What CSU school should I go to?

Thenowhereman42

Thenowhereman42

Active member
So I'm transferring out of community college, I wanted to go out of state originally, but its not going to work out that way. I can't apply to UC schools because I don't meet the minimum GPA requirements.
So which CSU schools are cool? I'm going to apply to local ones like Northridge and Longbeach, but I cant go anywhere I want. Any of the ones in NorCal cool? I was thinking about CSU East Bay, got some friends up there. Is Sacramento cool?
Close to skiing is bonus but anything in California is going to be at least fairly close to skiing I'm thinking, within a few hours at least.
 
I'm in the same situation but, I refuse to go to CSU east bay because it sucks hairy ballsack. Shitty location in Hayward.. nothing going on.. basically a glorified JC.

You do have one out of state option. If you have a 2.6 + gpa, and are a california transfer student, apply at Southern Oregon University. They give you residency there so its basically the same cost as a CSU anyway. 30 mins from skiing at Mt Ashland which is pretty chill. Another hour from Shasta Ski Park, which has a sick park and night skiing. I

Sac St. is my other option. Sac's got a lot of good programs though.. and its relatively close to tahoe. Its a bigger school in a bigger city, so theres more going on and jobs available and shit.

I'm basically choosing between Sac and Southern Oregon right now... I just need to visit both programs i'm looking at and get a really good feel for what i'd be getting myself into at each place... and see what jobs are available at both.

PM me for more info.
 
east bay is in the ghetto.

sacramento is pretty cool, i guess tahoe is nearby.

i have some friends who go to san jose state and really like it, but it's at least a 2-3 hour drive to ski at dodge ridge (which would be the closest probably.)

if you like to party a lot, and enjoy slutty girls, chico is the place for you!
 
Its about a 3.5-4 hr drive to tahoe from SJSU.. for what your gas is worth, you might as well just get a mammoth pass and fly there every weekend... To dodge ridge its still gonna take up to 3.5 hours..

Chico is just a shitshow haha. You wont want to wake up and go skiing :P

 
I can't go out of state because I have a General Ed transfer agreement with any school in California where my JC can certify I finished my firs two years of college, but if I go out of state then they just have to match up the credits the best they can and its really likely not that many would match up and I would have to retake some Gen Ed classes. I'll look in to Sac though. This chick today was telling me to go to Cal Poly San Louis Obispo.
I don't really care about going to school in the ghetto, but how is East Bay like a glorified JC? not many students live there? Small amount of people?
 
if i were you i would definitely try and head down to cal poly. it's a super sick school and the people there are super chill. it's pretty close to the ocean, and everyone i know there likes it a lot. not to mention it is definitely the best CSU in the system, and cheap for the education you get. what more could you ask for
 
Southern Oregon U, Western Oregon U, and Eastern Oregon U also carry the same transfer agreement - especially southern Oregon.

SOU actually is coined by some as the 24th CSU, because it shares such a directly identical transfer agreement. They have traditionally extended their agreement to JC's the far northern reaches of the state.. but since the CSU system is so impacted with students these days, they decided to extend that to all 109 California Junior/Community Colleges. (The other upside to them, is getting classes is less competitive, and they are more likely to not raise tuition rates, as the Oregon. It's very much an artsy liberal arts school though, so depending on your major it might not be right for you, but check it out.

Cal Poly is a great school, especially if you're into sciences and engineering and such.. but its far from anything else (especially skiing) and it's Very competitive to get into (probably within the hardest schools in the country to get into, because its inexpensive for a very high end education), so don't bank on getting in there unless you have a pretty good GPA.

CSU East Bay is the king of all commuter schools. I'd say at least 80% of the 12000 students or so that go there are commuter students, and many of them don't even attend the main campus in Hayward. There are also sub-campuses in Concord and Oakland. The school's pretty small to begin with, but with all the students divided up amongst 3 locations, it becomes incredibly small at each. Seeing as most students will be commuting, there isn't much of a traditional college presence, as most students don't live on campus at all. hence.. the 'glorified JC' feel... They do have pretty good programs and such, so you will be recieving a quality education, and it is very affordable.. but pretty damn boring campus-wise.

The upside is that you could potentially get off campus housing shares with Cal, and SFSU students who commute as well, so you shouldn't have much of a hard time finding roomies, but nevertheless... its boring as hell outside of going to classes.

