Firstly, she doesn’t feel that she stands much of a chance being OOS. Secondly her perception is that they might be overcrowded (anecdotally, I had a similar impression).
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Advice from Class of 2021 Parents to Class of 2023 - Transfer high school in Junior Year?
My DS21 was admitted EA at one of his top choices for CS. He’s very disciplined and self-motivated. Attends a small private school and has taken a rigorous class load, especially in Math (ie. 8-9 year of CSU Math). He didn’t apply to many other colleges but submitted applications to in-state UC/CSU - which would be considered due to cost and proximity. Unfortunately, he has gotten waitlisted or didn’t get first choice of CS at the UC/CSU, so is making us question what to do for our DS23.
DS23 is athletic and plays multiple sports. He gets As and Bs. He wants to stay local and prefers UC/CSU in engineering (not CS). He has received financial assistance at the private high school. If he wants to go to UC/CSU - is there an advantage to go to a public school instead? Distance learning at private school has been very difficult so DS23 doesn’t mind either way. Thanks!
Kids at our suburban Chicago high school seem to be admitted to all UCs pretty regularly. I’m not sure it’s harder for the OOS crowd. Guessing UCs happy to take OOS tuition. But issues remain with all CA schools and Covid. (1) You can’t really visit from OOS and (2) CA has been so shut down that it’s the one state I’m not convinced will have colleges more open in the fall.
We have a friend who is a freshman at UCLA. She would have liked to take a gap year but UCs don’t allow that. She’s living in an apartment near campus with the student she was supposed to room with. Not everyone could do that though. It’s expensive and an unexpected expense this year.
Our D was accepted to SCU and LMU and they both just announced that they’ll have tours with no tour guides. LMU’s tour is just a drive by one. You’re not allowed to get out of your car!! How is one supposed to consider a school all the way across the country when there’s not even a guided tour? That, and the uncertainty of fall in-person, just makes CA schools from OOS a tough sell. I feel bad for the schools. They are trying so hard but their hands are tied.
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I think the UC schools are something of a mystery for most non-Californians because of athletics. I grew up in the Pacific Northwest and have been around academics much of my life and honestly, I still don’t really know much about any of the UC schools outside of Berkeley and UCLA which are the only two that have any national presence due to Pac-12 sports.
The average person in another part of the country would be hard pressed to know the difference between say UC-Irvine and Long Beach State. Or UC San Diego and San Diego State. In fact, probably a lot more know about San Diego State due to sports. But they all know Michigan, Ohio State, North Carolina, etc.
I’m always a little bit surprised when I see schools like UC Davis, UC San Diego and UC Irvine jump into the national top 10 rankings for public universities.
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San Diego State has sports??? 
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They are only building what will end up being the most expensive college football stadium complex in California when it is done: https://aztecstadium.com/index-main.html
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Haha, I was just joking based on your comments about OOS folks not knowing about the Cali schools… which is true! I had to look up half the acronyms this week!
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Honestly it really is. I expect most people outside CA don’t really know places like UC Irvine or UC San Diego from a random community college because they have no national sports presence.
It is astonishing how important that is for national profiles. We were living in Texas when TCU and then Baylor started to get really good in football in the early 2000s. Applications at both schools more than doubled.
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And most attending these UC schools don’t give a poop about national profiles and sports. They’re getting a top flight education in the top State university system in the US.
On the other hand, D18 went to Michigan because Pac-12 sports suck and she wanted to attend a football game with 111,000 of close friends. And then root for the #1 seeded Wolverines in the NCAA tournament.
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To be fair, this is a mixed use project that will help the university accomodate additional enrollment and serve the surrounding community, as well. And Qualcomm stadium was due for demolition and an upgrade. The new stadium should be a good multi-use facility throughout the year for things like concerts, etc. Hopefully, once completed, it will end up a win-win for both the university and San Diego.
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Really nice to hear that both of your girls are accepted this early into the schools they desired. Congrats!
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Oh, I think it is a cool project. I’m just pointing out that this is why most Americans outside of California are more likely to have heard of San Diego State than UC-San Diego.
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any idea when its due to be completed?
I believe they are shooting for sometime in 2022. I’m not sure if the entire project will be done by then, including all the housing, offices, and parks, etc. It would be nice if it was.
Totally, especially as my daughter has an acceptance there but she’s not excited about it, so anything new like this might help me get her to find some more great things about the school to perk her up.
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Lurker here. As a native of Seattle and a long time resident of the Bay Area, I can say that I’ve gotten stuck in traffic way more regularly in Seattle in the last 10-15 years. The population has completely outstripped the transportation infrastructure there. They are trying hard, but just can’t keep up. I would say homeless encampments are more numerous here in the Bay Area, but Seattle is again doing its best to catch up. Both places have obvious pros and cons.
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my alma mater, it’s a heart breaker. It gave me an excellent education.
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They recently finished a mixed use project along College Avenue that has shops (a new Trader Joes!) and student housing. It’s very nice. I don’t know where you are from, but San Diego is a wonderful place to go to college and SDSU is a great school that keeps getting more and more competitive. Both my daughters were accepted there with good merit, but I think they both want/wanted a change of scenery for college. I, myself, went to undergrad in San Diego and loved the city so much I never left!
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@oaktown78 I’m a Seattle transplant w/ in-laws in SF/Sunset area so I spend a lot of time in the Bay Area and I also do project work in Silicon Valley and Seattle. During peak traffic hours, there’s no difference between the two areas. If you spend time in Queen Anne/Cap Hill/S Lake Union, it’s a beautiful area; just like if you were at Laurel Heights, Oakland Hills, or Embarcadero, etc. Berkeley is beautiful on campus (although I’m partial to the UW) as are USC and UCLA. UCSD is annoying because it’s just always under construction. Suburbs in Issaquah are no diff from those in Danville or Union City or Brentwood (ok, they have the celebrities).
I’ve been in Seattle when we’ve had massive smoke from fires and I have N95 masks when we had the Paradise fire in NorCal. PNW has tech bros, CA has tech bros. Tons of employers in both places. You just don’t pay state taxes in WA while you do in CA but then I gladly do it for the sunshine over the rain. It’s just always a shock when you go to some place new with a perception vs what you’re used to. I flew down to Sacramento for a recruiting trip when I was in college and was so confused as to why there were no palm trees 
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We live in the South Bay but we moved here 5 years ago from NYC so admittedly we still don’t feel like we know California all that well yet. My daughter is still very much an east coast girl and desperately wants to go back where she feels she fits in better, but we will have to beg for some additional money from a couple of schools there to make it work as her merit with the California schools along with the instate tuition makes it a no brainer in terms of finances. Plus she can move back east when she graduates. I’m going to take her back down there for a couple of days and show her more than just the empty (covid) campus.
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