I’m looking for a university that best fits me. Here’s some basic info:
-Engineering major (Most likely Electrical)
-1100/1600 SAT, 3.5GPA
-Not too expensive
-Preferably diverse
-No religious affiliation
-Mostly liberal
-Not extremely rigerous; top ranking schools don’t matter, i’m just looking for a good university that fits me
-Mid-sized population(can vary)
I want it to be in a nice area, not too rural. I’d prefer it to have a lot of people with ‘unique’ personalities…Not a school with a bunch of hipsters, but more ‘weird’ or ‘unique’ people. I’m not too into athletics either.
Start with the Cal State system since you have 23 campuses to pick from in various parts of the state.
In regards to costs, the in-state tuition is around $7000K/year, so if you commute you can keep costs down. Do you have an $$ amount that you and your parents are willing to pay? “Not too expensive” is vague…
Are you in-state CA? What is your CSU GPA? https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/
Are you more interested in private or public?
Other posts by the OP indicate a California resident.
The following offer ABET accredited electrical engineering:
(CSUs)
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
California State University, Chico
California State University, Fresno
California State University, Fullerton
California State University, Long Beach
California State University, Los Angeles
California State University, Northridge
California State University, Sacramento
San Diego State University
San Francisco State University
San Jose State University
(UCs)
University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Davis
University of California, Irvine
University of California, Los Angeles
University of California, Riverside
University of California, San Diego
University of California, Santa Barbara
University of California, Santa Cruz
(Private)
California Baptist University
California Institute of Technology
Loyola Marymount University
Santa Clara University
University of the Pacific
University of San Diego
University of Southern California
@ucbalumnus gave you a very comprehensive list, so if you could give posters an idea of costs, then you narrow down the list along with schools which match your stats.
Based in your stats and interests, I’d suggest you tour a couple of CSUs - maybe Long Beach, Chico and SJSU and let your experience (and like/dislike list) help guide your search further - seeking out schools with X not Y.
All the CSUs use the same ap. All the UCs use the same ap - many privates use a Common ap. If you are submitting one into each system, an additional ap takes little effort. Apply to lots of schools and see what happens. Take your tours while they evaluate your ap.
Good luck
With a 3.5 getting into some of the more competitive schools like Cal Poly SLO, most of the UCs, SDSU will be on the reach side. How many schools total are you looking to apply to? You said you’d prefer to be in a nice area, so if I were you I’d definitely eliminate: University of the Pacific, Fresno State, Sac State, UC Davis at the very least. I don’t know about the locations of all the So-Cal CSUs but I’ve heard some of them aren’t super nice either. Chico is supposed to be a good school but it’s pretty out there in terms of location, so keep that in mind. If you want unique personalities I’d skip UCSB as well. The only personality there is party-kids (I’m overgeneralizing of course but if you have to eliminate some of the suggested schools anyways you might as well).
Caltech will be pretty unattainable they have a 9% acceptance rate, and California Baptist university is definitely a religious school. Loyola Marymount is also a religious school but it’s a good one, but there will be some theological requirements if that puts you off.
And as others said, if “not expensive” is important, and you’re in-state, then try to just look at CSUs and UCs. Make sure you check to see if your ideal major is impacted at any of the schools you’re looking at, that might make your choice easier.