<p>I was wondering what the general consensus is on the cost vs financial aid package of USF is? I come from an 80,0000 dollar a year household and the price tag for USF looks pretty steep. Yet, I very much want to attend a school in the Bay Area. My other schools of interest include: UCSC, SFSU (back-up), and UCR. </p>
<p>Finally, what is the religious tolerance like? I align myself with Buddhism more than anything and I understand that the school is of Jesuit values, so how would I be treated?
Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>Look through the last 7 months (or more if you feel so inclined) of this thread:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-san-francisco/885176-usf-financial-aid-4.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-san-francisco/885176-usf-financial-aid-4.html</a>
You probably missed it only because the default settings are to display posts that are updated only in the last 30 days. This can give you a rough estimate of how they have worked FA in the recent past.</p>
<p>
What is your proposed major? Each of these schools are excellent, with slight variations depending on major.</p>
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You will be treated like the great, honest, and equal person that you are. Believe me. I didn’t attend USF, but I visited there constantly over the last year and while it’s a Jesuit institution it’s not a strict Catholocism you might be imagining. They do not require you to attend church or prayer - and true story is that most students don’t while they attend there. The only time a religious aspect will be brought up (unless you yourself actively follow something within a club or org on campus) will be within the educational core reqs. This is the same for all Jesuit institutions. In a nutshell they believe in educating the whole person - mentally, physically, and spiritually. They will have elusive education requirements like “Religion and Ideas” or “Philosophy of Religion” where you can fill that req by taking a religious related class. This most often doesn’t need to be a preachy, Bible reading and praising class. These can be as simple as “Religions of the World” where you just cover a brief history of each religion and how they developed their beliefs, or a more in-depth focus of a specific one, like Buddhism. You should have a choice from a list of classes to fill reqs like this and many others.</p>
<p>Best of luck.</p>
<p>Thanks for the reply! That was a bunch of helpful info. As for my major, I plan on double majoring in Anthropology (USF only has the minor) and Creative Writing (English or IS at USF). I want to become a journalist/writer of sorts, so varying myself in both writing and anthro should make me effective at it. History is another interest but I am unsure of it as of late.</p>
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And this is where the culture surrounding the town in which each college is located will come into effect. SF will have a vibrant and fast paced environment for an aspiring journalist to work in. They have a great newspaper, The Foghorn, which I semi-reviewed (compared to another similar local Jesuit school) in posts 11 and 12 here: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-san-francisco/1287556-usf-admitted-student-visit-2012-a.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-san-francisco/1287556-usf-admitted-student-visit-2012-a.html</a>
They also have a website.</p>
<p>While UCSC and UCR will have great writing programs (I’ve heard more about UCSC’s than UCR’s), I’m not sure there will be as much opportunity involved with those campuses compared to SF. Technically, there will be less students as well, so less competition for those positions (unless you base it off competing with the entire city). But if they end up being cheaper that USF, then they still deserve some serious consideration.</p>
<p>There are also a lot of differences in in geographic make-up of where each of these campuses is located. USF is somewhat small (in acerage) because it’s in a condensed city. Definitely a big city feel with tons of people (off campus and right out of the immediate neighborhoods) and the bustling of busy busy. UCSC on the other hand, for example, literally feels like it’s in the middle of a forest. We saw a deer just munching on some twigs about 10 feet away from us when I went on a tour there. They have their own bus system on the campus for students to get around easier. There are more students than USF, but they’re spread out among more acerage, so it has the potential to feel like a small private. However, the city of Santa Cruz is a bit isolated (separated from the nearest major city, San Jose, by a 15-20+ mile stretch of two-lane highway, also feeling like it’s in the middle of the forest). Weekend getways would be no problem since there is public transit to take you to these farther cities, but if you wanted the opportunity for writing or journalism internships during the school year, then they may be hard to come by. I’ve never been to UCR.</p>