What's with California?

I’m curious to know why so many posts have to do with UC this and UC that. It seems to be disproportionate to the amount of people who apply to UC school, but then again I could be wrong. And, um, what makes California so special? I don’t mean to diss the state, it’s just that I’ve never been there and it seems to excite so many people.

<p>its cuz UC admissions decisions come out this month</p>

<p>I don't mean to diss the state, it's just that I've never been there and it seems to excite so many people.</p>

<p>I don't get it either. And I live here. I guess I'm still an east coast kid at heart.</p>

<p>UCs came out and UCs are very popular. It's a great system w/ awesome schools. The top in the nation and are public.</p>

<p>The University of California is a premiere institution for those students seeking a public secondary education.</p>

<p>Though not all the universities may be comparable to all state schools in the nation, as a whole, the UC system ranks pretty high, in terms of comparing public education to other states.</p>

<p>The UCs are also very popular with California students undoubtedly for UC reputation at a lower cost.</p>

<p>It is proportionate as there are tens of thousands of undergrads at UC schools. They are huge.</p>

<p>...and as a system, receive a massive number of applications - UCLA receives the most applications of any school in the nation.</p>

<p>"UCLA receives the most applications of any school in the nation."</p>

<p>This is a statement that UCLA affiliates like to proudly boast yet never mention that it deserves an asterisk by it. Because of the way the UC app is laid out, all one has to do is check the box (or click the radio button if online) for each UC Campus they want to apply to, and their entire application - along with essays - gets sent to that school for simply another application fee. Essentially, students who are qualified for UCSB and UCI, but not UCLA, can apply to UCLA as a reach simply by marking off another box. </p>

<p>Compare this to if they wanted to apply to Stanford/USC/Pomona. They would not only have to pay the application fee, but fill out an entirely new application, write more essays (private schools often have more in-depth applications than the UCs), and go through a lot more trouble.</p>

<p>While UCLA does indeed receive the most applications on paper, how many borderline students do you think would have applied if it required filling out an entirely new application?</p>

<p>NYU is the most applied to private school in the nation, and deserves more credit as such because its applicant numbers aren't inflated like UCLA's.</p>

<p>Most of us don't want to spend a ton of money on college, the UCs are the best public schools out there, and the weather is great. The end.</p>

<p>the guys aren't bad either.</p>

<p>UC's are special because... well good weather, high ranked schools, affordable prices, hot chicks... what more could you ask for ? lol</p>

<p>
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And, um, what makes California so special?

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</p>

<p>Come visit us if you can, junebug, and experience the hot temperatures in a different way. :) Us coastal kids take the beaches for granted because come summertime, we can just get into our swimgear and surfgear and hit them up. I guess our loyalty to the Pacific temperature + our beaches make CA seem overrated sometimes to different regions of the nation. But all of the other regions have their own charms, I'm sure of it. Visiting the Midwest was a diff. experience for me... so were Washington and Utah. Way different from CA.</p>

<p>But maybe it was because I was subconsciously looking for highways close to the beach and clear sunny skies with the glittering ocean water. Washington's part of the West Coast, I know, but it was always so cloudy when I was up there.</p>

<p>Another reason why California and its schools get talked about so much is simply that it is the state with the largest population. More Californians = More people talking about CA schools. Simple. </p>

<p>Plus, many of the schools have excellent reputations and thus are desirable to a fair number of out of staters too. Between the Cal States and the UCs there are more than 35 state universities to talk about. Add in a bunch of excellent private schools to boot, and you've got a whole lot of CA school admissions that need talking about.</p>

<p>California has Stanford, UCLA, Berkeley, USC, UCSD, Pomona, Cal Tech and many , many more. california by far has the largest college population out of any state.</p>

<p>Yeah, but you have to admit that Boston is a great place to be for a college student.</p>

<p>i guess UCs arent just one school.. its a whole chain of 9, not including UC San Francisco. which is more of a grad school, UCB, UCSB, UCSD, UCI, UCR, UCM, UCLA, UCSC, UCD... so it takes up space for 9 schools, (8 if u dont count UC merced the newest one) and they all have differnt acceptence times, so i guess that's why there seems to be so many threads on UCs. Other states dont seem to have such a large Public university system with top quality schools.</p>

<p>visit first then post again</p>

<p>Virginia has an excellent state system; the premier institution being of course, University of Virginia.</p>

<p>Ohio does as well; as does Flordia and Michigan (UMich, Ann Arbor).</p>

<p>So there are other great public school systems and UC does definitely rank with them.</p>

<p>eiffelguy, yea i know about schools too. Same with UNC.. chapel hills, but California has 9. i dont hear much about other state schools but UVA, UNC chapel hills, and UMich ann arbor. ahha.. omg.. im actaully saying something good about UCs... i normallly don't.. -_-</p>

<p>Ohio State...don't forget that one (there might be some Ohio fans lurking about) :)</p>

<p>Other state schools are not as great at the aforementioned systems simply because of a lack of population or money.</p>

<p>It is expensive to run and fund these schools; hence UC Merced is the first university built in the 21st century.</p>