USC’s costs are not based on instate status. They charge the same amount to everyone.
I am pretty new to the whole system. My child has a current CSU GPA of 3.86 and act 28. I was thinking about CSU sac for computer engineering…do you think its right decision or does he have chances anywhere better. Also would want to hear about CSU Sacramento engineering program in computers.
I assume your are a CA resident and is your child thinking of CSU Sacto because you live in the area? There are CSU’s which have better computer engineering programs than CSU Sacto. A couple that come to mind are San Jose State and Cal Poly SLO. If your child qualifies, some of the lower ranked UC’s like UC Santa Cruz, UC Riverside and UC Merced offer computer engineering.
Thanks for your input.Yes we live in Sacramento area and CSU sac would be a commuter school. Also his gpa and first time act score is not that good. He cannot do anything about GPA as he is in second sem junior but act he will give again. What do you suggest to us being first time parent of going to be college student what colleges should we apply…he just did bad junior first sem and that ruined his chances…
@Awakened:
With a CSU GPA of 3.86 and an ACT of 28 currently, he would have a decent chance at UC Merced/UC Riverside and possibly UC Santa Cruz as stated by @UCBUSalum. Other than SLO, all Cal states use the eligibility index to rank applicants based on CSU GPA and test scores. His EI is 1070 which is above SJSU’s threshold from last year.
(CSU GPA x200) + (ACT comp x10)
http://info.sjsu.edu/web-dbgen/narr/static/admission/frosh-f2015impact.html
Depending upon where he wants to go and how far away from home, he should consider SJSU/Sac State/San Diego State/Cal State Fullerton/Cal State Long Beach and Cal Poly Pomona, Cal Poly SLO would be more of a Reach due to GPA and Test scores but worth an application. SLO uses an MCA score instead of EI. Here is a link on how to calculate the MCA score. Around a 4700+ is very good for Engineering.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/cal-poly-san-luis-obispo/1694769-confused-about-mca-score.html
Thanks for your input. We being close to sac state were confused about sending to sanjose or cal poly Pomona as that would mean spending 100 k over 4 years vs 25k…secondly he would not be home…he will be 17 when he starts college.but we want to take a balanced decision not an emotional one that’s why wanted to know about CSU Sacramento cons for computer engineering. Also uc Santa Cruz vs San José vs Pomona…is one better than the other.
When I went through college admissions with both son’s, we focused first on academic programs and then “fit”. We also made a spreadsheet of all the courses for each school of interest and compared the curriculum’s to see if there were any significant differences or areas of special interest. We targeted a variety of schools in California (Cal States and UC’s) and had 1-2 safeties (Stats around the 75th percentile), 2-4 Match schools (Stats around the 50th percentile) and 2-3 Reaches (Stats around the 25th percentile). I personally feel, as long as my son’s were motivated and happy at their schools, they would do well. So far, so good. Older son picked a UC, since they had the academic program that fit his needs along with the campus which he felt most comfortable. Younger son opted for a Cal State instead of a UC and he fits him perfectly fine too.
All these schools will have good programs, chances for internships and company recruiting, so he should explore their curriculum and take a visit to the campuses to get a feel for what he wants. I an sorry cannot give you an specifics on Sac State’s Computer Engineering program. He can always plan a visit specifically to the Engineering school at Sac State and get more information.
Based on http://www.csus.edu/faid/financial%20aid%20basics/Cost%20of%20Attendance.html , it looks like the cost of living on campus is about $9,000 more than living with parents and commuting. So probably about $36,000 difference over four years (not $75,000 difference).
http://www.sjsu.edu/faso/Applying/Cost_of_Attendance/ indicates that living at SJSU would be about $11,000 more than commuting to CSUSac, so about $44,000 difference over four years.
Have you checked the net price calculators for both UCs and CSUs?
Thanks for your response. We did check the calculators but what I gathered reading posts here is that its nearly impossible to complete degree in 4 yrs. Also living at home would ideally just be tuition. My main concern was the difference in reputation of CSU sac vs sjsu in computer engineering for job market.
The nice thing about SJSU compared to Sac State for any computer-related major is that SJSU is right in the heart of Silicon Valley. That alone is a major factor to consider, though of course it’s also perfectly possible to go to Sac State and still end up in Silicon Valley. It just helps when your school is so close to most of the companies that would recruit for that major.
I don’t know much about either of those schools, but if it were me I’d probably lean towards SJSU for proximity to SV, assuming no financial issues from this. If finances are an issue, then I’d go for the lowest cost.
