Shopping for college

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Lets do this thing
Posts: 117
Joined: Sun Feb 09, 2014 9:11 am

Re: Shopping for college

Post by Lets do this thing »

Good advice here but I would add that the intended major may be an important factor. My son went state (which was science oriented) and it was a bad match. It was inexpensive for us but a poor fit and overall a mistake.
Topic Author
manatee2005
Posts: 2136
Joined: Wed Dec 18, 2019 8:17 pm

Re: Shopping for college

Post by manatee2005 »

texasdiver wrote: Tue Dec 15, 2020 11:39 am
manatee2005 wrote: Tue Dec 15, 2020 4:44 am
IMO wrote: Tue Dec 15, 2020 1:26 am Arizona is part of WUE and seems to offer most of its major universities up for attendance. CA is pretty crappy at what they bring to the table for WUE.

I always think just the tuition should be discused. Housing is housing, a kid not going to college is still going pay housing/living expenses. Right now just grocery store food for kid comes in at $350/month or $4200/yr. I dont think thats a fair comparison to having a college meal plan which is more like buying fast food prepared for them at every meal.

Many kids (and parents) choose to not to try to get into CA state or UC school that is reasonably within commuting distance from their home. Choose is the operative word. Very few places in CA dont have a UC or state school nearby. I get it, the college experience...

We dont hear people complain about how their 18 to 22 yr old who took a blue collar job and how they have to pay for room and board for those 4 yrs.

BUT I GET IT, I am shopping for colleges for a kid now. Yeah housing cost matter, but part of me feels "well they'd have to pay for housing in the real world if they weren't in college." And then I ask how much is just the tuition and fees part? For many instate tuition rates, its about what daycare was when they were a kid 17 yrs ago (before adjusting that for inflation).

Edit: just looked up random Cal State tuition $7000 and UC $13000 in state . And out of curiosty 17 yrs ago that would be $5000 and $9000 back then which would be in line with our daycare then in a MCOL area at that time.

Even more intersting if I did the math right, that adjusts back down to $346/month and $500/month tuition rates when I was back in those particular brands of college. If thats correct, doesnt make for great click bait on in-state tuition and the issues with college tuition costs nowadays. Had to check my math, is that right ? Now private schools, that can be a different topic.
My biggest problem with UCs is how they don’t offer big majors in every location. My son is going for business and a lot of UC campuses don’t even have a business major. Only Berkeley, Irvine and Riverside do. This is the most populous state in the country and only three campuses offer business majors. Then you have Berkeley, UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, UC San Diego, UC Irvine that are almost impossible to get in and have high rejection rates. Riverside, Santa Cruz and Merced aren’t regarded as high quality compared to those previous ones. And riverside and Merced campuses are terrible.
Then you have cal states which are mostly a joke. Who wants to go to Cal state Bakersfield??
Cal poly SLO and Cal Poly Pomona are good ones but also not easy to get into even though they are part of cal state system.
And even San Diego state which 20 years ago would accept anyone who knew how to spell fish taco, is all of a sudden very selective because of so much interest in California schools.
Sorry for being negative, my son has went through California school system from K to 12 and I feel like there’s no good business program for him in the largest state in the Union. We’re stuck with out of state or private schools.
Look at WUE for University of Utah, Arizona State, and Arizona would be my suggestion.
We did but there are no majors that are covered. It’s a scam.
Pdxnative
Posts: 981
Joined: Sat Nov 07, 2015 1:17 pm

Re: Shopping for college

Post by Pdxnative »

I heard Oregon State was joining WUE in fall of 21. Not sure of restrictions on majors. Decent school. Pretty low cost of living in that area. Might be worth a look for some students.
Topic Author
manatee2005
Posts: 2136
Joined: Wed Dec 18, 2019 8:17 pm

Re: Shopping for college

Post by manatee2005 »

Pdxnative wrote: Tue Dec 15, 2020 6:49 pm I heard Oregon State was joining WUE in fall of 21. Not sure of restrictions on majors. Decent school. Pretty low cost of living in that area. Might be worth a look for some students.
WUE is great if the school allows that major to be eligible to WUE. Not sure what's the point of WUE when most of the good majors are not eligible.
Pdxnative
Posts: 981
Joined: Sat Nov 07, 2015 1:17 pm

