You are referencing private universities. The UC’s and CSU’s are public schools.
5 Likes
Does it matter. A good school is a good school.
Yes it absolutely matters. Public state schools are funded by the tax payers in that state. Private schools are not.
12 Likes
Governor Brown established a “rainy day” fund during his tenure as Governor and Governor Newsom appears to be continuing to fund it.
Of course, they could always lower our tax rates too. 
1 Like
About 1 in 100 of Indiana’s population is an undergraduate at one of its two flagships (Purdue and IU-B). About 1 in 170 of California’s population is an undergraduate at a UC (all nine campuses). So it is not too surprising that it may be easier to get admitted to an Indiana flagship than a UC (especially for a student who refuses UCM and UCR).
As noted by the topic of this thread, expanding most UC campuses is limited by NIMBYs and other issues. UCM has room to expand, but it seems that many do not think it is good enough to be worth attending or even applying to.
1 Like
Yes it does matter - Cal is a state school while all the others are private (which is exactly the point of the argument ) It seems that many people outside of California seem to forget this! It’s not an apples to apples comparison.
4 Likes
With all due respect, this is just another example of why ‘Bezerkely’ is special; its all part of the ethos.
Hey folks, let’s please stop with snarky comments. Remember the Terms of Service, which we all agree to when we join CC.
I’m putting this thread on slow mode.
8 Likes
I hear what you’re saying, but you’ve got to admit the results seem incongruous. How does the same kid get accepted at UT Austin and Purdue yet waitlisted at Cal. State Long Beach and UC Santa Cruz? It all worked out and my daughter was thrilled with her education at Cal Poly slo and graduated in June. But, I know many high achieving students who get shut out and have to go out of state. We were lucky that out of state and private was in our budget. My S23 wants so badly to stay in state and has higher stats that his sister, but we’ll see if he can.
3 Likes
He may want to put UCR and UCM on his UC application list.
Also, if he is not within CSULB’s local area, it may be difficult to get into CSULB, because it apparently has a very large local area preference.
If he wants to major in CS, many moderately and more selective colleges will become more difficult to get into. For example, for fall 2022 frosh entrants, applicants to SJSU in many majors needed a 2.60 HS GPA, while those in CS needed a 4.35 HS GPA.
Think about it like a public school district. You go to a school based upon your address. If you don’t like the school in your area and there aren’t transfer options, you apply and pay for a private school. If you can afford it you purchase a house within a better school district. On the flip side you can’t pick out the best public high school in your state and say I have equal right to go there as students living in the district.
3 Likes
It is interesting because we visited UCM to look at it as an option for my son 5 years ago. At the time, the school was 12 years old so I figured it had time to develop. I was wrong. It was a beautiful campus but was very isolated with no surrounding community (coffee houses, pizza places, movies theaters, etc.). It is now 17 years old and, according to Google Maps, there is still no college community around campus. I feel if they build up the area and create a college town, students will be more likely to attend.
5 Likes
There was a CC member, Class of 2025 IIRC, who had a decision thread here on CC, who chose UCM and then after attending for a semester decided he/she was out of there. I searched for the thread, but the CC search function is limited.
Bottom line, UCM isn’t/wasn’t all that it’s cracked up to be, probably for the reasons mentioned above.
2 Likes
He want to study biophysics, bio robotics, something like that, but he plans to get a phd, so we have options for undergrad majors. He wants to stay in California and a public would be great for our budget since he wants to continue to a phd, but I’d send him out of state or private before I’d have him go to Merced or Riverside. We’re fortunate that we can afford any of those options without loans. I just don’t see the ROI making sense if he has better options.
Of course, if a town gets built up around it, then that will constrain future expansion, especially after non-students move in and become NIMBYs against more students.
Physics is usually not an overcrowded major. In terms of “robotics”, engineering majors and CS often are.
Well, that is voluntarily increasing the scarcity that you are facing at the UCs.
1 Like
Accurate, and I’m comfortable with that. I don’t see the point of spending over 120k for my 4.6 gpa son to attend Merced or Riverside. I hope he’ll get into some UCs or Cal Poly slo, but I can’t count on it and we have to build our list that way.
1 Like
Fortunately, any PhD program worth attending will be funded 100%.
1 Like
Merced is a poor town (poverty approaching 30% pre covid, per census bureau) with a poor student population (65% Pell grantees). Hard for mom & pops and retailers to to build up a ‘college town’ atmosphere with those economics. (For comparison, Riverside, home of UCR, has a poverty rate of ~14%, and 47% Pell.)
This seems to be at least part of the bigger issue. Why are there such disparities among the UCs? Is the legislature not providing adequate funding, strategic planning, better or more variety of programs/majors? Seems to me it might be better to strengthen the less “desirable” UCs than continually cramming more kids into UCLA and UCB? I’m still amazed for example that UCB has classes with 750+ kids. Why would anyone pay for that?
Just a thought.
2 Likes
You’re right. I wasn’t looking for a La Jolla or Westwood type community but for an area around the college where students lived, shopped or hung out and socialized when they weren’t in classes. There was nothing (not even a grocery store) within walking or biking distance of the school. UCM has very large parking lots. To us it felt like a commuter school - similar to some local CSUs.
I’m not saying that UCB students will flock to UCM, but just that there are factors other than academic reputation that might make students hesitant to attend.
2 Likes