USF vs SFSU vs UCSC

College Search & Selection
1

<p>So...i got waitlisted at Occidental COllege (my #1) and rejected at a couple others and Im having a seriously hard time selecting a college to enroll in before the May 1st deadline. I seriously though I would get into Occidental, but this year they had a huge increase of applicants. Go Figure. :&lt;/p>

<p>I plan to stay on the waitlist at Occidental, but the chances this year of me getting accepted are slim. Im having my HS counselor call them, and I'll write them a letter with updates from my latest stuff.</p>

<p>Honestly, education and reputation wise, I think UC SC is the best school...but it's in Santa Cruz. I really hate the campus, i wish I would've visited it before I applied. The whole ultra hippy nature school thing just doesn't appeal to me.</p>

<p>Then there's USF, which is an awesome campus and school located in a big city (yay!) but I have two problems with it: Very religious (being Catholic, go figure)...and they didn't offer me as much aid as I expected. They are ridiculously expensive and my parents have an EFC of $0.00 (we make under $35k). I was kind of thinking they would be generous with aid, but i still have to come up with $26k a year and that's a lot to put into loans. I don't want over $100k of debt after 4 years when I'm not even sure what degree I want.</p>

<p>Then SFSU: They gave me a ton of financial aid (mainly from state and federal grants), however it's academic reputation isn't the best, and it's not nearly as prestigious as the other two I was accepted into. I mean, if I settle for this one, I might as well just go to community college and then transfer to a UC or something because the education for the price isn't much different.</p>

<p>Without Occidental, I'm sort of in a jam :\ I mean, as far as career aspirations...I really want to be an actor, but I realize that's unlikely to happen, so I'm going to go to college first to get a practical degree. I hope to minor in Theater wherever I go, so that's not a problem...My Major however will probably be something like Business, Urban Planning, or International Studies.</p>

<p>Please Help. Im really disillusioned and have no idea what to do.</p>

2

<p>:( Please someone provide some sort of insight</p>

3

<p>Bump. Would be nice if someone replied :(</p>

4

<p>Not sure if this will help.I’m hoping your passion will get you off Oxy’s waitlist but if not
SFSU sounds like a good match for you just in terms of the urban enviroment. They have
a great film department; and I think better professors because of the draw of working in SF. I graduated from there 30 years ago but I met artists, writers, film makers, poets. We also used to draw our computer techs for our repair company from SFSU and they were talented and committed. My daughter just graduated from Oxy and it was a great fit for her so either way I wish you the best of luck.</p>

5

<p>I think you should give UCSC a try. There are so many excellent programs to choose from, and the faculty is top notch. Plus the city of Santa Cruz is lots of fun, and the surf is always up! It might take you awhile to get used to going to class in a redwood grove, but I’ll bet that you will grow to like it.</p>

6

<p>Kaikomai, I agree with UCLA Band Mom. I know that UCSC looks like a summer camp (I actually liked that about it) but it is not all hippies. I know three very serious students who go there currently. You can find a group of like-minded students there, the hippie-pot-smoking-slacker stereotype is just that, a stereotype. </p>

<p>USF’s debt load sounds too big!</p>

<p>If you just can’t live outside an urban center then SFSU isn’t as awful as you think. Plenty of people have gone there and then on to successful lives. You may have to do your homework about classes and professors to get to the best offered, but it can give you a really good education in a great city.</p>