My daughter MIGHT be interested in majoring in chemistry in a couple of years. Her #1 amongst the CSU’s is Monterey Bay, which does not offer a straight chemistry major. She definitely wants a small school (under 10k) and would probably only consider Merced amongst the UC’s.
Any thoughts on chemistry at the small CSU’s such as Channel Islands, Sonoma, Humboldt, Stanislaus, or Bakersfield?
Tour, Tour, Tour… take the official guided campus tour on a day school is in session and be sure to arrive early and lollygag after - at least one meal on campus so you can pick the brain of current students. The students don’t mind - just walk up and ask - I am thinking about coming here, how do you like it? What do you love, what do you hate? etc. It is the best way to get a feel for what it is really like on campus.
Monterrey is a rapidly changing campus. Student count is on the rise and there is a ton of fresh development near campus. It will look different 2 years from now than it does today. Still, visit the school, photos and looking at a map don’t accurately depict the campus. Like Channel Island, it is a re purposed facility and there are remnants of its predecessor. Not a judgement - just visit while school is in session before falling in love with the idea of going to school in Monterrey.
Sonoma and Humboldt are, by far. more residential - meaning they have a % of students living on and near campus and a built in feel of community. Sonoma has outstanding nursing and credential programs - those students are segregated from the rest of the student body so, to a Chemistry student, it will feel smaller than the 8500 student headline. It also sways the male/female mix of the student body (37% male) They also have a very well regarded music and English programs.
Humboldt is very eclectic - a love it or hate it proposition. A campus visit is vital with this one too.
Take a look at Chico too, at 16k undergrads, it is a manageable size, highly residential. They have an honors program which your daughter may qualify for.
There’s a program called WUE which gives discounted OOS tuition at many Western Public schools. Oregon Inst of Tech is a small STEM focused school not far from the CA boarder. Colorado School of Mines is another excellent STEM focused participant.
Here’s a full list of schools - note that not all programs are available for all schools on the list
http://wue.wiche.edu/search_results.jsp?searchType=all
My oldest son is about to graduate from Chico and my youngest is a Freshman at Ft Lewis, a small liberal arts college in Durango Colorado (and WUE participant)
Why is she interested in something under 10k students?
what are her stats so far?
@NCalRent, thank you for the information. Since my son is currently a freshman at Cal Poly SLO, my daughter has benefited from his college selection experience. We have toured or visited UC Merced, UC Davis, CP SLO, CPP, Chico, Monterey Bay, Sonoma, Fresno, Oregon, Oregon State, Willamette, Portland State, Western and Southern Oregon, and our local Sac State. I’m not opposed to the WUE, but both kids are committed to the idea of California for at least their undergrad years. From a physical campus perspective she has always felt more comfortable with the size being smaller. It’s not really an anxiety thing, but she knows herself well enough to know that she would not thrive on a large and/or urban campus.
I attended both Chico and Sonoma State as an English major, so I am familiar with the quality and environment of both schools. Sonoma was a family favorite when we visited (except for my son). My daughter really liked the environment and many of the programs our guide talked about.
If she is like me (which she is) Chico will be TOO social. Not in a bad way, but it was a constant (and fun) distraction. I thrived there socially, but I thrived academically at SSU. I always tell my kids that all of my college stories come from Chico, but my degree comes from SSU. No knock on Chico. My sister, sister-in-law, and multiple friends got a great education there, mostly because they were more focused than I was.
Stats-wise, she is a solid, if unspectacular student who grinds out mostly A’s with some B’s. She takes the PSAT this year, so we’ll have those stats later on. So far, she has similar stats to my son, so I’m confident she will have her pick of 15-20 CSU’s and half of the UC’s. However, some schools, like Cal Poly, will be a much tougher entry as a chemistry major than as an English major like my son.
After doing a little research on my own question, and because my wife and I are big believers in the CSU system, I’m thinking we need to make the drive to Humboldt and take a quick run to Stanislaus. Channel Islands can easily get a visit if we extend a trip to SLO, so that’s doable. She does have friends that are at Fullerton, East Bay, and San Diego Sate, so we will visit some of the bigger schools just because.
Thanks again for all the info.
Humboldt is one of the few CSUs (with Chico and SLO) that has a real “college town” feel. Also the closest thing in California to a Pacific Northwest vibe. However, the remote, foggy, hippie conditions aren’t a fit for everyone.
Stan State enrollment tilts strongly female (even more than Sonoma). I know a guy who says that Turlock is “up and coming” as a college town. It may be moving in that direction, but I don’t think it’s there yet.
Channel Islands was a former state mental hospital that was deliberately located in an isolated area. There is no “college town” atmosphere because there is no town; there is literally nothing within walking distance of the campus except for rocks and a few scattered farm houses. Also tilts strongly female in enrollment.
