<p>Yikes, DS is a sophomore and now I have to start the college app process all over again with DD. She wants to stay in CA but probably doesn't want a big UC.<br>
Decent SATs, good recs, good ECs but nothing that makes her a candidate for Stanford. Probably interested in LACs, early education or English major.
We are planning a trip to UoP over spring break next year.<br>
We have the usual list of LA area schools: Occidental, LMU, University of Redlands, Pepperdine, Whittier, Chapman, Cal Poly SLO,
Any other places we should take a peek out while we are in Northern California? Anyone know about USF?</p>
<p>St. Marys, Santa Clara, Mills. Sonoma State for a smaller state school? (Hard not to drool over the cost differential…)</p>
<p>I second the above suggestions, and will give a nod to USF, as well. I’ve heard only good things from the few friends I know who’ve attended (all very pleasant and intelligent people). It sounds like you have CA decently well-covered, although if you’re already up in NorCal, UC Davis might be worth a look. The school is large, but without the “urban” feel of some of the UC’s. Davis is very community-oriented…might be interesting for your daughter.</p>
<p>I’d also advise taking a look at Pitzer and Scripps, both in SoCal’s Claremont consortium. If religious environments are alright (seems possible, given your mention of Pepperdine), maybe USD, and Westmont as well. </p>
<p>Good luck :)</p>
<p>UOP is a good school but the area isn’t that hot
How about
San Francisco State…excellent school tops in Visual, Written Media… great Mass Comm Dept.</p>
<p>Chico State…new stuff, really looking for applicants
UC Santa Cruz…probably the gem of Northern Cal…highly regarded, easy to get classes, laid back</p>
<p>Have you heard of the WUE program (Western University Exchange)? You might want to look into it. Basically it allows a resident of say California (and other states) to go to a college in another state (Western US) for the same tuition that you’d pay in your state. Not all schools participate, but you can check. Example: California resident goes to University of Oregon for same price as going to UOP. Cool.
Check: [WICHE</a> - Student Exchange Programs](<a href=“http://wue.wiche.edu/]WICHE”>http://wue.wiche.edu/)</p>
<p>That in mind University of Oregon is a great school and only a day drive.</p>
<p>Humboldt State University is also an option, up in the REAL northern CA. I live up there and absolutely love the town. I’ve attended the University on and off in high school and afterwards with some mixed results. The sciences are great and hard! I had a math teacher for a few semesters that was the greatest teacher I ever had (And I attended Swarthmore for a time).
Arcata is a great town, but small. Afterall, its a college town. </p>
<p>I am attending the University of Oregon this spring, so I would also consider that. Eugene is great. Not sure about the school yet as I am just starting.</p>
<p>St Marys (Moraga) and Santa Clara are AMAZING. I fell in love with both of them. Ive heard unpleasant things about the student body at USF… but just got accepted there. I also have to agree with Sonoma state as being magnificent as fair as how pretty it is. My bro goes to UCSC…tons of stoners… and you kinda feel like your camping (which is not exactly my thing). UC Davis is not pretty : (… I have not visited Scripps but have hear nothing but wonderful things about it. Definetely a fan of LMU. Great school. As is pepperdine.</p>
<p>second UoP (beautiful campus, and downtown is slooowly coming back), St Mary’s and Santa Clara. btw: Cal Poly is a great college town, but it’s a big public U, in both size and administration. USan Diego is also nice.</p>
<p>I would also second Sonoma. It is a smaller CSU with a LAS feel to it. My friends 2 daughters both go there and love it!</p>
<p>Santa Clara is great. DD is a sophomore there. I would be glad to give more info. She loves the school, the location, the people, the courses of study, the food, the dorms…you name it.</p>
<p>banana- my D is interested in Humboldt & I was wondering when you say the sciences are hard- do you mean that they try and weed students out?
She is interested in Marine bio & has gotten As in bio, Marine Bio & Chem, but in physics this year, she is having quite a difficult time.</p>
<p>I know a few people who work at U of O in the bio dept and it also sounds like a strong dept, but for us Humboldt is more affordable.</p>
<p>Ive heard a lot of good things about Mills- but my own D isn’t interested in a womens college. She is interested in USF though.</p>
<p>University of Oregon has a good teaching program.</p>
<p>CSU Monterey Bay is a relative newcomer but it a cool little school. Fewer than 5000 students, a focus on experiential learning and integrated curriculum make it a great place to get an education. The CSU price makes it affordable. The campus is not beautiful but the two closest cities; Monterey 10 min away and Santa Cruz 35 min away are. Unlike UOP where you have a beautiful campus in a unlovely dumpy city, CSUMB offers an OK looking campus w. two great cities in close proxemity. Academically UOP is a proven entity and CSUMB is still trying to get noticed.</p>
<p>emrealdkitty w/ your Ds interest in Marine Bio she may want to check it out. The Monterey Bay Aquarium provides abundant internship opportunities for CSIMB students and the bay is right there for student lab use.</p>
<p>S currently attending Humboldt started as a science major. It is his opinion the science classes are set up to weed out weaker students. Have heard great things about science major classes but all agree they were NOTeasy and anyone going for a science based degree had better be prepared to work pretty hard. From their website: The National Science Foundation says our students earn more science Ph.D.'s than any other U.S. college/university, based on enrollment levels. (HSU doesn’t offer PhDs, just provides the undergrad curriculum)</p>
<p>From their website: The National Science Foundation says our students earn more science Ph.D.'s than any other U.S. college/university, based on enrollment levels.</p>
<p>That is certainly very impressive- and confusing since her sisters school had been claiming the same thing .
[REED</a> COLLEGE PHD PRODUCTIVITY](<a href=“http://web.reed.edu/ir/phd.html]REED”>Doctoral Degree Productivity - Institutional Research - Reed College)
But is a concern actually- Id rather her not have to attend a school that is set up to weed out students- she hasn’t taken any AP science classes & works hard in high school- but since Humboldts graduation rate is less than 50%, I’d think they would better serve the students by keeping them enrolled rather than trying to get rid of them.</p>
<p>I’ll be attending Sonoma State next fall. 
It’s such a gorgeous campus, and it’s smaller, which I loved. The town is small as well, but everyone there was VERY friendly to me, which was also great. It actually reminded me a lot of my hometown. One of my friends’ older sister goes there and absolutely loves it. VERY different from the SoCal area (where I’m from), which was something I wanted. Also, it’s a non-researching university, which means the teachers are interested in teaching.</p>
<p>SFSU was my second choice, but upon visiting the campus, I quickly checked it off my list. I felt as though I would only be a number there (something I DO NOT like), and I had several friends go there only to transfer after a semester for the same reason.</p>