Re: Shopping for college

Post by Pdxnative »

manatee2005 wrote: Wed Dec 16, 2020 3:09 am
Pdxnative wrote: Tue Dec 15, 2020 6:49 pm I heard Oregon State was joining WUE in fall of 21. Not sure of restrictions on majors. Decent school. Pretty low cost of living in that area. Might be worth a look for some students.
WUE is great if the school allows that major to be eligible to WUE. Not sure what's the point of WUE when most of the good majors are not eligible.
It looks like most majors at Oregon State are eligible though, unless the WUE site isn’t accurate?
Topic Author
manatee2005
Posts: 2136
Joined: Wed Dec 18, 2019 8:17 pm

Re: Shopping for college

Post by manatee2005 »

Pdxnative wrote: Wed Dec 16, 2020 10:49 am
manatee2005 wrote: Wed Dec 16, 2020 3:09 am
Pdxnative wrote: Tue Dec 15, 2020 6:49 pm I heard Oregon State was joining WUE in fall of 21. Not sure of restrictions on majors. Decent school. Pretty low cost of living in that area. Might be worth a look for some students.
WUE is great if the school allows that major to be eligible to WUE. Not sure what's the point of WUE when most of the good majors are not eligible.
It looks like most majors at Oregon State are eligible though, unless the WUE site isn’t accurate?
I think you have to go to the college website. They might not agree to get lower tuition for a major that they can fill up anyways at a higher price. Colleges are a business after all.
IMO
Posts: 1569
Joined: Fri May 05, 2017 6:01 pm

Re: Shopping for college

Post by IMO »

manatee2005 wrote: Tue Dec 15, 2020 4:44 am
IMO wrote: Tue Dec 15, 2020 1:26 am Arizona is part of WUE and seems to offer most of its major universities up for attendance. CA is pretty crappy at what they bring to the table for WUE.


Many kids (and parents) choose to not to try to get into CA state or UC school that is reasonably within commuting distance from their home. Choose is the operative word. Very few places in CA dont have a UC or state school nearby. I get it, the college expetience.

My biggest problem with UCs is how they don’t offer big majors in every location. My son is going for business and a lot of UC campuses don’t even have a business major. Only Berkeley, Irvine and Riverside do. This is the most populous state in the country and only three campuses offer business majors. Then you have Berkeley, UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, UC San Diego, UC Irvine that are almost impossible to get in and have high rejection rates. Riverside, Santa Cruz and Merced aren’t regarded as high quality compared to those previous ones. And riverside and Merced campuses are terrible.
Then you have cal states which are mostly a joke. Who wants to go to Cal state Bakersfield??
Cal poly SLO and Cal Poly Pomona are good ones but also not easy to get into even though they are part of cal state system.
And even San Diego state which 20 years ago would accept anyone who knew how to spell fish taco, is all of a sudden very selective because of so much interest in California schools.
Sorry for being negative, my son has went through California school system from K to 12 and I feel like there’s no good business program for him in the largest state in the Union. We’re stuck with out of state or private schools.
I graduated from one of the top UC rated schools.

Are you concerned for your son about:
a) Quality of the actual education of UC vs CalState?
b) College "experience"
c) "Reputation" of the degree?

While I'm only an "n" of 1, I had the experience to attend 1 CalState befire transferring snd finishing at a UC school and then another year at another Calstate. I cared a great deal about my classes and what was learned in each class and was concerned that the actual knowledge would be necessary as part of my career path.

While the Calstates did not have the reputation of a UC, they provided me a much better actual learning experience. Many UC classes were in huge auditoriums and labs were taught by graduate students. Even some of my actual classes were taught by graduate students. It wasnt easy to have good direct time with the UC professors.

The Calstates had typically normal sized classes, were taught directly by the professors, and allowed easy and regular access to professors as needed.

I say this fwiw on your son and your concern.

Like many things, its what you personally put into your classes for what you get out of it in many situations.

I had always felt, and still do, that graduate schools are the real area of concern for many areas of concern. I suppose it can matter different amounts with undergraduate depending on the specific major.

One can always consider transferring. I also was told that there is some program in CA that lets one more direct acceptance into a UC if one goes via community college.

Whats the saying, better to be a big fish at a smaller school ....

