<p>I used to live on the east coast, now I live in California. People here, are by far, wayyy nicer and much much more open-minded. Now I seriously can't see myself anywhere else! =D</p>
<p>Even if you find that you like the east coast better, I think college is such a good time for you to just get out of the bubble you are so familiar with and experience a completely different lifestyle.(That's why a lot of the colleges that I'm applying to are in the midwest! But of course I'll come back to beautiful Cali after college.) What better time than now?</p>
<p>I was born in Washington, then moved to Texas, then moved to California (central valley), and now I am here at UC Irvine (5 miles from Newport Beach in OC), and I really like socal (But don't tell, Norcal is still hella tight!). I like the weather and how I get a great education for relatively cheap, especially with being in-state and scholarships/financial aid. Some people say things like "I wish we had seasons, I like seasons". Pshh whatev, I find it hard to complain when I can walk to class in shorts and a t-shirt in mid November. That's why just about every Californian stays here. Come here. Go 'eaters!</p>
<p>yeah man, im cali raised and i wouldnt have it any other way. i am only applying in state.....some colleges you might want to consider down in SoCal are university of redlands, whittier college, chapman university....also try a search on collegeboard.com . for you surviving, i have a friend from new england and he is just fine, plus the chicks here are hella slutty... ;)</p>
<p>I've lived in SoCal my whole life, so I don't know any better. But I couldn't imagine why you wouldn't want to go to school out here if you found a school that was a good fit. If you had two schools that were equally good fits and one was in Southern California, I'd go there in a second.</p>
<p>A variant of Coureur's take: if you live on one coast, go to college on the other. College may be the best time in your life for exploration. Put it this way, by the time you're married with children and are established in a career, it usually seems imprudent.
I like LMU but, as noted, you need a car to get anywhere interesting. SoCal being what it is, almost everyone has cars anyway. I would have said check out UC Irvine and UC Santa Barbara but the application deadline was yesterday.</p>
<p>Gosh...I have to say that California is a beautiful state. It is also very diverse. Food is spectacular. Lots of brilliant people from all over the world. San Francisco is stunning and possibly the most beautiful city in the world....but there are a lot of homeless folks and you will step in urine puddles, so if youv'e never been around that, you need to be prepared...</p>
<p>If you're coming into Cali make sure you bring a lot or money with you. Everything is so damn expensive. A gallon of gas is 2.23 on my corner. It was about 2.50 a month ago. I have only met 2 people in my life who wanted to leave California. I have lived in San Diego my whole life. </p>
<p>To the poster...your grades and SAT would fit better at one of the State schools. San Diego State is a good school. You'd meet a lot of people there, lot's of partys.</p>
<p>Go NorCal and Central Valley! Woot woot! I'm from Livingston (like anyone knows where that is...about an hour north of Fresno). I love California. I've lived here all my life and I can't imagine living anywhere else.</p>
<p>California pretty much sucks without a car. It's so big that public transportation is pretty rough.</p>
<p>Other than that, I have can lodge no complaints. I've lived here for 17 years, the weather's always nice, but it'll make you wish for rain. Bring lots of chapstick if you live in the South, because somedays it gets outrageously dry (thus our frequent run ins with wildfires and such). </p>
<p>I can say, we're incredibly diverse and so on so forth. Every time I hear the word minority I kind of cringe because it's used rarely. We're pretty much a giant melting pot of all kinds of people from all kinds of states, and countries, I have friends (at my high school, not a college), that are from all over the world. </p>
<p>Plus, California is the #1 place to learn Spanglish! (or, if you choose, you can learn proper Spanish quite easily, depending on where you're located).</p>
<p>I've lived in So Cal my entire life (Orange County) and I plan to live here all my life. I can't imagine living elsewhere because So Cal has perfect weather, great diversity, and plenty of things to do. I'm not a big fan of LA - most Orange County kids will attest to this, I guess because they are so laid back - it's far too smoggy and hectic, but it's pretty fun for school. I love it here!</p>
<p>Wackicracka ~ You'll probably love California. I was born and raised there, and have also lived in Massachusetts for a couple of years. In my opinion, California is an experience you'll love because it is so different, so much more international, and so much more spontaneously open and friendly. Go for it.</p>
<p>California is big. Have you considered whether you want to be in an urban (and expensive) environment, a suburban one, or something a bit less congested? School location might help you pick one more college to apply to. Also, be prepared for more unconventional transportaion than in the Northeast.</p>