<p>I live in Orange County. My niece (from Boston) is a freshman at Chapman and LOVES it (so far). AND she got merit aid there. I went to admitted students day and was impressed. My son goes to UCLA, at parent orientation the financial aid guy said that the most an OOS student can expect in free money is up to in-state tuition. I wouldn’t imagine there would be much aid at SDSU, but my daughter is very happy there. USD is beautiful and everyone I know that goes there is happy. I have also heard good things about LMU. </p>
<p>Oh, and the UC/Cal State “hard to get out in 4 years” thing is a myth. It is very easy to get out in 4 years and believe me they want you out of there in 4 years. At SDSU my daughter changed her major 3 times and could have graduated in 3.5 years (without summer school) but is enjoying herself and graduating in 4. At UCLA, if you fall under an average of 14 units per quarter a hold is put on your registration and you are required to talk to a counselor.</p>
<p>Do check out University of Redlands it really seems to have everything you are looking for. Johnston is also an option for your own major. We found it to be a very caring environment. Son did undergrad, masters and still lives in Redlands.</p>
<p>Skip the UCs and look for privates with merit money, I would 2nd/3rd Chapman, two kids in the extended family have gone there in the past 10 years, each got something like $20k (as I understand it) in merit and had great experiences. </p>
<p>UCs OOS will be $40-50k, you might as well get the individual attention of a private and the merit money too.</p>
<p>Given what impressed your son with California, I wouldn’t rule out the Bay Area or, for that matter, any part of California. We might get a little more rain up here, but not that much, and we are certainly flush with mountains and oceans galore. That opens up your search to a lot more small private colleges that offer financial aid, such as St. Mary’s in Moraga, University of SF (private Jesuit school), Santa Clara Univ, etc.</p>
<p>Have him check a few hours north in San Luis Obispo. Cal Poly is a wonderful school and if he likes outdoor activities and hiking, this is the place for him! It’s surrounded with beautiful hills and mountains. Biking trails. The beaches are an easy 10-15 minutes away. Santa Barbara is a couple hours south. The climate is mild. Parents love to visit SLO because all it has to offer. Wineries, great eateries, an inviting and quaint downtown. A fabulous Farmers’ Market every Thursday night. And, Cal Poly ranks right up there alongside some of the UCs and private schools in majors such as architecture and engineering. Plus it’s less expensive. Have him take a peek! My daughter will be starting her sophomore year next Monday and she absolutely loves it. There are a good amount of out-of-state students attending Cal Poly, as well.</p>
<p>Along with Cal Poly SLO, I’d suggest looking into some of the other SoCal schools in the CalState system such as Cal Poly Pomona, Long Beach State, and San Diego State.</p>
<p>Question for the Cal State advocates: can you talk about size of classes and ability to register for them, as well the ability to change majors? In the highly impacted campuses mentioned, all those factors are a negative, according to my (anecdotal!) chats with others.</p>
<p>D1 is a senior at San Diego State. She came in with minimal AP credits. She changed her major three times, and could have graduated a semester early if she wanted to. What they tell you at orientation, which has turned out to be true, is that you might not be able to get the classes that you want at the exact times you want, but if you are willing to take classes at 8am or on Mondays and Fridays, you can get all the classes you need. Believe me, at the Cal States and UC’s they do not want you around more than 4 years and they do everything they can to get you out in 4 years. Changing majors is very easy at the cal states, but not so much at the Cal Poly’s. You have to declare a major before being accepted at a Cal Poly, and at the Cal Poly info session they said if you don’t know what you want to major in, this is probably not the school for you. That is because they start you in your major classes right away. At San Diego State they said the average student changes their major 2.5 times.</p>
<p>Also for the Cal Staters, whose kids are self-studying types and can knock out multiple choice tests: look into CLEP (whole subset forum here on CC).</p>
<p>Occidental is another school that is somewhat less selective than USC. Santa Clara is further north but also a lovely campus and they DO give some merit awards. </p>
<p>I would say that the Claremont schools are as or more selective than USC in terms of gaining admission. They also are NOT generous with merit awards–don’t believe they give any, as they didn’t give our Val any & he only was admitted because the football coach wanted him to play (he had stellar grades and SATs & the school has a great relationship & rep with the Claremont).</p>
<p>USF is pretty generous with merit awards but not sure about outdoor activities like hiking. </p>
