difference between university and state?

State Forums
1

Alight, i live in California, and i was wondering what is the main difference between a state and a uc. I understand that states are cheaper and easier to get into and that you can get a bachelors in four years for both schools (i think). So what exactely is the difference besides that uc’s are better schools. Is it the majors? Are these differences only for cal state and uc or do they apply to universities throughout the states? Now what is the best for me? My gpa and sat scores are mediocre at best (i think that last time i calculated my uc gpa from sophomore and jr year it was like a 3.4 and i do not know how my gpa works for states, and i kinda just winged my first sat and got a 1190. Now i know that my best shot would be like merced and riverside for uc. I have no idea about any states tho; however, people on these forum told be, for the most part, i can get into most states. Now, the ultimate goal to med school, so can i finish pre med cources for a premed major in a state? or would i eventually have to transfer to a uc? why?

extra question: since i took the sat last june, i have been getting “canadites choice” and “special choice” and that those kinda applications from emails and stuff. Even tho most of them are out of state, the application is free and they say that completing the application signs me up for like scholarships and stuff so you never know, i mean might as well. Now i havnt looked at the aplication yet, but i assume that they would like my sat scores. Do i apply with my current sat scores even tho they are low? Or do i wait until i take my second sat and actually study? Or do i not even have to send my scores? now that i think of it, some of the applications stated that they would let me knoe of acceptance within like two weeks, so is that desision beased on my first sat leaving me with no other choice?

sorry amount my grammar and stuff, im just writting and not really bothering to read it lol.

any help would be greately appreciated.
thank you

2

The goal of the Cal State system was to offer an affordable 4 year college degree to local students (priority to in-service area) and get them into the workforce. UC’s were set up for research and graduate school aspirations. Many Cal States now offer research opportunities and the lines of blurred. There are several Cal states that are on par with some of the UC’s in terms of major programs, research and competitiveness.

Regarding majors/degrees. For example: All Cal states offer Business degrees (Accounting/Finance/Marketing) but only 3 UC’s have Business schools offering Business degrees. Most offer Economics/Business Economics or Managerial Econ.

Here is a link to the types of majors offered at the Cal States:

http://degrees.calstate.edu

Majors for UC’s:

http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/counselors/files/undergraduate_majors_list.pdf

The UC and CSU GPA calculation are the same using the a-g courses from 10-11th grades and capping with 8 semesters of honors points. https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/

If your UC/CSU GPA is 3.4 and SAT 1190, then UC Merced and Riverside would probably be your best shot at the UC’s. Your UC GPA is below average for both schools, but within range.
http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/campuses/merced/freshman-profile/

http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/campuses/riverside/freshman-profile/

Cal states admit by eligibility index and major. BTW, Pre-med is not a major but an intention. You can pick any major and just take the classes needed to apply to Medical School.

Eligibility index (CSU GPA x800 ) + (SAT Math+ CR). Your EI is 3910. You have a good shot at most of the Cal states.

Depending upon major, the only ones that may be out of Reach would be Cal Poly SLO, San Diego state and Long Beach state. Some majors at San Jose State such as Computer Science would be tough.

None of these mailings for free applications mean anything unless you are really interested in the school.
If you are interested in any of the schools, then apply. You would need to look at the application but they usually require that you send your test scores. It will depend upon which schools you are targeting and how well your SAT stacks up to their averages. If you are at or above the school average in SAT scores, then you could send them now. If not, then note you will be taking the exam again and send those scores later.

Last bit of advice:

  1. Find how much you and your parents can pay/year and make sure any of the out of state schools are affordable before applying?
  2. Make sure you have a safety school (local in-service area CSU usually works), it is affordable and you are willing to attend.
  3. If you plan to apply to Medical school, you want to keep your undergrad debt to a minimum due to the high costs of Medical school.
  4. If is perfectly acceptable to go to a CSU for undergrad and apply to Medical school. Going to a UC will not guarantee you a spot. Where ever you end up, you want to be able to get a High GPA, exposure to medically related internships/research or volunteer opportunities and a High MCAT score to apply to Medical school.

Good Luck.

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My gpa and sat scores are mediocre at best (i think that last time i calculated my uc gpa from sophomore and jr year it was like a 3.4 and i do not know how my gpa works for states, and i kinda just winged my first sat and got a 1190. Now i know that my best shot would be like merced and riverside for uc. I have no idea about any states tho; however, people on these forum told be, for the most part, i can get into most states.