 
Not to shit on anyone's parade, but Cal Poly def is not one of the hardest schools in the nation to get into, by transfer or by admission. If you want hard schools to get into, take a look at Stanford- 20-80 students get accepted each year only. Cal Poly is a good school for engineering. What do you want to do? But considering Cal Poly SLO does not use a holistic approach in admissions selection, your GPA would be at an disadvantage(since you say it's not eligible to be UC applicable).
To the OP: What is your major? Do you have an idea of where you actually want to go instead of transferring because you want to transfer? Have you looked into private schools? Private schools often have good financial aid, you just have to look into it. For example, at Harvard, the estimated total cost to attend Harvard is around 50k. But if you look into its financial aid plans, families who make less than 60k a year do not have to pay a single penny. And even if you don't fall into making less than 60k, Harvard, among the other ivies, have eliminated student loans for those who make less than 150k a year. A friend of mine at SJSU, this semester all the classes she signed up for, she got wait-listed on them... Private may not be such an expensive option if you actually look into its program.
To me, it seems as if you haven't really researched a school in depth enough to make a decision. Going by what other people think isn't going to cut it because you are not them. You need to do more research.
No one college is really as sucky as people say. It's ultimately what you make out of it.
As for "good" CSU schools, theres sdsu, sf state isn't bad for finance/business majors considering its proximity to the city(job opportunities+internships). Cal Poly def is one of the best CSUs though...But as a transfer student, I don't think you will find an appropriate answer here unless we know your major. It's not like freshman admissions because you can still decide what you want to study. As a transfer you must know what you want to do when you transfer, or you will ultimately regret your choice by choosing a school by word of mouth.
Take this with a grain of salt.
 
Well I'm just doing English creative writing option, which it seems like I could do at a lot of places. I didn't think Cal Poly would have a program for that, but one of my girls that goes there assures me that you can do non technical majors there and I could do English.
^Dingosean thanks for that explanation of the Oregon schools I had no idea that agreement existed. What are the schools like up there? Never been to Oregon, but I would be really interested in going to a school near Portland. When I thought I could easily go out of state I was going to look in to schools at Portland. Rainy weather, lots of good micro-breweries, and close (enough) to Mt. Hood sounds pretty good to me. Will look in to SOU.
Not going the private school option I aint got no money and no one is going to give me a scholarship because I'm white and not disadvantaged and I'm not a particularly good student either.
 
Like 2jz said, you should really check on the programs yourself. Sure your girl at Cal Poly assures you that you can do a non technical major, but do you really want to leave it at that? It's best if you put in some research into what you actually want to do. I'm also a transfer student; this'll be my 4th and last smstr at CC before I transfer in the fall as a junior. You can do english at ANY university, but look into how much money Cal Poly puts into the english department. Would you rather go to a school that puts a lot of funding into the english department or a school that has english at the bottom of its priority in terms of funding? They might seem the same since they both have english majors, but it's not.

Just because you are white does not mean you cannot get financial aid dude. Do you mean you are not dis-advantaged in terms of money? If so then you obviously can't be poor right? Most financial aid is not merit based(you don't need to have a particularly high gpa). Have you submitted your FAFSA?

You should really get rid of that prejudice against the private schools, sure the cost to attend may look intimidating, but majority of the students NEVER pay that amount. If you do, then the cost to attend wasn't a factor in the beginning anyways.

Whatever you do, make sure that you won't regret your decision. Spend the time and do some research. Did you know most people spend more time choosing out what kinda car they want over researching a particular school when applying? That's what a private university counselor told me and I was not surprised at all. I hate to say it but, a lot of CC students don't really look in depth enough into where they want to transfer.

Are you a junior transfer or what? You might want to look into schools that are near a major city. For example if you go to sf state, I would assume you may be able to get some work experience in the city for journalism or something related to your major compared to going to like cal poly SLO. Location does matter.
 
You can do non-technical majors at CalPoly, but the programs aren't exactly that huge.. Not to mention, most people that go there are in for a tech major, so making connections inside of your major will be limited, i'd imagine.

as for the Oregon Schools...

SOU is about half an hour north of the California/Oregon state line on I5. In Ashland, OR. It's not near Portland, but its close to Medford, which is decently sized. so its not like its completely on its own out there. It is on the opposite side of the state from Portland, yes.. but it has some sick skiing pretty close to it, and its a rad little town. Kinda nutty town too, because its where they have the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.. so all year long it seems people are just in this Shakespeare kinda mood about everything and there's always people in the parks fake swordfighting, and wearing Tudor era clothing haha.

If you're going for a creative writing degree check it out. Shit, Shakespeare basically invented creative writing, so with all that around you, i would imagine they have a decent program.

Eastern Oregon Univ. (EOU) is out in La Grande, OR. Which is... kiiiinda the middle of nowhere haha. It's basically a small town, 4 hours from Spokane, 4 hours from Portland, and 3 hours from Boise. But, if you're into small school/college town kinda stuff? eh.. it might be worth looking into. Not sure about their programs and such.. I applied there myself because they have a Film/Media Arts program that's kinda cool.. (i'm a film student) and they don't charge anyone out of state fees at all - even international students, so they could possibly be one of the most affordable schools ever. I just recently started even looking at them though, so i dont know a whole lot other than what i've gathered through small research. It has a small ski area near it called Anthony lakes, that is pretty small, but gets maadd dry idaho type powder - and a lot of it... other than that, its 4 hours from hood, and 3 hours or so from a lot of the idaho resorts in and around Boise.

