<p>Don't forget UCSD for science!</p>
<p>yes Californians are indeed very lucky. of course, I wouldn't complain about being from wyoming, north Dakota, or Montana come college admission time, geographic diversity and all. (Although I would probably complain most other times ;))</p>
<p>Californians who are looking for small LACs are not so lucky. One in eight Americans lives in California, yet where are the LACs? There's the Claremonts, and Occidental, and then what? Compare that to Ohio, which is loaded with fine small LACs. </p>
<p>But the California public college system is great. Others have mentioned the UCs and the Cal State system, but the community colleges also are absolutely wonderful.</p>
<p>Yeah you californians are very lucky. I live in TN and all of the state schools there pretty much suck.</p>
<p>
[quote]
One in eight Americans lives in California, yet where are the LACs? There's the Claremonts, and Occidental, and then what?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Univ. of Redlands
University</a> of Redlands - The University at a Glance</p>
<p>Pepperdine
Pepperdine</a> University</p>
<p>Chapman
Chapman</a> University - Site Home</p>
<p>Mills College
Mills</a> College for Women, Coed Graduate Programs, California college</p>
<p>Whittier College
[url=<a href="http://www.whittier.edu/About/%5DAbout%5B/url">http://www.whittier.edu/About/]About[/url</a>]</p>
<p>UCLA Band Mom,</p>
<p>Add to that (I'm Socal centric)</p>
<p>U of San Diego
Loyola Marymount University</p>
<p>However, it is true that outside of the Claremont Consortium, and Cal Tech of course, we have no LACs ranked in the top 50. But hey, 6 aint bad.</p>
<p>Oxy's ranked in the USNWR top 50, as are all five Claremonts. Cal Tech is of course a fine institution, but not an LAC. I'm not quite sure why USNWR classifies Harvey Mudd as an LAC, for that matter.</p>
<p>I forgot to mention Santa Clara as an LAC in California. Still, relative to its population California has a paucity of LACs.</p>
<p>we have 36 going to berkeley and 15 going to la plus another 10 going to sd</p>
<p>well, i lived in California, for a few years and was about to get a recidency, and then my dad moved me back to the first state i lived in(GA) and now I feel duped b/c i wanted to go to UC Berkley, and if i applied and got in, I'd still have to pay out-of-state now... NO FAIR!!</p>
<p>California students are luck in the sense that it has the UC system, and some excellent private school options. However, if some residents discount other college and university options out-of-state, then they are unlucky--since the perception of UCs can reduce choice/options for those who do not have good high school college counselors.</p>
<p>Generally, more choices would be better (unless one does not like making decision or is overwhelmed by long lists), although having UCs as a safety does enable a student to focus on what they want out of a college education without the pressure.</p>
<p>So, it's a toss-up.</p>
<p>I lived in CA, I don't feel lucky. maybe a little.</p>
<p>^ no. just because californians have the options of UC's doesnt mean they are going to disregard other out of state colleges. it just means we have more options</p>
<p>I think they are even luckier to have the CCs they have. It is very hard in my state to transfer to a good school from our CCs. Most, even with 4.0s, only go to the lower state schools, or at best, UMass Amherst. With a 4.0 at a CCC, you will get to go to a UC. That's a great deal for low income students and students who just didn't try as hard as they could in high school.</p>
<p>I do think Californians are lucky.</p>
<p>For OOS, AFTER getting accepted, you get LITTLE / NO FINANCIAL AID because most of the money is given to in-state kids.</p>
<p>I'm in NJ, and I had to pass up Berkeley Engineering because of the aid I received...</p>
<p>When we moved out of California, my biggest regret was leaving the Calif. higher education system before my kids were college age. I thought that they had a wonderful system of community colleges that were directly linked to the Univ. of Calif--all of the undergrad courses were accepted by the UC's and even followed the same course sequences. I was at a UC campus, but took summer courses at the local junior college, and I learned just as much, in smaller classes, with great prof's--and all of my units and grades were accepted with no problem. Other states should follow suit. The first two years can be taken at the community college, and then the student is guaranteed admission to a UC, where they receive their dipoloma. It is much more affordable for so many students.</p>
