Not really sure what to do at this point

College Search & Selection
21

I don’t understand how this thread turned into an argument about the weather but it isn’t helping me at all. @MYOS1634 I never said that I was turning down UCI solely because of the weather.

Here are the updated pros and cons for each of the schools:

UCI (Campus Honors Program) - $28,000/year
Pros:
Important factors
-Strong academics, especially in the humanities/social sciences, which is what I’m most interested in
-I love the campus (the architecture, layout, how green it is, etc.)
-Honors program benefits: research (100% of CHP students participate in undergraduate research), priority registration (CHP folks get to sign up for classes before most seniors), small, interesting community (700 students in CHP), professors love students in the honors program, additional faculty advisers, helps with finding internships
-Much more affordable study abroad options and more programs overall
-More affordable all around
-More majors that interest me and a wider array of classes that I can take in comparison to USF

Not that important
-I really like the mascot

Cons:
Important
-I don’t like LA/Irvine/Southern California in general. I really wanted to go to college somewhere where there are actual seasons and I really am not a fan of the traffic and how spread out everything is
-Irvine is not what I was looking for at all… It’s pretty sleepy and spread out and expensive (I really wanted to go to NYC and Irvine is basically the opposite of that so yeah)
-Most extracurricular activities are centered on campus and I’m worried I might feel trapped
-I’d need a car to go pretty much anywhere
-Social life seems predominantly run by Greek life (hate this)
-Apparently a lot of students commute so the campus is pretty dead on the weekends unless you go to parties (which I’m not interested in at all. Also I’m 16 so I’ll be graduating at 20 so I won’t even be legal to drink by the time I graduate and I’m not comfortable with that)
-The honors program is small, but UCI itself is fairly large (~23,000 undergrads)
-I wasn’t excited about the possibility of going there after the honors experience day but I think I’d be fine with going

Not that important
-Dorms felt cramped and don’t have air conditioning
-The food that I had on campus was pretty good but off campus options in Irvine are expensive

USF - $41,000/year
Pros
Important
-In San Francisco, so it’s in a big city, which is a completely different environment for me and is what I’ve wanted this whole time
-Has my favorite location out of all of my options
-Really like the campus (love most of the architecture and there’s a lot of green space considering it’s in SF)
-Smaller student population (~6000) and small class sizes
-Undergraduate focused
-USF has a service-based approach to learning which is really interesting
-I’m a University Scholar there because of the scholarship that I got ($20,000) so I get additional faculty advising and research opportunities
-They have a 5 year masters + bachelors + teaching credentials program that would save a lot of money if I ended up pursuing that
-School isn’t big on sports or Greek life
-I felt the most comfortable on campus than I did at any of the other schools. I could see myself going here

Not that important
-I really like fog so I like the weather more than Irvine’s
-Dining hall food seems pretty good and the food in San Francisco is amazing

Cons
Important
-Literally everything is way more expensive than it would be at UCI (especially study abroad)
-Weaker academics
-No linguistics program and less majors and classes all around
-I’m worried I wouldn’t be challenged there

Not that important
-Closer to home than I wanted (only ~2 hours away)
-Not well known at all

If anyone has any info about the social life at UCI and like if it seems like my analysis of it is off or anything, that would be really helpful. I’m really leaning towards UCI now but the social life and the location are the two things holding it back for me

22

Just throwing one more idea out there. If you do think that a gap year is a possibility you might think about teaching ESL abroad for a year. I don’t know if your age will be a problem. You may be too young for some of the certificate programs but if going abroad is that important it might be something to think about. I taught for 2 years and loved it. There are many programs for gaining a TEFL certification. Once again, your age may be an issue but it is something to think about.

Now that being said, I live right by Irvine (and today is hot!) You are right that Irvine is pretty spread out and is really not a college town, but if you go down the coast a little you have places like Huntington Beach and Long Beach. Both great cities. You may need to make some friends with people who have cars (or join some clubs where people do activities on weekends or hey make clubs). The public transportation in Irvine is not good. Your instinct about travel is dead on and the traffic is really miserable.

