UCSB vs ASU.

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I'm a senior in high school and I basically have 2 weeks left to make my final decision on what school I want to go to. I am an Arizona resident and I have narrowed it down to 2 schools: UCSB and ASU. The main problem I'm having is finances. UCSB is the school I want to go to but it's so much more expensive to attend. Here's a general pros and cons list I created for each school.</p>

<p>UCSB
Pros:
-It's a better school; the overall academic ranking is higher and it's harder to get into.
-When I visited, I just got a vibe that that's where I want to be.
-Location; great weather and it's right on the beach.
-I've always wanted to go out-of-state. I haven't really liked AZ since I moved here like 7 years ago.
-Better professors, easier to make connections for future jobs
-It has a reputation as a party school yet it's also a really academically rigorous school as well. It fits my personality; I'm very studious yet I am also very social.
-The average starting salary of a graduate of UCSB in my intended major (computer engineering) is higher.
-It's far away from home but not too far away (i.e. east coast)</p>

<p>Cons:
-It costs more money. I can almost go to ASU for my entire degree for 1 year's cost of attendance.
-I don't know anybody there (Which I'm actually fine with. But it's more of a negative than positive)
-I'm going in undecided so I'm not guaranteed a spot for my major, computer science.
-I don't like their mascot :P</p>

<p>ASU
Pros:
-Much cheaper to attend.
-I have many friends who are going here.
-I'm secured in my major.</p>

<p>Cons:
-I've heard it's an "easy" school. I'd rather be challenged and actually have to work to earn my degree.
-I hate the location.
-It's too close to home; my parents would expect me to come home way too often.
-It has a reputation as a party school as well...but that's it. No reputation necessarily for their academics besides Barrett's which I haven't applied to. But if I go to ASU, I definitely would apply to Barrett's for my 2nd semester.</p>

<p>Basically, it comes down to money. My parents don't seem like they will help very much so I will probably end up paying loans entirely by myself after graduation. I'd just like to hear other people's opinions so please do comment.</p>

2

<p>How much is the net cost after non-loan financial aid at each school?</p>

3

<p>Having visited UCSB, I picked up a similar vibe. You will be able to party as much s you want at either school. It comes down to money. If you think you can get a better job coming out of UCSB, then that’s something to consider if you’re expected to pay off your student loans.</p>

<p>Also, I’m pretty sure that many UCSB majors have pre-major status for two years (or a certain number of credits) before you technically declare your major, so I wouldn’t be too worried about that.</p>

4

<p>UCSB would be about $37,000 per year. ASU would be about $12,000 per year.</p>

<p>But I’ve applied to quite a few outside scholarships. It’s just I don’t hear from many of them until June or July so I have to make a decision before I find out if I receive more aid.</p>

5

<p>I also hear that California has a higher cost of living than Arizona so even with a higher salary, is it doable?</p>

6

<p>I don’t think its worth 100K extra over 4 years (and that’s a low estimate – given the economic climate in CA its pretty likely fees will rise substantially for the UC schools) to attend UCSB. It may be easy to overlook the impact now, but getting out of college with 100K in loans hanging over your head is going to affect your future for years.</p>

<p>Especially since you’re thinking of majoring in an engineering discipline you’ll have lots of opportunities to get out of AZ in the future; CA will still be there, and your load will be a lot easier without all that debt. My suggestion is to talk to the career counselors at ASU frequently. What you should do is get as many internships and coop positions as possible. A secret is that everyone wants internships since its great pay and you work over the summer; nobody wants coop jobs since you take a semester off from school. So coop jobs are easy to get, but the flip side is that employers hiring for summer internships like to see previous experience; put the pieces together, and the smart play is to spend a semester in a coop and then you can get all the great internships you want!</p>

<p>BTW its too late now unless you take a gap year, but you could go to some CA schools for 150% of the in-state rate! For engineering you could have gone to Chico (the best of the 3 options) which is a pretty fun school and has solid engineering programs. The possibility of attending according to the info you can find at <a href=“Tips For Students | Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE)”>Tips For Students | Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE); Click on the “search database” link</p>

7

<p>I’m actually looking at ASU right now myself.</p>

<p>Could you tell me why you hate the location?</p>

<p>How would you describe Tempe overall? Is it a good college town?</p>

8

<p>Basically, it comes down to money. My parents don’t seem like they will help very much so I will probably end up paying loans entirely by myself after graduation.</p>

<p>First of all, that much debt for any school is ridiculous.</p>

<p>You will NOT be earning more with a degree from UCSB…that’s ridiculous. Employers won’t view UCSB as some superior school over ASU…it’s not MIT or Cal Tech. </p>

<p>Seriously, my 3 brothers and my H all hire engineers. They do NOT pay someone more for graduating from UCSB over another school. </p>

<p>What you might be seeing is “regional differences”…jobs in certain states pay a bit more…but that’s becauses of Cost of Living. That said, you can get your education in AZ and get a job in Calif (hopefully, the job market in Calif will be better then). </p>

<p>And, even if you did make a bit more, then those huge loans would more than take that away.</p>

<p>Those loans would RUIN your young adult years.</p>

<p>YOU can’t borrow that much without parents’ co-signing (hopefully your parents are smart enough not to do that).</p>

<p>You can find legit reasons not to come home often at ASU. You can be involved with clubs, need to do homework, need to spend time in the labs, etc. If during your communications with your parents you’re proactively mentioning how busy you are and how much lab time you need to do, they will understand that you can’t come home often.</p>

<p>Re: The party school issue.</p>

<p>I see this criticism bandied about on various threads. WHO CARES if some kids in easy majors have time to party? Who cares that some kids in classes across campus have time to party? How does that affect you? Kids in serious majors don’t have time to party like that. My kids go to a so-called “party school,” but they’re in serious majors (actually, one just graduated). They and their friends didn’t have time to party like those across campus. </p>

<p>UCSB is soooooooo not worth this debt.</p>

9

<p>the likelihood of you receiving enuf scholarships to make a dent in the cost differential is nil. Nor will you receive enuf loans. UC is NOT an option.</p>

10

<p>I spent the 1990’s at ASU and I never heard anyone say that the engineering curriculum was easy. Every student that I knew in engineering and architecture had to work pretty hard.</p>

<p>Arizona and California firms such as Intel, Motorola, IBM, etc hire grads from all types of universities…UA, ASU, UC whatever. If the curriculum at ASU was so ‘easy’ and UCSB so much better, don’t you think these firms would quit recruiting at ASU? </p>

<p>Look/talk to career services at ASU for an idea of firms that have hired ASU grads.</p>

11

<p>From the perspective of a Californa kid, UCSB and ASU are not comparable. I doubt there are very few, if any, California kids that would pick ASU over UCSB.</p>

<p>Having said that, I can’t imagine that any UC is worth paying out-of state tuition, especially given California’s budget woes.</p>

12

<p>@blingnjkbling, are you an AZ resident?</p>

<p>I basically just hate the location because…well, living in AZ for 7 years, I have never really liked it here. It’s hot, dry, brown, and there’s no body of water (obviously…but I love water lol).</p>

<p>Tempe is a good college town. There are a lot of parties and Mill Ave is great for some shopping and clubbing (so I hear, I can’t club yet since I’m only 17). There seems to be a lot of school spirit as well.</p>

<p>I just have stigmatized ASU with this image of slutty dumb girls, I guess you could say (and to be honest, that’s not completely far off). However, the school has academically improved over the past few years if you care about that. </p>

<p>I don’t think ASU is worth paying OOS tuition. It’s not that pricey, especially compared to the UC schools, but it’s…ASU. That’s just my opinion.</p>