It was never a detriment to my career path, and perhaps it made made me stand out in a sense. Certainly was something to discuss on interviews.

Had a sibling go straight through at a highly rated UC. From a career perspective, while sibling is very successful, I would rank my education and career success higher, especially if ranking it academically.

Had some friends go to Cal Poly Pomona. They seemed it enjoy it, but not sure how much of the "experience" would be all that different than the next closet Cal State 30 miles down the road (and knew people who went there).

Not sure if any of those thoughts are of any personal help.
IMO
Posts: 1569
Joined: Fri May 05, 2017 6:01 pm

Re: Shopping for college

Post by IMO »

IMO wrote: Wed Dec 16, 2020 10:56 pm
manatee2005 wrote: Tue Dec 15, 2020 4:44 am
IMO wrote: Tue Dec 15, 2020 1:26 am Arizona is part of WUE and seems to offer most of its major universities up for attendance. CA is pretty crappy at what they bring to the table for WUE.


Many kids (and parents) choose to not to try to get into CA state or UC school that is reasonably within commuting distance from their home. Choose is the operative word. Very few places in CA dont have a UC or state school nearby. I get it, the college expetience.

My biggest problem with UCs is how they don’t offer big majors in every location. My son is going for business and a lot of UC campuses don’t even have a business major. Only Berkeley, Irvine and Riverside do. This is the most populous state in the country and only three campuses offer business majors. Then you have Berkeley, UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, UC San Diego, UC Irvine that are almost impossible to get in and have high rejection rates. Riverside, Santa Cruz and Merced aren’t regarded as high quality compared to those previous ones. And riverside and Merced campuses are terrible.
Then you have cal states which are mostly a joke. Who wants to go to Cal state Bakersfield??
Cal poly SLO and Cal Poly Pomona are good ones but also not easy to get into even though they are part of cal state system.
And even San Diego state which 20 years ago would accept anyone who knew how to spell fish taco, is all of a sudden very selective because of so much interest in California schools.
Sorry for being negative, my son has went through California school system from K to 12 and I feel like there’s no good business program for him in the largest state in the Union. We’re stuck with out of state or private schools.
I graduated from one of the top UC rated schools.

Are you concerned for your son about:
a) Quality of the actual education of UC vs CalState?
b) College "experience"
c) "Reputation" of the degree?

While I'm only an "n" of 1, I had the experience to attend 1 CalState befire transferring snd finishing at a UC school and then another year at another Calstate. I cared a great deal about my classes and what was learned in each class and was concerned that the actual knowledge would be necessary as part of my career path.

While the Calstates did not have the reputation of a UC, they provided me a much better actual learning experience. Many UC classes were in huge auditoriums and labs were taught by graduate students. Even some of my actual classes were taught by graduate students. It wasnt easy to have good direct time with the UC professors.

The Calstates had typically normal sized classes, were taught directly by the professors, and allowed easy and regular access to professors as needed.

I say this fwiw on your son and your concern.

Like many things, its what you personally put into your classes for what you get out of it in many situations.

I had always felt, and still do, that graduate schools are the real area of concern for many areas of majors/career paths. I suppose it can matter different amounts with undergraduate depending on the specific major.

One can always consider transferring. I also was told that there is some program in CA that lets one more direct acceptance into a UC if one goes via community college.

Whats the saying, better to be a big fish at a smaller school ....

It was never a detriment to my career path, and perhaps it made made me stand out in a sense. Certainly was something to discuss on interviews.

Had a sibling go straight through at a highly rated UC. From a career perspective, while sibling is very successful, I would rank my education and career success higher, especially if ranking it academically.

Had some friends go to Cal Poly Pomona. They seemed it enjoy it, but not sure how much of the "experience" would be all that different than the next closet Cal State 30 miles down the road (and knew people who went there).

Not sure if any of those thoughts are of any personal help.
[/quote]
DoubleComma
Posts: 2066
Joined: Sun Aug 23, 2020 2:23 pm

Re: Shopping for college

Post by DoubleComma »

IMO wrote: Tue Dec 15, 2020 1:26 am
Edit: just looked up random Cal State tuition $7000 and UC $13000 in state . And out of curiosty 17 yrs ago that would be $5000 and $9000 back then which would be in line with our daycare then in a MCOL area at that time.
I attended a California State University 22 years ago, so a couple more than 17, but as a data point my tuition and fees were $1030 semester.