The low four year graduation rates probably have a lot to do with the relatively low admission selectivity of many CSUs, and the significant population of part-time students and students taking course loads at the low end of “full-time” (i.e. 12 units per semester instead of 15-16 units per semester) due to work or other non-school obligations. Some CSUs (though not Sacramento or San Jose) do have four year graduation pledges (e.g. https://www.cpp.edu/~academic-programs/graduation-pledge/4yr_Graduation_Pledge.shtml ), but their four year graduation rates are still low.
There’s no comparison for recruiting between Sac and SJSU.
CPP is gaining ground, too, and does have a 4-year graduation pledge that your son could take before he enrolls.
Cal Poly SLO would be a huge reach but if he applies “ED” (he applies by an earlier deadline and commits to attending if admitted) would give him a boost, provided his course choices reflect reasonable academic rigor.
For instance, has he taken (or will be have taken, by the end of senior year), all three of Bio, Chem, and Physics? Will he have completed Precalculus Honors? Calculus? Will he have 4 years of Honors or AP English, Social Science, Foreign Language? An extra AP science class? ** All of this assuming his high school offers these classes. He will not be penalized if his school doesn’t.
Students who live on campus are more involved in activities (necessary for resume and general development) and have better grades. Overall, its better for your son to live on campus. If you worry about parties, you can request he live in a “Substance Free” dorm (sometimes also called “Healthy Lifestyle” or “Healthy Choices”). An exception would be if he has an illness (physical or mental).
IN addition, students who live on campus waste less time in transportation (and less gas, and less gas money). Some “more residential” campuses include Chico, which has Engineering - though not as good as SJSU for anything computer-related.
If your son commutes, there are hidden costs: gas, car insurance and repair, food. It’s less than the cost of Room&board but it’s still not nothing.
UC vs. CSU: your son has a good shot at UCSC. The CSE program there is very good. If you are a California resident, the cost of room&board will be factored into your financial aid package so it may not be much more expensive than a CSU. However, if you mus pay OOS fees, indeed I’d aim for a CSU. I believe that if your son graduates from a CA HS he’ll be considered a resident though, so the distinction may be moot and he’d get good rates at either type of university.
What about your own state’s schools though?
CPSLO does not consider “level of applicant’s interest” according to http://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg02_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=666 , so that reason to use ED is not applicable there.
The description of CPSLO’s admission process and criteria in http://admissions.calpoly.edu/applicants/freshman/criteria.html and http://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1014&context=statsp does not show any place where applying ED could give a benefit in terms of chance of admission.
It does seem possible that if they underestimate the threshold for admission to the school, division, or major in the ED round, they could admit some ED applicants who were below the threshold that is finally determined after seeing all of the RD applications.
^Well, let’s say it’s easier to get into Cal Poly Slo if you’re within range (neither bottom nor top 25%) if you apply ED. Otherwise, you’re within range but the process is more unpredictable.
Agree with @MYOS1634 statement regarding SLO and ED. The RD pool is usually more competitive, since many top students will use SLO as a Match/Safety school while you can get into ED with a little less than superior stats. SLO usually fills 1/3 of their in-coming Freshman class from ED applicants. Also not all majors are created equal at SLO, where some majors with greater than 90% acceptance rate and anyone applying with decent stats has an excellent chance for an acceptance.
Re: #33, #34
But that assumes that they set the admission thresholds too low in the ED round, only to raise them in the RD round. Seems like such errors are not likely to be very common, since they presumably know the historical popularity and thresholds of each major.
Not sure if I should post here.
If my daughter holds US passport but currently studying overseas, she will be consider OOS student rather than international students, right?
But what is the difference between OOS & international students for studying at CSUs? I saw that international students need to pay a per unit fee of ~$350 to ~$400 at CSUs, so OOS students just need to pay OOS tuition and can take up to certain amount of units?
On the other hands, does UC system having the similar way of charges on tuition?
OOS and International students pay the same additional fees for CSU’s which is approx $20K/year for tuition and add in room/board, books etc… And the costs around $36K/year. For UC’s there is an additional OOS/International supplemental tuition fee of $24K/year and add Room/board etc. the costs are around $55K/year and increasing by 8% over the next few years.
If you are not a resident of California, then your daughter would be considered OOS if she is a US citizen. There is a unit limit amount for all students regardless of in-state/OOS/International, but the CSU’s charge a flat rate fee per unit, while the UC’s have the supplemental tuition costs which is not based on the # of units. Each school sets a maximum unit limit of each student and registering above the limit usually requires departmental approval. Full time is considered 12 units or more and part-time is less than 12 units.
Each CSU/UC will have varying costs for room/board/books/transportation which should be included into your budget.