Now, the ultimate goal to med school, so can i finish pre med cources for a premed major in a state?


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I have to ask…if your high school grades and test scores are “mediocre at best,” how will you survive being a premed student and getting into med school? It sounds like you may not have a good foundation and may not be a strong test taker. Getting into med school requires a top GPA and strong MCAT score.

What other career goals interest you?

4

My gpa is “mediocre” because it took me a while to become serious. My gpa from the beginning of freshman year to mid jr is “low” because i did not have the commitment and determination to acquire high grades. From the beginning of my education, i did not study for anything at all (this is literal) mostly because i was able to get fairly good grades based on like memory alone (3.5-3.8 elementary and middle and obviously there was a slight dip in the beginning of high school) and tbh, i did not know how competitive college really was. I took three APs my junior year and this is when i learned the reality of college and actually began to study and dedicate myself. My jr year was my hardest year so far in my educational journey and i finished with a 4.0. There is not really an excuse for my sat score other then the fact that i was studying for and taking 6 AP tests at the time (no i did not pass all six, probably because i did not take 6 classes and that i started to study for them in like april lol but i think that number shows my determination and drive). Probably the best skill i gained from my jr year is some form of stubbornness or willfulness were i do not back down for any reason until i reach my ultimate goal. So do not knock me for my past grades and advise me not to do something because i know i would excel at it in the future. I do not post a forum for someone to tell me that i can not do something, i post one for guidance in achieving it. @mom2collegekids

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Thanks for the help and advise!!! @Gumbymom have a good one

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I’ll start with the email solicitations. My son (also in his Sr year) is getting a bunch of them as well. Most are from schools he has no interest in attending. Oddly, he has also received some from a couple of UCs that there’s no way he’ll be admitted. (his stats aren’t far from yours) Given they way privacy laws work, it is impossible that the schools know more than your test date, graduation date, high school you attend and perhaps some demographic data - they don’t have enough info to have evaluated you as a candidate. In essence, they are ads… treat them accordingly.

A 3.4 CSU GPA is a B+ average, certainly nothing to be embarrassed by or apologize for. It is in line with your SAT and opens lots of CA schools to you.

That said, if you earned a 4.0 Jr year, that would mean you were closer to a 2.5 sophomore year, which is more than a ‘slight dip’ from the 3.5 you earned in middle school. I am not trying to question your honesty - rather suggest that, perhaps, you didn’t calculate counter to your gpa correctly.

Use this tool to be sure.

https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/

Assuming your numbers are correct though, an improving GPA in challenging classes and a compelling story about how you’ve seen the light, mended your ways and now value your education could get you into UCR, UCM and perhaps UCSC. The others will be a real stretch - but, apply to a couple. Like the lottery, you can’t win if you don’t play.

You are in solid shape for most programs at all the CSUs except Cal Poly SLO and SDSU.

There is no harm in taking the SAT again but, you’d need a near perfect score to change your chances at SDSU and, even that would probably not get you into CP SLO, or any of the other UCs.

Either way, these are hardly your first steps toward a life of mediocrity. Keep up the hard work and things will work out fine.

If you need help narrowing down the field further tell us what you’d like to study, how much you can afford and what you want your college experience to be like.

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The main difference between UCs and Cal States are that the UCs are Phd-granting institutions and in some cases have professional schools (e.g. law schools). The faculty at UCs are expected to do cutting-edge research and bring in major grants, publish books, etc. (Faculty at Cal States do research also but not as much, and they teach more classes.) As a result of the research profile, the UCs have excellent national reputations and several of them are considered among the best universities in the world. But when you consider a lot of factors (cost, how difficult it is to get into most UCs, or needing to commute from home), Cal States are a better fit for some people.

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my sophomore gpa was a 3.5 and a 3.67, my junior year gpa was a 3.17(i was adjusting to ap classes lol) and a 4.0. Those gpas could be off because of two semesters of P.E. which i did not count in the calculator. I also did not count my honors English 10 grade because im pretty sure the boost on that one does not count. Btw, just to make sure i calculated right, If i have taken 3 ap classes my jr. year (passing all of them) that counts as 6 “grades for honors courses” correct? If not then my gpa sucks and im pretty sure my life is over and all chances are gone lol. If I did currectley, then yah i have a 3.45. Hey and thanks for the help.