I attended school all in for $7000 year + min wage part time job for pocket money. I might have grossed $50-$80 week.
DoubleComma
Posts: 2066
Joined: Sun Aug 23, 2020 2:23 pm

Re: Shopping for college

Post by DoubleComma »

manatee2005 wrote: Tue Dec 15, 2020 4:44 am
IMO wrote: Tue Dec 15, 2020 1:26 am Arizona is part of WUE and seems to offer most of its major universities up for attendance. CA is pretty crappy at what they bring to the table for WUE.

I always think just the tuition should be discused. Housing is housing, a kid not going to college is still going pay housing/living expenses. Right now just grocery store food for kid comes in at $350/month or $4200/yr. I dont think thats a fair comparison to having a college meal plan which is more like buying fast food prepared for them at every meal.

Many kids (and parents) choose to not to try to get into CA state or UC school that is reasonably within commuting distance from their home. Choose is the operative word. Very few places in CA dont have a UC or state school nearby. I get it, the college experience...

We dont hear people complain about how their 18 to 22 yr old who took a blue collar job and how they have to pay for room and board for those 4 yrs.

BUT I GET IT, I am shopping for colleges for a kid now. Yeah housing cost matter, but part of me feels "well they'd have to pay for housing in the real world if they weren't in college." And then I ask how much is just the tuition and fees part? For many instate tuition rates, its about what daycare was when they were a kid 17 yrs ago (before adjusting that for inflation).

Edit: just looked up random Cal State tuition $7000 and UC $13000 in state . And out of curiosty 17 yrs ago that would be $5000 and $9000 back then which would be in line with our daycare then in a MCOL area at that time.

Even more intersting if I did the math right, that adjusts back down to $346/month and $500/month tuition rates when I was back in those particular brands of college. If thats correct, doesnt make for great click bait on in-state tuition and the issues with college tuition costs nowadays. Had to check my math, is that right ? Now private schools, that can be a different topic.
My biggest problem with UCs is how they don’t offer big majors in every location. My son is going for business and a lot of UC campuses don’t even have a business major. Only Berkeley, Irvine and Riverside do. This is the most populous state in the country and only three campuses offer business majors. Then you have Berkeley, UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, UC San Diego, UC Irvine that are almost impossible to get in and have high rejection rates. Riverside, Santa Cruz and Merced aren’t regarded as high quality compared to those previous ones. And riverside and Merced campuses are terrible.
Then you have cal states which are mostly a joke. Who wants to go to Cal state Bakersfield??
Cal poly SLO and Cal Poly Pomona are good ones but also not easy to get into even though they are part of cal state system.
And even San Diego state which 20 years ago would accept anyone who knew how to spell fish taco, is all of a sudden very selective because of so much interest in California schools.
Sorry for being negative, my son has went through California school system from K to 12 and I feel like there’s no good business program for him in the largest state in the Union. We’re stuck with out of state or private schools.
Correct, but they do have plenty of reasonable equivalent alternatives. UCLA doesn’t have Business Admin; but it certainly has Economics and Finance. I believe the same at UCSB. It wouldn’t make sense for every CSU and UC to all offer the same majors. Course of study should be one of the primary school choice criteria; not proximity to the beach or beauty of the campus.

I mentioned I went to a CSU; I passed on UCLA, CalPoly and UCSB because of major choice. I tell my kids that now and they think I’m crazy since they are keenly aware of how difficult these schools are to get into in today’s world; but in the late 90s when I was in college it certainly wasn’t the same. I was good student, not great; 3.7 gpa and 1120 SAT (1600 Pt scale at that time) and was accepted to every school I applied to but Stanford (didn’t apply to any ivy leagues). Now a days it sounds like a those numbers put you on a fast track to no where
Topic Author
manatee2005
Posts: 2136
Joined: Wed Dec 18, 2019 8:17 pm

Re: Shopping for college

Post by manatee2005 »

DoubleComma wrote: Wed Dec 16, 2020 11:54 pm
manatee2005 wrote: Tue Dec 15, 2020 4:44 am
IMO wrote: Tue Dec 15, 2020 1:26 am Arizona is part of WUE and seems to offer most of its major universities up for attendance. CA is pretty crappy at what they bring to the table for WUE.

