<p>as of late, I was pretty confident in my choice for UCSD, but please read and give me insight ! especially if you are already a college student or a transfer student!
Background:
-3rd year in Community College, 84 units, IGETC, 3.1 gpa, want BA in physics and credentials to be a teacher.
-Plan to play lacrosse in the school of transfer.
-low income family</p>
<p>Ok, Ok so I Applied to UCSC, UCSB, UCSD with guarantees. Cal Poly, SDSU, and Sonoma state for regular admissions. Here is my dilema…
I want to be at a quarter system school, so the UC’s and CP are left on the board.
I want an academically prestige school, which isnt a problem with those choices…
I am low income! Not a whole lot of money, will need financial aid + loans…
I need credentials anyhow so should I start and finish at a state school?
I want to be somewhere with wonderful weather… weird but I do.</p>
<p>so with all this, and personal reasons im torn between UCSD and Cal Poly.
CP is cheaper and would be a whole lot less of a burden on me and my family. UCSD is a little more prestige and will set me up with wonderful work opportunities, HOWEVER CP is no joke either. both have great physics programs. SD has way better weather, but summer its hot as hell! SD is 3 hours farther from home. CP was my original dream school :/. UCSD is beautiful! But, expensive as hell to live in. </p>
<p>what to do people, what to do?!?!!? insight?</p>
<p>Both have GREAT California weather! I’m a parent now, but at one time I was a college student in California. I would say: List all the plus and minus things about each university, including total costs, how employers see their grads, distance from “home”, etc., etc. Compare them head to head, revisit the campuses if possible during the academic year, shadow a student on campus, and if you are accepted by both schools (lucky!), use your head… and your heart… to make a decision. In the end, either school would probably be fine… but what you really, really want and where you feel you “belong” should help you make your decision. IMO, either one is a great choice… but ultimately YOU have to call it. Best of luck to you!</p>
<p>There is just something about Cal Poly. People love it. Students, alumni, faculty. parents, employers rave about the place. Like you, my son was torn between Cal Poly and UCSD so we talked to everybody we could. Not once did anyone have a negative thing to say about the school or the town for that matter. I even took to wearing a Cal Poly cap - still do - and strangers often come up to me with a big smile and go on about what a great school it is and how it made a difference in their or their kids lives. I could not get a negative or even slightly critical comment from anyone. That kind of passion is compelling. Needless to say my son is a freshman.
My 2 cents.
All the best.</p>
<p>Ive visited just about every university I would think about attending, stayed weekends at UCSD, CP, SSU, UCSB, worked at UCSC… Ive been around. I LOVE Cal Poly and cant agree more with gotpeter, it really is just a great place. Beautiful as well…</p>
<p>I have heard some negative things about it as well… my “girlfriend”, or lack there of a title, went to CP last year and decided to come home, and I know another girl who went and transferred back home to sac state to finish her BA because she hated it there. </p>
<p>San Diego would be great because its a whole different world there; huge city and all around different atmosphere than up here in sacramento. Cal Poly is fun, beautiful, and a great place. Really its going to come down to money, I just dont want to give up on UCSD if its going to be that much better of a degree.</p>
<p>Can you be specific about what it was about Cal Poly that made their experiences negative? I am constantly being asked about the school and would like to have a more balanced perspective. No place is right for everybody.</p>
<p>BTW, isn’t UCSD in La Jolla, a small, wealthy town just north of San Diego? A fabulous location but hardly an urban setting. Anyway, good luck to you. Listen to your instincts and find a way to follow them.</p>
<p>well when i said San Diego is a huge city i meant San Diego the city… i know that UCSD is in la jolla, i love lj its so peaceful and nice. </p>
<p>Actually my friend’s bad experiences came from a few things. A really really bad roommate who made her life hell enough to go back home, she was looking to make girlfriends there and only met tons of guys, some “so cal” people going there were hard on her daily for being from nor cal (?) and i guess it just wasnt right for her at the time in her life. It seems now that she feels she would like it being a year older and would potentially be living with likable roommates… sounds like merely a bad experience to me but i was just pointing out that i have heard some bad experiences from there. </p>
<p>no idea why my other friend left. never asked. Every day Im feeling more and more torn between UCSD and Cal Poly. I dont know what to do !</p>
<p>what do you mean by received ? as in how are they treated? </p>
<p>should be fine, dont be scared by the comment above. it really was a bad experience on her part. it wasnt a whole lot of people she just got stuck with apparent jerks in her dorm. she also lived in a smaller dorm (shasta) which is where those few jerks were so she had no escape. she also probably could have been proactive on changing things… she got RA’s involved but i dont think she went the whole nine yards to change things.</p>
<p>anyhow, i know a few guys there that are from NM and NV. they are cool and they have lots of friends. CalPoly has a great welcome week, called wow week, for everyone to meet new people and make new friends. if you got into CP, look forward to this week. it will be the best week of your life as of yet.</p>
<p>Yeah, the roommate and dormitory crap shoot can be a problem no matter where you go. My son dodged that bullet by rooming with a good friend from HS. BTW, don’t overlook the fact that you can specify your roommate if you choose to live in the dorms. A lot of students don’t realize they can do that.</p>
<p>I think that as long as you can find a group of friends or at least a few friends you get along with well, you’ll have a good social experience. From what I can tell, people living in Cerro Vista seem to be less likely to party. I mean, there are plenty of people who live there that do party, but there are probably more who don’t than in the dorms. As far as educational experience goes, most professors are really nice and want you to do well. As long as you show interest and effort, you’ll do fine.</p>