West Coast Schools

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I'm a hs junior in Kansas and I'd like to go to school on the West Coast, but I'm not sure exactly what schools to look at.</p>

<p>I know I'm interested in California, but I've never been to Oregon or Washington, and I'm worried it might be cold. Any comments about climate?</p>

<p>I'm looking for a school that's medium to large, has a relaxed atmosphere, and is more residential than commuter. It would be nice to have a good Greek/party scene. Politically, I'm a moderate Democrat, so I don't want a school that leans very far to the left or right.</p>

<p>My stats are not spectacular and a lot of these are estimated.</p>

<p>gpa: 3.2 (a few very bad grades on the transcript)
3 APs, 4 honors (school doesnt offer that many)
ACT: ~30
ECs: key club board member freshman year, 3 yrs swimming, 2 yrs tennis, a few miscellaneous clubs, head of a big Latin Club project committee</p>

<p>I have attention deficit disorder. Does that hurt or help my chances in any way?</p>

<p>Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks.</p>

2

<p>UC Santa Cruz, UC Santa Barbara, University of San Francisco, University of San Diego, University of the Redlands, University of the Pacific... here's some colleges to get you started. :)</p>

3

<p>The Northwest is great, and I came from Hawaii.</p>

<p>Schools in Oregon & Washington to add to your list:</p>

<p>UWashington (somewhat liberal)
The Evergreen State College (although a bit liberal)
Washington State
UOregon (somewhat liberal)
Oregon State
UPortland
Pacific U
Seattle University
Seattle Pacific University
Southern Oregon State College
Gonzaga U</p>

<p>Just some of the schools I would check out. Again, just my 2 cents. Good luck on your search.</p>

4

<p>Climate is moderate but can be rainy</p>

5

<p>San Diego State. Weather here is amazing.</p>

6

<p>Santa Clara, St. Mary's, Loyola Marymount, University of San Francisco (all are Catholic schools), University of the Pacific, UC Irvine, UC Riverside (not such a great location), possibly the new UC Merced (just opening).</p>

<p>If you don't want far-left, leave out Evergreen State.</p>

7

<p>Weather in Washington, Oregon, and far northern California is not particularly cold, but be prepared for some serious RAIN. The rainy season in these areas basically coincides with the school year.</p>

8

<p>But rain in the northwest is more like drizzle than serious downpour. it's an annoyance more than anything. And when it's nice, it's beautiful.</p>

<p>I come from Issaquah, Washington, about 30 minutes away from University of Washington. The thing that's most prevalent, I think, is that we don't get the temperature variation of some areas of the country. Winters are around 30-40 degrees, generally, and summers are 70-80 degrees. So hardly any snow in the winter, unless you go into the mountains, but also not scortching in the summer.</p>

<p>With that..umm...University of Washington is a great school :) But there are other washington schools to that are good.</p>

<p>All the california schools named so far are also awesome choices.
noelle</p>

9

<p>Drizzle? That's not what I remember of my years in Oregon.</p>

<p>According to this stats/facts page:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.city-data.com/city/Issaquah-Washington.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.city-data.com/city/Issaquah-Washington.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Issaquah averages 53 inches of precipitation (mostly rain) per year and averages 138 days per year on which there is precipitation. That works out to an average of .38 inches of rain per rainy day. That's a pretty stiff drizzle.</p>

10

<p>coureur - I use to live in Washington and I agree with harpgirl, it is <em>usually</em> a dirzzle. .38 inches or rain per day--- keep in mind that it usually rains for a long period of time, sometimes all day.</p>

11

<p>Well I've never lived in Oregon so I can't speak for our southern neighbors ;) I'm just speaking from my 15 years that I lived in Seattle.</p>

12

<p>In cali i'd stick to privates like chapman, loyola, university of san diego, just because it's harder to get into publics if your out of state and they are much more expensive.</p>

13

<p>privates like Loyola are less expensive than the UCs out of state?? </p>

<p>that's freaking insane.</p>

14

<p>UC's are still somewhat cheaper and states def. are. Sunday it was 73 degrees in San Diego and I was enjoying myself at the beach....rain around here is a rarity, it'll rain for about a week, followed by two months of sun.</p>

15

<p>Saved, I'm glad to hear you're still enjoying SDSU and taking full advantage of our beautiful weather. We were up in the Bay area looking at colleges for my daughter this past weekend and she kept commenting on how "cold" it seemed to her. :)
Carolyn</p>

16

<p>How can anyone not enjoy themselves at San Diego State? I have traveled two hours just to enjoy that campus and its people.</p>

<p>Speaking of Southern California weather, I was at Caltech on a tour a few months ago and it was HOT. I mean, it was hot for over here. Anyway, I was the only native on the tour and while I was complaining about the heat, everyone was saying how beautiful the weather was. A family from Arizona was actually saying how un-hot it was. How could anyone not want to live here?</p>

17

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<p>Shhh....Socal is overcrowded already. Don't be convincing even more people to move in.</p>

<p>Hey, people...it's awful here - simply dreadful. Too hot. Too smoggy. Daily earthquakes. Don't even think of moving here.</p>