My daughter just applied. We don’t know much about the college and hope to tour soon. We live in Southern California and she wanted to stay here. Her GPA probably won’t get her into some of the bigger name schools. I’m curious what others think of Cal State San Marcos. What is the environment like there? Social life? Safety? Athletics? How easy to get classes? Dorms? Local area? Really just looking for ANY feedback at this point. Thanks!
San Marcos is in North San Diego County and it’s still continuing to grow. My issue with that school is the freeway that leads into it. The “78” is narrow and has a lot of cars commuting from either the “5” or the “15”. If there is an accident, both sides of the freeway stop.
It is largely a commuter school. My former students drove in, and left immediately after classes. It doesn’t have the feel of SDSU, 45 minutes down the road (-the large school spirit, the rah-rah atmosphere). She’ll be able to get in and out in 4 years. Rents will still be costly, but less than the SDSU or La Jolla areas. Palomar CC is across the freeway, so if she wants to take a couple of fun courses there, she can.
The beach areas will be a little more accessible and she’ll be able to visit UC San Diego and SDSU and note the differences in the environments. The good thing about SD County is that there are tons of activities to do in the area, that are not necessarily linked to the CSUSM, but to the SoCal ambience. She may be able to take some classes at SDSU-depending on her major. I hope she has a hybrid?
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