<p>D got rejected from Cal so now it's either SCU or San Jose State. I'm really at a crossroad here. Am I nuts to take on a 25k+ student loan a year for all 4 years to send her to SCU? Or just settle with SJSU? Since we can't get much from federal loans, where would be the best place to start looking for student loans?</p>
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<p>If you’re talking $100K in loans for an undergrad degree, yes, I think that’s nuts if it can be avoided. The way the world is working I think into that kind of debt should be reserved for something far bigger than UG.</p>
<p>I am very familiar with both schools and know several kids at each campus. If money were no object, SCU wins hands down. Both schools provide a solid education, but Santa Clara has those private school perks that make the experience more enjoyable. Things like ease in registering for classes, smaller class sizes, encouragement to study abroad etc. Graduating in four years is the norm. SJSU will have the hassles of large public schools; getting the classes you want is stressful the first couple of years, and it can be challenging to graduate in four years. </p>
<p>That being said, I am not of the mind that SCU is worth 100k in loans. I know many, many SJSU grades that are employed in the bay area and supporting their families. The students I know there now are doing fine. </p>
<p>I am sure you have heard the comparison before: it is kind of like choosing between buying a Mercedes and a Honda. Both will get you where you are going, but SCU will make the ride a bit nicer. BUT, that comes at a hefty price.</p>
<p>I am sorry about Berkeley. Did she not apply to UCSC or UCD?</p>
<p>Try a middle road–my daughter went to West Valley College and then transferred to SCU. WVC has an honors program and the campus and professors are wonderful. I’d send my kids to WVC for the first two years over SJSU any day. She can then also reapply to CAL as a transfer student as well. I kbow of students who have done well at WVC and transferred to SCU, Stanford, CAL, UCLA, UCD, etc. Do the Honors Program classes AND join the Honor Society (Alpha Gamma Sigma) as soon as eligible. Note they are two different programs at WVC.</p>
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<p>Awesome suggestion. So many true stories of students going to CC for a couple years and then xfering into the school they originally wanted or even better schools. A lot of local CCs in the SCU-SJSU area have articulation agreements between each other where the students have a little guide to go off if they were planning on xfering to them (including De Anza College, for example).</p>
<p>If your D is set on getting the “college experience”, then I will warn it’s not worth 100k for it. Tell her there will be MANY more experiences in life that she will cherish more (like kids and marriage).</p>
<p>No, she didn’t apply for any other UCs. The reason was pretty obvious to us after doing a little math. Any UC will cost about $12K in tuition, plus room and food we’re looking at about $25K+ a year. We thought we’d just pay a little extra ($5K) to have her close to us. This is, of course, planning on having her commute to SCU daily.</p>
<p>I’m really struggling with the idea of sending her to any CC. The closest one to us is DVC, which used to be a pretty good option. But with all the budget cuts, I hear horrible stories about students (especially freshmen) not being able to get into classes they want and the quality of education there seems to be deteriorating as well.</p>
<p>For a boy, I would be more comfortable with sending him to SJSU. But for my D, I still worry about safety issues after a couple of scary incidents in the newspaper and pretty negative reviews on Yelp and other sites.</p>
<p>notlkk, if DVC is your closest community college, you don’t leave very close to neither SCU nor SJSU. Is your D comfortable commuting daily to either of these 2 colleges?</p>
<p>OP, De Anza College is in Cupertino and a lot of students from SJ and SC commute to go there. Are you in SJ proper, or SC or somewhere around?</p>
<p>Yes, I too recall the safety issues from SJSU like a couple shootings last year in the parking lot adjacent to the campus and other stuff. It really isn’t in the best neighborhood if you’re not confident in looking after yourself.</p>
<p>She can visit the De Anza campus and maybe ask a few students walking around how hard/easy it is for them to register for the classes they need. They also have something called Priority Registration where the student becomes part of a group who can register for classes a few days ahead of everyone else. This would include Honors students, student athletes, and some others. If she is willing to do sports or willing to take on the Honors (I heard their Honors is doable), then she can get this Priority Registration. After that it is done by seniority of how many credits have been completed.</p>