<p>USC really might be a better fit and he may get accepted and offered merit $$, especially if he is a NMF (they give all admitted NMFs 1/2 tuition scholarships for 4 years). My S started a rockclimbing club at USC & was able to get funds from the U for equipment every year. They went climbing and hiking regularly & as you probably saw, there is a climbing wall at the university gym. I wouldn’t write off USC yet, but encourage him to have it as one of the Us on his list. They are also quite generous with need-based FAid (for us out-of-staters, it is often cheaper than OOS CA state Us–don’t know about prices of SDSU or Cal Poly, but both are pretty large). S’s freshman room mate was from Boston.</p>
<p>My D is loving her years at USC as well.<br>
We did explore Loyola Marymont U, which I loved but S said was too small. He applied to Santa Clara U & was offered the same renewable generous 1/2 tuition merit tuition award there as USC. It’s a smaller school, but many of the folks love it there & they have pretty good job placement, especially in engineering.</p>
<p>What is your son’s major? If he is interested in Business, Engineering or other technical fields then seriously look into California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. His grades and SAT scores are pretty much in line with what they are looking for. Another alternative is Cal Poly Pomona – standards are somewhat lower to get in and it is located near the Claremont colleges. If he is a liberal arts major then I do not suggest these schools. Chapman mentioned above would be great. Possibly University of La Verne, also near Calremont.</p>
<p>21Leashes has it all down correctly about Cal Poly SLO. My son is into hiking, serious amateur photography and rock climbing. Cal Poly is one of the largest land holding campuses in the United States and has mountains, hills and trails right on campus. There is also an office on campus in the Student Union called Poly Escapes that arranges inexpensive outdoor adventures (fully equipped) several times a quarter to really cool locations. The school and the surrounding area is an outdoor activity dreamland. Cal Poly also is the only school in California with a surfboard manufacturing shop on campus located in the Student Union across the hallway from Poly Escapes office. If he wants to he can literally make his own surfboard and surf at nearby beaches. With regards to overseas opportunities, Cal Poly has relationships with schools across the globe through the CSU system and can easily enjoy a semester or a year abroad in Asia, Europe, Latin America, etc. Absolutely no problem there. My son is now enrolled there for engineering and LOVES it. The school is very unique and has a specific emphasis on hands on/learn by doing. There are no TA’s teaching classes. Every course is taught by a real professor. Classes are small for a public school and total enrollment is well below 20,000. In fact, the school announced that they plan to reduce enrollment to 16,000. They are actively recruiting OSS. The school is affordable and would equal or be cheaper than a private just due to lower cost. Housing is amazing. All of it is located directly on campus and even the oldest and cheapest dorms (where my son is) have new furniture and great amenities. They just completed new on-campus apartments and if he wants to live off campus he can in San Luis Obispo. Lastly, I take back my comment above that if he is a liberal arts major then he should not go to this school. Cal Poly has a great liberal arts college and an acclaimed music department. However, the school is known for Engineering, Math & Science, Business (far better than the UC’s on an undergraduate level), and Agriculture (Cal Poly competes in and hosts intercollegiate championship rodeos and has large animal husbandry right on campus, it own winery, etc.). Applicants declare a major upon application.</p>
I don’t want to get into a big debate on this but this statement is clearly just an opinion and one not shared by a lot of people. While CalPoly has a good engineering department many would conclude that the engineering departments at UCB, UCSD, UCLA would be considered higher.</p>
<p>USC is the way to go. I’m OOS and it’s costing me a pretty penny, but they are loans that I will have to pay back like so many people. I am not alone.</p>
<p>Through my major, I have also been able to study abroad on Catalina Island, CA where I became NAUI Master Scuba Certified and I completed a directed research on island ecology and invasive mustard plants. I’ve been to Guam and Palau during the summer with two of my professors. We conducted research on coral reefs and explored the area. I am 100% positive your son would LOVE this. I have also been to Costa Rica twice on a volunteer spring break trip (I fundraised and didn’t have to pay a cent either time) and I studied abroad in Australia last semester.</p>
<p>Please tell your son to check out the Guam and Palau pics, it was one of the most amazing trips I have taken yet:</p>
<p>“While CalPoly has a good engineering department many would conclude that the engineering departments at UCB, UCSD, UCLA would be considered higher.”</p>
<p>Don’t forget UCSB College of Engineering. Two faculty members have won the Nobel Prize. Of course, among the privates for engineering, it doesn’t get better than Caltech and Harvey Mudd.</p>