Cont. from previous thread, new thread b/c I’ve narrowed down my options.
(TLDR at the end)
I’ve visited and researched more on both Sacramento State and UCSC. I’ve ruled out SJSU, UCM, and community college entirely as they just don’t fit the life I want for myself in the future.
I’ve decided I want to pursue majoring in psychology at either CSUS or UCSC, to prepare for graduate school for a career in psychiatry, or law school for a career in family law. [Side question: any good minors to take along with psych major for the careers I’ve listed?]
Currently, I’m leaning towards Sac (for reasons I’ll list below), but I would love to hear everyone’s insight on which school I should go to.
I used to be concerned about social life at CSUS but now I’m actually more concerned for that at UCSC, because I know a lot of my current friends will go to CSUS and Sac just has a lot of groups for me to join to find new friends (like the marching band). I also like the Sacramento city and environment a lot more, and it’s also a bit cheaper to live there.
When I visited both campuses, Sac had a really friendly atmosphere and people were willing to answer my questions; lots of people were walking or biking around and I could almost envision myself going there. UCSC was very quiet in contrast, the campus is huge and looks easy to get lost in, not much going on and there was only one person willing to talk, but she was very kind and made UCSC sound very nice!
But let’s dismiss social life for now (it might not even matter b/c of COVID), which one between CSUS and UCSC has the better psych program? By that, I mean for the undergrad major program, not graduate. [Side question, would I be able to go from one of the two schools to a graduate program at UC Berkeley (Berkeley Law or the grad program in Psych)]
I would also like to know which system (CSU vs. UC) you all might think would work best for me. Currently, I’m an average student. I haven’t done well during distance Zoom learning, so it feels like independent study and discipline is really hard for me. But if it’s true that UCSC provides the best educational path, I’ll work my hardest from now on to prepare for that rigor.
For now, I’m trying not to be biased by cost. CSUS is more affordable (comparing the reality of living in Sac vs Santa Cruz), but my family wants me to go to UCSC because they believe it will give me a better education. If you’d like though, I put my calculated costs below. I’m not sure how accurate they are though because Santa Cruz seems a lot cheaper when I know the rent and housing is sky high. The totals also include additional fees, not just tuition.
- CSUS Cost, All Aid (Loan + Grants): -$12,562 to -$8,286
- CSUS Cost, After Grants Only: $19,020 to $23,296
- UCSC Cost, All Aid (Loan + Grants): $1,903 to $2,882
- UCSC Cost, After Grants Only: $18,538 to $19,517
Extra Notes:
- I would most likely dorm freshman year, then rent an apartment with friends I’ve made through freshman year. This goes for either school.
- I got accepted into UCSC for psychology, but got into CSUS for political science. [Side question: Would it be too late to change major at Sac now?]
All in all, if the UCSC psych program is so much better than CSUS and if going to UCSC will give me better opportunities in life, I will go there, no matter what. My end goal in life is to have a good job, have money, and make my family proud. Please help.
TLDR; Where should I major in psychology? UCSC or CSUS? And why?