- How is the financial aid for out of state students? And are there many scholarships available (I know with UCLA there really aren't too many)?
- How is the study abroad program?
- Are there many internship and opportunities available, like extra programs?
- How is the alumni network/connections? With USC I have heard it is a huge family and you can get a good job fairly easily with USC connections after college, and I'm wondering if SDSU has a similar network.
- How is the early childhood ed program and science majors? And if I ever wanted to deviate from these majors, is it fairly well rounded or are there a few schools SDSU is known for?
- How's Greek life and the community there?
SDSU is a public university in the California State University system.
It is funded by the State of California and its taxpayers.
It is similar to the schools in the UC system, which are also funded by state taxpayers.
Since neither you, nor your parents, are residents of California, you are not eligible for any state financial aid.
Assume $40k per year for your costs.
Most of the information you seek is available online.
SDSU is well regarded in the State of California.
It is a strong and large school and is impacted in most of its majors.
- There is no financial aid (need-based) for OOS students since all need-based aid is dedicated to in-state residents. There are some merit scholarships available on this website, but do not expect them to make a huge dent in the $40K/year costs to attend SDSU.
http://go.sdsu.edu/student_affairs/financialaid/academic-achievement-scholarships.aspx
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There are many options for Study abroad: http://go.sdsu.edu/student_affairs/isc/studyabroad.aspx
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SDSU has a Mentorship program which can help you obtain internships and if you are accepted into the Honors program, there are opportunities there. The career center also has listing of available internships in the area.
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The Mentorship program is basically their alumni network so it can be helpful. https://amp.sdsu.edu/about
Also the SDSU parents association does a great job of planning events for all students to get them involved in campus activities. -
SDSU has overall a good variety majors in many areas so if you find you want to switch majors, there are plenty of majors from which to choose. Changing majors is not always easy so you need to find out the details for each specific major.
Biology, Psychology, Undeclared and Business are the most popular majors at SDSU. All majors are impacted at SDSU including Undeclared which means there are more qualified applicants than spots available. Also you are admitted into a Pre-major (for most majors) and have to meet GPA and course pre-req requirements before continuing into the upper division classes.
- There is definitely a Greek presence on campus but not so prevalent that if you do not want to join Greek life, you will not feel left out. SDSU is a diverse campus so it is easy to find your “tribe”. Of course you will have a community within the Greek system.
I would run the Net Price calculator linked here to determine if SDSU would be affordable. Depending upon your career goals, $160K for a 4 year degree is pricey.
https://go.sdsu.edu/student_affairs/financialaid/netpricecalculator.aspx
@Gumbymom, you are an absolute SAINT! Thank you so much for this info!