picky with getting nice and structured schedules will most likely get out of the cc system slower.</p>

<p>Also, transferring from a CSU —> UC is a very unlikely thing to happen. Statistic-wise you’re much better off going into a community college (saves money also) and acquiring high marks and transferring to a university that ranks higher than lb / ucsc. </p>

<p>[Profile</a> of Admitted Transfer Students - UCLA Undergraduate Admissions](<a href=“http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/prospect/adm_tr/Tr_Prof.htm]Profile”>http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/prospect/adm_tr/Tr_Prof.htm)
^UCLA transfer data
<a href=“http://students.berkeley.edu/files/Admissions/12626_5.Info_TransAdm.pdf[/url]”>http://students.berkeley.edu/files/Admissions/12626_5.Info_TransAdm.pdf&lt;/a&gt;
^CAL admission rates</p>

<p>Just be aware that even though you want to do major in neuroscience, the classes required are difficult and it takes a lot to achieve what you want. I’m not advising you to change majors or anything but realize that many students decide early they want to do pre-med / neuro and within a few years don’t follow through. </p>

<p>If you’re on a budget and thinking about the costs of college definitely give a thought in the consideration that you may / may not want to do neuroscience in a years time. (Just a heads up)</p>

<p>If you do decide to go to CSULB look into changing majors when you’re there (i’m not sure of the process or even if that is allowed but something to consider). UCSC on the flip side may offer you the college experience which comes with being away from home / and maturation process. </p>

<p>In the end, you’ll have to make the final decision of what you feel will position you the best towards your future academic goals and dreams. Best wishes. </p>

<p>side note: Unlike my family who’ve attended 4-years universities straight out of high school I ended up in CC and i’ve had a great time. Again my experiences are not typical of those who usually attend cc but I guarantee you that you will see certain things that you will never see at a UC / 4-year university. </p>

<p>It’s been a rewarding experience going through cc and I feel that it’s been a great choice made by me (not like i had much of a choice post-high school though) and i’m excited for what the future holds. As you can see I try to advocate the value of CC as I’ve had a very positive reaction to it.</p>

<p>How much aid is being offered to you at UCSC?</p>

<p>Reading bowlhead’s reply makes me realize that cc areas are being effective in different ways. His/her perspective is better than my own as I am in the San Diego area and with SDSU getting rid of their guaranteed admissions area last year, our cc’s have even higher enrollment. This affected my response and as you are in the LB cc area, I realize now that you wouldn’t have the same experience.</p>

<p>thank you so much for all of you guys’ advice. i know this is kind of late to reply but just want to conclude this thread. so i did end up going to ucsc and loved it. the environment is good, people are extremely nice and chill, great time here. Yet it is too far from home. this year, i applied for transfer. I got accepted to UCLA and UCSD. Now i have more things to think about. But anyway, i appreciated all of you guys help.</p>

<p>@mermeid</p>

<p>Congrats.</p>

<p>@Gunner4Life</p>

<p>thx!!</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>I’ll echo what bowlhead said as my experience with CC was quite positive. Sure the classes may not align perfectly which is a downside, but overall my experience was a positive one. Also you can connect with professors at a CC more easily, professors who you can later ask to write letters of recommendation for scholarships, internships, admission to graduate school. </p>

<p>Class times as mention are mostly a mixed bag. Right now I’m in my last semester (transferring this fall) and I have class Mon/Wed from 6:30am-12:35pm in the past I’ve done Mon-Thurs 11:00am-7:30pm with 2-3 our gaps between classes, and my first semester I took a class that ended at 9:30 or 10pm. For the most part though if you’re willing put academics above having a structured life it works out. I took 9 units one summer, but in two and a half years I’ve completed 70 units of coursework all lower division GE and major requirements. </p>

<p>The one downside of CC is if you need to take remedial math or English you can get stuck. I ended up spending another semester at CC before transferring due to not meeting a math transfer requirement. All I needed was one class! So that set me back but since I only needed that one class I decided to take the extra BS classes needed for an AA/AS degree. An associates degree is useless but still something to list on a CV.</p>