I always think just the tuition should be discused. Housing is housing, a kid not going to college is still going pay housing/living expenses. Right now just grocery store food for kid comes in at $350/month or $4200/yr. I dont think thats a fair comparison to having a college meal plan which is more like buying fast food prepared for them at every meal.

Many kids (and parents) choose to not to try to get into CA state or UC school that is reasonably within commuting distance from their home. Choose is the operative word. Very few places in CA dont have a UC or state school nearby. I get it, the college experience...

We dont hear people complain about how their 18 to 22 yr old who took a blue collar job and how they have to pay for room and board for those 4 yrs.

BUT I GET IT, I am shopping for colleges for a kid now. Yeah housing cost matter, but part of me feels "well they'd have to pay for housing in the real world if they weren't in college." And then I ask how much is just the tuition and fees part? For many instate tuition rates, its about what daycare was when they were a kid 17 yrs ago (before adjusting that for inflation).

Edit: just looked up random Cal State tuition $7000 and UC $13000 in state . And out of curiosty 17 yrs ago that would be $5000 and $9000 back then which would be in line with our daycare then in a MCOL area at that time.

Even more intersting if I did the math right, that adjusts back down to $346/month and $500/month tuition rates when I was back in those particular brands of college. If thats correct, doesnt make for great click bait on in-state tuition and the issues with college tuition costs nowadays. Had to check my math, is that right ? Now private schools, that can be a different topic.
My biggest problem with UCs is how they don’t offer big majors in every location. My son is going for business and a lot of UC campuses don’t even have a business major. Only Berkeley, Irvine and Riverside do. This is the most populous state in the country and only three campuses offer business majors. Then you have Berkeley, UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, UC San Diego, UC Irvine that are almost impossible to get in and have high rejection rates. Riverside, Santa Cruz and Merced aren’t regarded as high quality compared to those previous ones. And riverside and Merced campuses are terrible.
Then you have cal states which are mostly a joke. Who wants to go to Cal state Bakersfield??
Cal poly SLO and Cal Poly Pomona are good ones but also not easy to get into even though they are part of cal state system.
And even San Diego state which 20 years ago would accept anyone who knew how to spell fish taco, is all of a sudden very selective because of so much interest in California schools.
Sorry for being negative, my son has went through California school system from K to 12 and I feel like there’s no good business program for him in the largest state in the Union. We’re stuck with out of state or private schools.
Correct, but they do have plenty of reasonable equivalent alternatives. UCLA doesn’t have Business Admin; but it certainly has Economics and Finance. I believe the same at UCSB. It wouldn’t make sense for every CSU and UC to all offer the same majors. Course of study should be one of the primary school choice criteria; not proximity to the beach or beauty of the campus.

I mentioned I went to a CSU; I passed on UCLA, CalPoly and UCSB because of major choice. I tell my kids that now and they think I’m crazy since they are keenly aware of how difficult these schools are to get into in today’s world; but in the late 90s when I was in college it certainly wasn’t the same. I was good student, not great; 3.7 gpa and 1120 SAT (1600 Pt scale at that time) and was accepted to every school I applied to but Stanford (didn’t apply to any ivy leagues). Now a days it sounds like a those numbers put you on a fast track to no where
Yeah, 3.7 gpa and 1120 SAT now puts you in Arizona State
😀
DoubleComma
Posts: 2066
Joined: Sun Aug 23, 2020 2:23 pm

Re: Shopping for college

Post by DoubleComma »

manatee2005 wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 12:04 am
DoubleComma wrote: Wed Dec 16, 2020 11:54 pm
manatee2005 wrote: Tue Dec 15, 2020 4:44 am
IMO wrote: Tue Dec 15, 2020 1:26 am Arizona is part of WUE and seems to offer most of its major universities up for attendance. CA is pretty crappy at what they bring to the table for WUE.

I always think just the tuition should be discused. Housing is housing, a kid not going to college is still going pay housing/living expenses. Right now just grocery store food for kid comes in at $350/month or $4200/yr. I dont think thats a fair comparison to having a college meal plan which is more like buying fast food prepared for them at every meal.

Many kids (and parents) choose to not to try to get into CA state or UC school that is reasonably within commuting distance from their home. Choose is the operative word. Very few places in CA dont have a UC or state school nearby. I get it, the college experience...