I dont think Western Oregon Univ. has the same agreement, but if it does, its right next to Salem, OR. and pretty near portland. Portland State, is another option I suppose.

Also, you might want to look into the WUE option. Most of the schools in the west all have the western undergraduate exchange option, where you pay only 50% extra on the tuition that in-state students would pay... in some states, this option makes it only maybe a little bit more expensive than a CSU, as they save up to like $10,000 a year and definitely become morel affordable. You might want to check that out too... I found most of these schools i'm talking about by going on their website -http://wue.wiche.edu/

As for getting financial aid/scholarships and going to private school? You'd be surprised dude... Some schools these days are kinda freaking out about people not being able to afford them, and are offering sometimes ridiculous scholarships. I applied to Sierra Nevada College last year and got in.. they gave me a 10,000$ scholarship right off the bat for being a transfer student.. and if I had a 3.2 GPA (I only had a 2.9 at the time fawk), i'd get 6 grand more, just right off the bat. Thats 16 grand off the shelf, and it made tuition somewhere around 12k a year (CSU's would be around 9 or 10k)... and the sooner you apply (its absolutely free to apply there, so why the crap not?) and get your financial aid stuff to them, the sooner they'd be able to work out some dank deals for you it seems...

I'd imagine it would be the same at a lot of other private schools, as well... so maybe go talk to a counselor at your local college, tell them what you intend to major in, and see what other options you might have for both out of state, and private schools.

 
Wassup sean haha

I def agree with DingoSean about privates, they're more affordable than what the general public thinks. Maybe your school has those transfer fair days, where colleges come onto campus and let you know what they are all about. You should check out those transfer fairs.

But the main thing is to do researchhhhhhhh!
 
Lots of talk about Cal Poly so I'd figure I'd chime in since I go here :)
It's for sure a sick school, great education, super cheap (comparatively) and there is a pretty solid ski scene here. I've gotten like 40 days in this year and last year. But everyones comments about Poly so far in this topic have been pretty accurate.It's pretty much impossible to get in as a transfer if your GPA isn't retardedly high. Because of all the budget shit and Cuesta College (the local CC) and how many kids try to transfer from there, it's super competitive and they only take a small number of transfers each year. As freshmen though, It's almost harder to get in. They got something like 50k+ applications this year and the freshmen class is expected to be around 2500-3000 students.
The school is good, the people are sick, and the location is unreal. So much to do and a great campus vibe.
 
I have lived in chico and gone to chico state for 6 years this spring (I'm a grad student now). It is a pretty cool little town. There are a lot of crazy parties, and lots of bars and cheap drinks. It is also a really community-driven community (?). There is a lot of mountain biking, fishing, hiking stuff around here. Tahoe is like 2.5 hours (to boreal) and shasta is a little less. I would rather live in Chico than sac, cause sac is just kind of a shithole.

When I was an undergraduate I used to go skiing like 3x a week, but now its like 1-2. I also blew my knee this year so that has cut down on it severely. There are lots of people that go to tahoe on weekends and weekdays that you could catch rides with. Hook up with the Chico Snow Club for people that ride. Because it is a valley town it is largely gayper snowboarders that think they are the shit.

There are some cool people here though.
 
Haha. You could go to Fresno State. After all, Fresno is California's closest major city to a ski area. About 1:10 from the campus to Sierra Summit, or what is becoming China Peak.
 
as a CSU, Sacramento sounds better because you have 18 places in tahoe to ski, except just 1. I'd trade the 30-40 extra minutes it takes for more options, and more gnar. not to mention it isnt quite as bad as Fresno IMO
 
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is technically CSU system, but it's hard to get into. Not close to skiing, but by the beard of Zeus it's fun.
 
Oh hell yeah. Sacramento is a far better place to be than Fresno. You're going to get more choice, better parks, and better terrain at some resorts in Tahoe. Don't come to Fresno State, go Sac State, definitely the best option.
 
unless fresno just happens to have a much better option or program in what he's studying that is, go somewhere else so you dont become a grape out there in the depths of the valley lol.
 
I went to Cal Poly Pomona. It is under an hour from LA and orange county beaches and an hour from Mt High. It is a highly respected school. When I started it was a commuter school but now they are working to change that. We also just won the division 2 national basketball championship. Go Broncos.
 
I'm at a cal poly slo and it is very difficult to ski unless you are apart of the ski club who are surprisingly consistent about going on really fun trips. On the contrary I surf almost everyday (although lately the wind gets on it pretty early, typical spring conditions), so there's definitely a trade off.