P.S. by “pre-med courses” i mean like a major in something like bio medical sciences or bio or something, i am undecided. All i know is that i wanna major in something science related because well, i enjoy science plus a science major will help me out with the MCAT.

college experience, well tbh i do not really care as long as i get the best education possible for increasing my odds of med school. With that said, the ideal would be one of the three ucs i metioned earlier simply because they are not too pricy in terms of tuition (i still have to move away tho for the most part). I am also willing to go to an out of state college; however, obviously there is financial obstacles there. I keep asking my parent how much they can afford but they are confused with the whole proccess and cant really give me a straight answer. Btw, (i could be wrong) but i have a feeling that my dad makes too much money making financial aid hard to get. Now my mom doesnt have to work, she is a stay at home mom. Is there any way i can minipulate the application to get more aid? I live in a family of six. If anyone knows of any way to get any extra money. like a said before, my parents know little of the college process (so do i) and they think that i can get huge chunks of scholarships to help; however, my gut says that this is not true. Ant clarification, you already know my scores. More money would obviously open many doors to like out of state colleges and privates.

Final thing, my main goal is to get into a uc or university, (not a state), (unless it makes more sense, if so explain to me). I do not want to go to a state simply because in my suborn mind, it is the best and i do not wish to settle any lower. I am sure state colleges are very good schools but my mild looks as them as sorta like a failure (again i do not wish to offend anyone, if you wish to explain why its not, please), but i look at a state (i do not know why, i just do) as a “you actually tried in school so you do not have to go to a community, but you were not good enough for a university.” plus i am pretty sure, that if i wanna go to med school, i would have to transfer to a university anyway. Is that true?

As always, Thanks you, super greatful for the help (and sorry my syntax and grammar lmao)

9

When calculating your CSU/UC GPA, you use only the a-g classes taken 10-11th grade. UC approved Honors/AP/IB or DE course count for the extra honors points. Did you take any UC approved honors classes besides the 3 AP’s?

Based on your GPA and test scores, UCR/UCM and possibly UCSC seem realistic. SDSU/CSULB would also be good choices as long as you are able to get a high GPA and have access to medically related internships/research and volunteer opportunities. A UC is not a magic ticket to Medical school or any other profession.

You need to calculate your EFC (Estimated Family contribution) since you state there are 6 people in your family. You may be eligible for more aid than you think. Once you have this information, run the net price calculators for each school of interest with your parents to show them how much it will cost. Hopefully they can tell you if the costs are affordable.

https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/pay-for-college/paying-your-share/expected-family-contribution-calculator

You might also want to check the WUE schools where you are given discounted tuition for any schools within the exchange for OOS.

http://wue.wiche.edu/search_results.jsp?searchType=all

http://wiche.edu/wue

It is very important they find out how much your family can afford before applying to any school.

There are 23 Cal states vs 9 UC’s. You think that over 86,000 degrees awarded last year for Cal State graduates, would be given to failures? Face reality, what’s done is done. You have so many great options in California so “bloom where planted” as the saying goes.

Good Luck.

10

I have a number of colleagues that attended Cal States, who then became physicians, and two of them are on-staff as Clinicians who teach at the UC’s!
I think you really need to reconsider how you look at the California colleges.

Your non-competitive stats won’t be giving you much, if anything in merit aid or in choice of university.

Getting into med school is ridiculously hard. Even students with the best stats don’t get in. I agree with @mom2collegekids, a mediocre student who hasn’t set up the habits that thousands of strong students already demonstrate, will have difficulty competing in the biological sciences at the UC’s.

No, it just shows that you’re already behind the kids that did pass their APs. That means those students get priority in their course selections at the UC’s.

Also, paying for med school keeps a lot of students out. So start looking at your bank account because you will be paying at least $200K and that is money you will have to pony up. You should consider the Cal States to save up that med school money.

FWIW: My husband attended Stanford, he is an Electrical Engineer; his boss is the Vice president of a very large, international and powerful company. His boss attended SDSU, a California State University; and he makes a lot more money than my husband does. You don’t have competitive stats and you don’t have money to attend a prestigious university. So, I think your reasoning about Cal States, which people are begging to get into from other states and countries, also shows that you don’t understand how good the Cal States are.