We dont hear people complain about how their 18 to 22 yr old who took a blue collar job and how they have to pay for room and board for those 4 yrs.

BUT I GET IT, I am shopping for colleges for a kid now. Yeah housing cost matter, but part of me feels "well they'd have to pay for housing in the real world if they weren't in college." And then I ask how much is just the tuition and fees part? For many instate tuition rates, its about what daycare was when they were a kid 17 yrs ago (before adjusting that for inflation).

Edit: just looked up random Cal State tuition $7000 and UC $13000 in state . And out of curiosty 17 yrs ago that would be $5000 and $9000 back then which would be in line with our daycare then in a MCOL area at that time.

Even more intersting if I did the math right, that adjusts back down to $346/month and $500/month tuition rates when I was back in those particular brands of college. If thats correct, doesnt make for great click bait on in-state tuition and the issues with college tuition costs nowadays. Had to check my math, is that right ? Now private schools, that can be a different topic.
My biggest problem with UCs is how they don’t offer big majors in every location. My son is going for business and a lot of UC campuses don’t even have a business major. Only Berkeley, Irvine and Riverside do. This is the most populous state in the country and only three campuses offer business majors. Then you have Berkeley, UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, UC San Diego, UC Irvine that are almost impossible to get in and have high rejection rates. Riverside, Santa Cruz and Merced aren’t regarded as high quality compared to those previous ones. And riverside and Merced campuses are terrible.
Then you have cal states which are mostly a joke. Who wants to go to Cal state Bakersfield??
Cal poly SLO and Cal Poly Pomona are good ones but also not easy to get into even though they are part of cal state system.
And even San Diego state which 20 years ago would accept anyone who knew how to spell fish taco, is all of a sudden very selective because of so much interest in California schools.
Sorry for being negative, my son has went through California school system from K to 12 and I feel like there’s no good business program for him in the largest state in the Union. We’re stuck with out of state or private schools.
Correct, but they do have plenty of reasonable equivalent alternatives. UCLA doesn’t have Business Admin; but it certainly has Economics and Finance. I believe the same at UCSB. It wouldn’t make sense for every CSU and UC to all offer the same majors. Course of study should be one of the primary school choice criteria; not proximity to the beach or beauty of the campus.

I mentioned I went to a CSU; I passed on UCLA, CalPoly and UCSB because of major choice. I tell my kids that now and they think I’m crazy since they are keenly aware of how difficult these schools are to get into in today’s world; but in the late 90s when I was in college it certainly wasn’t the same. I was good student, not great; 3.7 gpa and 1120 SAT (1600 Pt scale at that time) and was accepted to every school I applied to but Stanford (didn’t apply to any ivy leagues). Now a days it sounds like a those numbers put you on a fast track to no where
Yeah, 3.7 gpa and 1120 SAT now puts you in Arizona State
😀
Which is a fine school in nice town and great state. I’ve spent a lot of time in Tempe, and I don’t think the 50k+ students going there are making a mistake by any stretch. In fact I have 2 ASU alumni working for me today.

Way too much value is being put of the names of many colleges, especially CA UC Systems. They are great schools, but a business graduate from UCI or Cal are no more likely to be successfully in actual business than the student who graduated from CSU Bakersfield, Fresno, Sacramento etc.
Topic Author
manatee2005
Posts: 2136
Joined: Wed Dec 18, 2019 8:17 pm

Re: Shopping for college

Post by manatee2005 »

DoubleComma wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 12:14 am
manatee2005 wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 12:04 am
DoubleComma wrote: Wed Dec 16, 2020 11:54 pm
manatee2005 wrote: Tue Dec 15, 2020 4:44 am
IMO wrote: Tue Dec 15, 2020 1:26 am Arizona is part of WUE and seems to offer most of its major universities up for attendance. CA is pretty crappy at what they bring to the table for WUE.

I always think just the tuition should be discused. Housing is housing, a kid not going to college is still going pay housing/living expenses. Right now just grocery store food for kid comes in at $350/month or $4200/yr. I dont think thats a fair comparison to having a college meal plan which is more like buying fast food prepared for them at every meal.

Many kids (and parents) choose to not to try to get into CA state or UC school that is reasonably within commuting distance from their home. Choose is the operative word. Very few places in CA dont have a UC or state school nearby. I get it, the college experience...