The school is awesome, great campus and community, well respected university. My only complaint is the difficulty getting classes and graduating on time, although this is a common theme throughout UC's and CSU's given the states budget complications. But if you like to be outdoors and have access to insane mountain bike riding, relatively uncrowded surf, no traffic, a lot of girls, and a good education you can't beat cal poly.
 
woah there's someone else from cal poly on NS??? that skis? wtf
and yea, I've been able to get around 40 days in living here mostly because of the ski club.
 
Why does everyone keep acting like cal poly is some elite school? It's a CSU, you need 1200 on the SATs to get in, this isn't tough. And why would you go there for an english major? And what are you going to do with an english major? Wait tables? SLO is probably the further place in CA from a ski resort, it's 4 hours to the shittiest closest mountain and 6.5 to tahoe/mammoth. You really won't be able to ski much and everyone there is a gaper. The school has a very high concentration of bros and has a pretty big frat scene, but these two go hand in hand, so it isn't unexpected.
 
Its not really a CSU like the other CSU's... CPP and CPSLO both kinda think theyre UC's... and they can do that because of the massive influx of students that want to go there... They are massivley impacted.

 
Ok, go get a 1200 on your SAT and try to get in there for engineering. They have an acceptance rate in the 30% range, for ALL majors. I would consider it more 'elite' than a few UC's.
 
i'd say there's at least a couple majors at Davis and Merced... maybe even Riverside that are nowhere near as hard to get into as some programs at Poly..
 
three of my good friends go there. and they're super nice, chill, non dairy-bro people. fuck you.
 
Ok. Well since you use the term "kid" fairly loosely, I'm gonna say that pretty much every hot chick there is not a douche.

 
Maybe not a douche...

but I'll chime in that at least 3 or 4 of them are total bitches...

NOT THE POINT THOUGH...
 
OK I'm putting my two cents in on this thread.. because it is relevant for me!
I live in Portland at the moment, just finished up my AA at Portland CC, been skiing at Hood for the past few years.. but I grew up in California.. In Sacramento.. learned to ski at Tahoe.. Anyways.. although PDX is legit, I am moving back to Sacramento.. because TAHOE IS LEGIT.. and Sacramento.. though in some respects is a totally awful place on this planet... it is also not that bad.. all things considered (and compared to East Bay.. its wayyyyy better).
Anyways.. I'm just establishing residency at the moment.. and after awhile I plan to transfer. which will pretty much put me in the same boat as you are in.. trying to figure out which CSU to go to.. we'll see if I decide on CSUS... but anyways.. what I am getting at is that Sacramento is actually kinda rad... right in between Tahoe and SF.. lots of fun things in either directions.... Other cool things about Sac.. the city itself is actually pretty small and kinda pleasant, the outskirts blow, streets are wide and flat and fun to ride bikes on, its warm (but way to hot in summer not gonna lie), lots of trees, non profit dispensaries, pretty low key police, chill river. and SOU... mmm Mt. Ashland is only open on weekends at the moment.. I'm sure Shasta is pretty rad.. but I don't know how super sick Mt. Ashland really is. To be honest I really don't know.. but Ashland is definitely more small town and kinda boring.. their big event s the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Anyways... I hoped that helped you both!
 
You're probably right about the outskirts thing, but I live in the suburbs of Sac. (Greenhaven/Pocket Area and South Land Park. I'm not from Granite Bay, Folsom, Roseville, Elk Grove, etc., I actually live IN Sacramento.)

Growing up here is pretty damn sweet, but moving here later in life, I would try to be as close to downtown as possible, so you make a very good point.
 
I live in downtown Sacramento and i can't wait to leave. Yeah it has its good skate spots and second Saturday but other than that it sucks, your an hour an 15 from the closest mountain(boreal) and your close to two hours from the ocean. I don't understand why you would move back here, just go live in tahoe where you got the lake, snow, casino's and mountain biking.
 
She's trying to go back to school... Sacramento and Reno are the only cities near tahoe with legit full sized public universities... That's why.
 


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The Balloon Boy has nothing on our spaceship yo.
 
Cal Poly Pomona is also technically CSU system, and only 1hr from local mountain skiing, 5hr from Mammoth.
After graduating from the CSU system at Cal Poly and knowing what kind of serious world of hurt it's in, you're much better off going out of state if you can. Programs throughout CSU and UC schools are being cut and fees are being hiked.
If you're into science/engineering - Cal Poly Pomona/SLO would be a good choice because those programs aren't hurting.
 
Going out of state isnt going to make much of a difference laura... programs are being cut and fees are going up elsewhere too - We're just bitching about it more haha.

 
Dunno man, I got accepted to UENM for grad school hands down with them offering to help pay and I'm only 5hrs from epic skiing in CO & 4hrs from Taos and it's much cheaper living there as well. Living in CA is so goddamn expensive.
 
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