When we went to visit the campus, I did notice that, while there was Greek life it was not overwhelmingly so. The students seemed very friendly and did not have that surfer dude kind of attitude. You might want to go into one of the UCI forums and see what people actually do with their free time. Loved the trees!!

My son, who will be applying next year, has added it to his list but it is near the bottom of the list.

Good luck with your decision. In the end you will find your way, no matter what you choose. If it comes down to it, flip that coin and remember, you will be fine either way.

23

"If anyone has any info about the social life at UCI and like if it seems like my analysis of it is off or anything, that would be really helpful. I’m really leaning towards UCI now but the social life and the location are the two things holding it back for me "
repost this question on the UCI page. And Perhaps on the Parents forum as well .

24

@LKnomad Teaching ESL abroad for a year sounds amazing, but I don’t think my parents would let me do that (and I’m not sure it would really be allowed/legal) at 16 and I really don’t think a gap year is something that I’d be happy doing at this point. That would be something that I could see myself doing after I graduate from college, though. I’d definitely join clubs and try to get as involved as possible at UCI if I go there. I’d join clubs at USF too.

So I have to commit somewhere by tonight and I’m pretty sure it’s going to be UCI. I don’t want to flip a coin because I’m going to be upset regardless of which side it lands on. Idk. I feel like I should be excited about this but I’m not. I still want to go to USF because I feel like it’s a better fit for me but it’s so much more expensive especially if I’m going to transfer out which I’m like 80% sure I’m going to do and it doesn’t have a linguistics department… But it is way smaller and I don’t like Irvine (but I do like UCI) and I really like San Francisco

25

I think UCI is probably a better choice because if you are part of a small community like CHP, it will enhance your college experience, you will have access to a mentor, and research experience. I don’t know about UCI social life but I think for a campus of 20,000 plus of 17-20+, it can’t be bad.

26

Definitely not drexel

27

Do let us know what you decide. If you plan to transfer out, why not UCI then an urban university? You can come back to this forum if you need suggestions :slight_smile: Just be aware that transfers get lousy aid, so if you choose the cheapest schooll, set the money aside to use for your last 2-3 years.

28

UCI or UCSD sound like the best options. I don’t see the value of paying the highest price for the least impressive of the four institutions (i.e. USF), and even though Drexel is a fine institution it isn’t up there with either UCI or UCSD in reputation.

29

So, what did you decide?

30

I chose USF! Even though it is the least impressive school out of the six schools that I got into lol

I’ll be going there in the fall unless the UCLA waitlist works out (and I’m pretty sure it won’t because it looks like they’re only accepting out of state students this year). I chose it over UCI in the end because I couldn’t really see myself at UCI and I felt a lot more comfortable at USF.

Thanks for all the advice everyone! Y’all helped so much with this decision even though it probably seems like I went against what everyone in this thread was telling me to do by choosing USF lol

31

@swaggieee, I’m happy that you chose USF because I thought in your heart it was what you wanted. Even though the other schools may be more highly ranked, it came through in your comments that USF felt like the best fit to you. Good for you for sticking with your gut. Thanks for letting us know your decision!

32

Felt like I should update this again to say that I was accepted off of UCLA’s waitlist last Tuesday and will be attending in the fall!

33

Thanks for the update and best of luck to you!

34

I thought you didn’t really like the LA area. Why did you choose to go to UCLA?

35

@TheDidactic I don’t like it all that much, really, but I feel like I can get over that. I don’t have a ton of experience with the LA area so I figured I could grow to love it or at least like it more than I do now. Also, UCLA is much more affordable for my family than USF was going to be, so it made more sense financially to go there over USF.

36

That’s great. Congrats on making the decision!

37

CONGRATS!!