@Corbett, thanks for the input. Your description of Channel Islands wouldn’t scare her off. It sounds a little like Monterey Bay. My son has a friend there, so we’ll check in with him at Winter break.
I’m not sure she cares much about a “college town” vibe, really. She knows what SLO is like first-hand and is perfectly fine NOT going there. Any insight on the actually chemistry/science department at any of the schools?
@amcdad sounds like we are neighbors - we live in Folsom. My wife and I are Sac State grads.
Chico is academically more challenging than it used to be - I was shocked a few years ago to learn they were one of the more selective CSUs, Their honors program (also offered at several other CSUs) can challenge even a gifted student. There’s no question Chico has a lot of social distractions but, you can find distractions aplenty on any college campus. I know the families of a couple of kids who got sidetracked by pot at Sonoma and stopped showing up for class, another who stopped Boise State after a semester, a couple who had trouble with alcohol at SDSU, SBCC and several others who returned after a semester or 2 with similar stories. Distractions are a part of life and, as a grown up, she’ll have to manage them, I wouldn’t let that stand in the way of her applying to Chico - now if she doesn’t want to go after being admitted cause she loves Sonoma, Merced or Monterey, different story.
I know Sac, CSULB and several other CSUs also have honors programs, they often include honors housing, a more interesting GE path, smaller core GE classes with more interested students and priority reg. With a 3.6ish GPA, she won’t have any trouble qualifying for most of them.
One negative about smaller schools, you don’t have the breadth of majors, classes. clubs, programs you’ll find at a larger schools. On campus activities, special interest clubs, corporate recruiting, etc seem to drop off as you drop below 15k students. Obviously that can be offset by a great fit.
It sounds like you’ve got a good handle on your list. It’s probably worth a drive up to Humboldt - she’ll love it or hate it immediately. Not sure I’d stop at Stanislaus unless you are passing through. UOP has a beautiful campus and some solid science programs, as do Loyola Marymont, USD and St Marys. Most will aggressively subsidize a well qualified female STEM applicant.
Reading the schools you are looking at I thought of a program at a small CA private located just north of LA, Cal Lutheran (non-religious ok, cost around 54K). They will match the price of the UCs if you are accepted to any of a list of 6 UCs (more info on their website, mid-tier UCs). It is a very intimate university w/a good reputation and has a chem major (close to Channel Islands in the city of Thousand Oaks).
@NCalRent, we are in Elk Grove, so we are almost neighbors on a national website like this.
I forgot to mention we visited UOP. We’ve known too many kids who went there and came right back. Just too close and too easy to bail on. If she wanted to stay local, we would go with Sac State (as you know, a good school and my wife is also an alum). We’ll have to check out the other small privates a little more. My son had no interest, but my daughter kind of liked Willamette.
I see your points on the small school thing. As a matter of fact, the lack of a full range of majors at CSUMB is what kicked off this thread. As for distractions, she will be better than me at managing them, but she also likes what she likes. That’s really one of the things I like about a big state university system like we have here–there is something for every taste. Even as of right now, I feel good about all this because I know she has expressed a serious interest in CSUMB, UC Merced, and SSU in that order. Those are her top choices AND all three would be “safety” schools projecting out two years, so it could be a whole lot worse. If she stays on track, she’ll have options.
She has a couple of years to really sort it out, but she has been amazingly consistent in her preferences during her brother’s visits. She’ll be more proactive than her brother on exploring her options. I’m just getting a head start on road trip planning with a little cost/benefit analysis on where to visit.
@1andonly, thank you. I like to clump school visits, so that’s a nice pairing with CSUCI.
If you are interested in taking a look at a third college, Pepperdine would also be w/in a short drive from Channel Islands (all north of LA, so no traffic). Even if you are not interested in attending, it is a beautiful drive and worth a visit.
As noted by the OP, CSUMB has no chemistry major, just a minor. No physics either, not even as a minor. No engineering. Perhaps not one of the strongest CSUs in terms of STEM focus.
CSUCI does have a chemistry major, including a biochemistry option. Five tenure-track faculty, which doesn’t seem like a lot. May be the only CSU chemistry program that is not listed as “approved” by the American Chemical Society.
Stan State, Sonoma and Humboldt all have larger (8-9 tenure-track faculty) chemistry depts, with ACS approval. These schools appear to have significantly more STEM options overall, particularly Sonoma and Humboldt, which have small engineering programs.
Forgot Bakersfield, they are also similar.
None of these small CSUs have graduate-level chemistry programs (which is unsurprising).
@Corbett, that’s great info. Much appreciated. I think she would love being a student in a small department even though it creates some limitations. Of course, there are small departments on large campuses, so geography is not everything.
We’ll see as she gets closer to finishing high school whether geography or major holds more sway. Her original attraction to CSUMB was marine biology, which is a good fit. However, he love of the school remained after her love of biology was challenged. She’s going to have to think long and hard about this. It’s tough to just switch majors at small schools simply because the options are limited.