Hi! I am currently a senior who needs to choose a university to attend this Fall. I have gotten into all of the Universities mentioned above and have been wait-listed at UCI and UCSC. I got into all of their undeclared undergrad programs. In the future, I plan on either declaring marketing as my major and completing my bachelors in those schools itself (I’ve heard some very good information about SDSU’s business school) or transferring to a more “prestigious” UC in two years. Which school would you guys recommend in terms of best financial value and academic quality for a marketing program and/or which schools would be most ideal to transfer to a UC as a marketing/business major with? Also, I currently live in the Orange County area so my parents have been quite biased towards Fullerton, Long Beach, and Pomona considering I would save on dorm costs. However, I really like SDSU and was hoping to get in there from the start, especially since their business program seems to be so good (also I absolutely LOVEEEE San Diego). I was ECSTATIC when I got in, and San Diego seems like a place I would want to live at in the future. However, I understand where my parents are coming from. What would y’all recommend, I am very confused.
Seems like your parents believe that the difference in cost between living at home and commuting versus dorm is significant to their financial situation. You may want to talk to them in more detail about how big a deal that amount of cost is.
Living at home and commuting is not free, but often costs substantially less than living in the dorm or otherwise near campus.
If you intend to transfer to a UC or other CSU, it often makes sense to start at a community college, since the transfer pathway is best developed for those starting at community colleges.
Thank you! We had actually talked about me going to a community college months ago, however, a college counselor told us that going to a community college could be a risk in terms graduating on time. Due to this my parents wanted me to go to a CSU first instead (just in case for more safety) so that I would definitely have a degree in four years. Also, while my parents would prefer to save money, it also technically isn’t AS major of an issue. In they end they just want me to go where I would most likely get the best quality of education/internships/job outlook or where it would be the best to transfer to a UC like UCSD or UCLA in the future. My parents also seem to like SDSU, and they would be willing to send me there if there’s enough information proving its worth. Basically, we have all the general information but what are people’s personal experiences and main points/pros and cons for each college.
At many CSUs, four year graduation rates are rather low, but probably mainly due to student related reasons. You may want to check on California Promise / 4 year pledge programs at each campus to help you stay on track for four year graduation.