<p>Hello, I am a prospective undergrad for this coming fall. However, like just about every other senior, I have no idea on which college to choose. I’ve narrowed it down to a top 3-ish and was wondering what anybody could say to recommend any one university over the other, as each has it’s perks and cons. My concerns are price, as they are all OOS or private, quality of education, enviroment, and fun factor.</p>
<p>My top 3:
USC - I haven’t gotten accepted yet, but I’m pretty sure I will. I’m just at the grade and test score level, wrote a beast essay, and have legacy. Problem is that it is PRICEY!!! My whole family is originally from LA area so it is my dream school, I love SoCal. Prestigious Academics, Exciting Athletics, and I hear nothing but praise from my grandpa and other grads about the alumni connections</p>
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<li>University of Arizona - I’m down for the nice weather coming from the great and wet Pacific NW, and UA has good ranked programs. They offered me some pocket change (4k/year and Macbook Pro) as well, so as of currently this is looking like the most likely option. I’m visiting real soon and that will help solidify my opinion. I’m liking the good mix of ranked programs and fun times, but I’m getting discouraged about what I hear about Tucson. Can’t be too bad though can it?</li>
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<p>3.(Tie) Cal Poly: SLO - I’m in love with the idea of the perfect sized college (about 20,000 I think) in a easygoing town just minutes from the beach. I’ve been accepted into business and offered 2k/year which is nothing really for OOS. Only thing keeping this a low prospect is not being able to change majors, I’m still undecided on the inside. I could do business, but I am real interested in various sciences as well and would like to be able to explore my options.</p>
<p>3.(Tie) Oregon State - If it comes down to it I could be a Beaver, even though I’m from Eugene and a devoted Duck. I just hate Corvallis, it’s too small of a farmy town, I feel like I would never leave campus. However, it is the most practical option, a good education with in-state tuition. I would just rather leave Oregon for a while.</p>
<p>I haven’t heard from Gonzaga and University of San Diego, but unless they offer lots of money then they are not really in the running.</p>
<p>I’ve posted this in each university’s forum to get the widest array of answers, which I hope you do! It would be really really appreciated, Thank you.</p>
<p>One thing I often hear is the weather being too hot. During the school year, I say it ranged from 100 [when school starts in fall] down to the 20s [in December/January]. Having lived on both sides of the country, I certainly haven’t had any issue with the weather. The city is very oriented towards the UA – EVERYONE comes to football games and cheers for us, and there’s a huge network of alumni to help out students.</p>
<p>Here’s my opinion as a freshman…
Academics: I started as a math and biology double major but dropped math since I was so upset with the department here. [Switched into theatre and bio and LOVE it.] Most of my classes are relatively small, but then again, I’m mostly taking 200 level classes having tested out of many freshman courses. I don’t feel like our honors college is worth while, especially since they want to introduce a new fee for it. I feel as though I haven’t gotten anything in return.
One nice thing is the research. If you’re going into science, there are TONS AND TONS AND TONS of programs for internships and research opportunities. I’ve only been here one and a half semesters, and I’m in my second lab. It’s amazing. Even if you’re not a science major, there are tons of internships. [I’m working on another related to social justice, and I know of several other internships with the same goals.]
On the other hand, I’ve taken several bad classes here. [Again, mostly in the math department.] I have yet to have a truly terrible class, though; we range just like every other school.</p>
<p>Social Life/Fun Factor: Are you a partier? If you are, it sounds like there’s tons to do around campus. Personally, I refuse to drink or smoke, so I don’t bother going to most of them since I don’t want to be around that sort of stuff. I still have some great friends and go to a number of awesome parties. [Yes, a lot of them are hosted by clubs, but they’re amazingly fun.]</p>
<p>There’s a ton I could say about the UA. I’ve only been here a year, but I’ve had family coming here since the 1970s. Just let me know what kind of info you’re looking for.</p>
<p>Our S has UA, Oregon State and Colorado/Boulder on his accepted list. He also applied to USC, but it’ll probably be too expensive if he’s accepted. What have you heard about Tuscon? The neighborhood can’t be any worse than that surrounding USC? We visited UA last Aug and really loved the campus. Yes, it was hot, but it’s not always like that…I’d pick sun over snow any day … lived in both.</p>
<p>Well first off, I’m from Cali. I know 5 people who went to Oregon State and transferred after a year…they hated it. USC…well, it isn’t nicknamed the ‘University of Spoiled Children’ for nothin’… haha. Cal Poly…GREAT school. I live a couple hours from slo and I have tons of friends there and they absolutely love it. The beach is cool there and the town is so cute. All of us valley kids vacation there haha. UofA…I currently go there and I could not be happier. Tucson is a college town. It’s not as bad as everyone says. You’re probably hearing bad things from the kids that came from Santa Monica, San Diego, etc. if you catch my drift. If you have any other ?'s, feel free to ask. Good luck & beardown =]</p>