<p>Transferring to the top schools is very hard no matter where you are from. I have a friend who had a 4.0 at a Community College and they thought it was a given that she would get into Berkeley for Architecture. She felt she was fine. She didn't get in. The top schools are still very selective and depending on your major it's tough. It's just better to get in the first place and then not worry.</p>
<p>It's hard to believe she didn't get in, unless she didn't meet the Gen. Ed requirements. Is Architecture that hard to get into there? If you look at the Transfer board, most people get into the UCs from CCCs.</p>
<p>newyorka:</p>
<p>
[quote]
what those loan numbers don't include is what parents are borrowing.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>The figures are in the common data sets, and are the average indebtedness at graduation--and may or may not take into account what parents are borrowing. Either way, if they don't, then neither do the figures for HYPS or other publics. And if they don't, then it's unclear whether parents have to take out more or less in loans at UCs relative to other publics.</p>
<p>
[quote]
The all is costs to attend a UC including room and board is about $24,000 and they have very little grant money to give.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>They have quite a bit. Consider that Berkeley, for example, receives $500 million+ from the government, in addition to its endowment and outside sources. Just from the UC financial reports, it alone spends $77 million on financial aid (and this isn't even counting all the departmental money disbursed to grad students).</p>
<p>University</a> of California Financial Reports</p>
<p>Families making up to $100k will receive aid. 70%+ are on financial aid. Not to mention the alumni donations--the alumni organizations give substantial scholarships. And the result is that students graduate about $15k in debt. I'd say that's pretty damn good--especially in comparison to the financial aid stats at other public schools.</p>
<p>
[quote]
When you factor in many kids take more that four years to graduate, it doesn't look like such a bargain.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Let's say every student graduated in 6 years--that'd make the cost of a UC education $150k, which is still cheaper than a $200k private. However, the majority of students graduate in 4 years. Some graduate in 5. Very few graduate in 6. (Check the common data sets if you want hard evidence of this.) With this in mind, you can bet that other publics don't have graduation rates as good, and so they will be even more expensive (or at best equally costly).</p>
<p>
[quote]
For low income family friends private colleges became much cheaper in the end.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>As a low-income student whose EFC is zero, I can tell you that after grants and scholarships, Berkeley was cheaper for me--no family contribution, no loans, no work-study. HYPS, on the other hand, all gave me work-study. It was roughly the same at UCLA and to a lesser extent at the other UCs I applied to. So I'd say UC financial aid is extremely good for low-income students, especially in comparison to other publics.</p>
<p>
[quote]
After UCB and UCLA quality of UCs seems to drop steeply looking at their published stats.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>True, but that's only because Berkeley and UCLA are two very awesome universities. The other UCs, comparatively, are excellent.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I think they are even luckier to have the CCs they have. It is very hard in my state to transfer to a good school from our CCs.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Excellent point--the tracked system that California has, from CCs to CSUs or UCs, is very efficient and helpful.</p>
<p>
[quote]
The top schools are still very selective and depending on your major it's tough.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Well, you're talking about Berkeley; I'd say it's the hardest public to transfer into. As you'd expect, it is the only public school in CA that does not have a guaranteed transfer option; even UCLA does.</p>
<p>I'd say UCLA isn't terribly difficult to get into as a transfer student, and the rest of the UCs are all pretty easy, granted you do at least moderately well at a CC.</p>
<p>So, in that sense, the CC-to-UC is very streamlined.</p>
<p>Of all the UCs I got into, Berkeley is the most generous. My loan in the FA package is subsidized so it's essentially free money until 6 months after graduation. Some students took all of that loan and put it in a CD until they have to pay back.
For elite privates, only those without loan are better than Berkeley for me (EFC = 0)</p>
<p>^^ which seems to help in getting into top privates--the top high schools will have plenty of competition for top privates. So even in that sense, CA students are at an advantage for being in a state with "mediocre" schools.</p>