<p>Yeah, she’s OK with that. I work in Santa Clara so I know what the commute is like. It’ll be about an hour for her each way, which I think it’s bearable.</p>
<p>De Anza is farther than SCU from our home but I’ll have her check it out. At this point, I’m pretty upset about how these UC schools operate. I checked both UCLA and Cal, it seemed in the recent years their admission rates have been just around 25% for California residents, the rest is all out-of-state or international. WTH, I thought they were California universities. Can’t we Californians do anything about this nonsense?</p>
<p>That does seem true; however, it does keep your taxes down and make it more affordable for those who aren’t financially stable. </p>
<p>Good article:
[Fewer</a> California Freshmen At UC; Out-Of-State Admissions Soar CBS San Francisco](<a href=“http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2011/04/18/admission-rate-drops-for-uc-frosh-from-california/]Fewer”>Fewer California Freshmen At UC; Out-Of-State Admissions Soar - CBS San Francisco)</p>
<p>I am somewhat familiar with De Anza atmosphere. My D and S are both swimming competitively at De Anza Aquatic Club, we are at the campus every single evening. Every single semester, for about 2-3 weeks after beginning of the classes, the traffic around college is unbearable and takes extra 30 minutes to come or leave the campus area. The comments are it is hard to register for classes, you must be present on the first day of your class or you will be dropped immediately, and there is long wait list for each class.</p>
<p>I took a class at De Anza as a high school student and I know several people who went there and transferred. I remember it was really hard to register for classes as a high school student because you need to have evening classes and they make you register 3 weeks later than everyone else; however, I also noticed (and have been told by my friends who went there) that it’s much easier to register for classes if you can take them in the middle of the day, because there aren’t as many people to compete with (high school students, adults, etc.) and that if you can register as early as possible, you shouldn’t have too many problems.</p>
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<p>Most of those admitted to UCs aren’t full pay students. They qualify for Cal Grant and Pell Grant which are funded by taxes. OOS and Int’l do not qualify for these programs (OOS gets Pell, but not Cal) so they end up paying more. UC needs to make enough money some how.</p>
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<p>Very true. All of it. Again, I see less complaints about registering for classes from student-athletes, Honors students, or those who have a high amount of units.</p>
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<p>Yes, HS students have last priority when registering for classes - for obvious reasons, IMO.</p>
<p>My wife attended a few quarters there to get a professional certificate recently and she noticed that the classes that fill up first were late morning. First thing in the morning classes (7:30 or 8:00) were easier to get. She also took a great amount of evening classes (4:30 or 5:00ish, which sometimes ended pretty late) and had no problems getting those either. Overall, I think the most common theme I’ve heard from students there is that if you’re flexible and willing to bend to the times offered or available there, then you can get the classes you need to accomplish your goals.</p>
<p>OP, I didn’t apply to SJSU even though it’s the closest UC/CSU to me because of some of the concerns you mentioned and many many more about the administration and other things. I work down the block from campus so I see, hear, and get to talk to the students all the time. 9 times out of 10 the student is unhappy there, and most of the time their intended major is impacted which brings up a lot of inconveniences.</p>
<p>I did apply to SCU, but will also most likely not be able to afford it. If my other options don’t pan out in the next month, then I will plan to go the CC-transfer route.</p>
<p>I could not tell from your post if you completed the CSS and FAFSA docs. If so, you are eligible for FA consideration and remarkably, the university can come through–perhaps not with every penny, but with a lot. If you’ve not yet done those (arduous) forms, I must say it is well worth it because you may qualify for money even if you don’t think so. Speak with the FA office and ask to talk to an FA counselor before you decide on CC or SJSU. My son visited the campus again today and just fell in love all over again. His father said it was like a country club in the middle of Silicon Valley. ;)</p>