We dont hear people complain about how their 18 to 22 yr old who took a blue collar job and how they have to pay for room and board for those 4 yrs.

BUT I GET IT, I am shopping for colleges for a kid now. Yeah housing cost matter, but part of me feels "well they'd have to pay for housing in the real world if they weren't in college." And then I ask how much is just the tuition and fees part? For many instate tuition rates, its about what daycare was when they were a kid 17 yrs ago (before adjusting that for inflation).

Edit: just looked up random Cal State tuition $7000 and UC $13000 in state . And out of curiosty 17 yrs ago that would be $5000 and $9000 back then which would be in line with our daycare then in a MCOL area at that time.

Even more intersting if I did the math right, that adjusts back down to $346/month and $500/month tuition rates when I was back in those particular brands of college. If thats correct, doesnt make for great click bait on in-state tuition and the issues with college tuition costs nowadays. Had to check my math, is that right ? Now private schools, that can be a different topic.
My biggest problem with UCs is how they don’t offer big majors in every location. My son is going for business and a lot of UC campuses don’t even have a business major. Only Berkeley, Irvine and Riverside do. This is the most populous state in the country and only three campuses offer business majors. Then you have Berkeley, UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, UC San Diego, UC Irvine that are almost impossible to get in and have high rejection rates. Riverside, Santa Cruz and Merced aren’t regarded as high quality compared to those previous ones. And riverside and Merced campuses are terrible.
Then you have cal states which are mostly a joke. Who wants to go to Cal state Bakersfield??
Cal poly SLO and Cal Poly Pomona are good ones but also not easy to get into even though they are part of cal state system.
And even San Diego state which 20 years ago would accept anyone who knew how to spell fish taco, is all of a sudden very selective because of so much interest in California schools.
Sorry for being negative, my son has went through California school system from K to 12 and I feel like there’s no good business program for him in the largest state in the Union. We’re stuck with out of state or private schools.
Correct, but they do have plenty of reasonable equivalent alternatives. UCLA doesn’t have Business Admin; but it certainly has Economics and Finance. I believe the same at UCSB. It wouldn’t make sense for every CSU and UC to all offer the same majors. Course of study should be one of the primary school choice criteria; not proximity to the beach or beauty of the campus.

I mentioned I went to a CSU; I passed on UCLA, CalPoly and UCSB because of major choice. I tell my kids that now and they think I’m crazy since they are keenly aware of how difficult these schools are to get into in today’s world; but in the late 90s when I was in college it certainly wasn’t the same. I was good student, not great; 3.7 gpa and 1120 SAT (1600 Pt scale at that time) and was accepted to every school I applied to but Stanford (didn’t apply to any ivy leagues). Now a days it sounds like a those numbers put you on a fast track to no where
Yeah, 3.7 gpa and 1120 SAT now puts you in Arizona State
😀
Which is a fine school in nice town and great state. I’ve spent a lot of time in Tempe, and I don’t think the 50k+ students going there are making a mistake by any stretch. In fact I have 2 ASU alumni working for me today.

Way too much value is being put of the names of many colleges, especially CA UC Systems. They are great schools, but a business graduate from UCI or Cal are no more likely to be successfully in actual business than the student who graduated from CSU Bakersfield, Fresno, Sacramento etc.
I don’t disagree with your last sentence but KPMG and Deloitte aren’t recruiting from CSU Bakersfield to my knowledge.
snowox
Posts: 520
Joined: Wed Nov 08, 2017 8:17 am

Re: Shopping for college

Post by snowox »

Not to change the subject but at some point it really comes down to the individuals ability to hit the streets and have some drive. I know way to many kids that are super smart but unfortunately wont go anywhere because all they ever did was have there nose in a book. Gotta have some street smarts and drive or it just doesn't matter where you went to school so try to identify that quality in your kid as well before just sending them off to a school. I have two in college now and two to go so I have learned its a big part.
DoubleComma
Posts: 2066
Joined: Sun Aug 23, 2020 2:23 pm

Re: Shopping for college

Post by DoubleComma »

manatee2005 wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 3:03 am
DoubleComma wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 12:14 am
manatee2005 wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 12:04 am
DoubleComma wrote: Wed Dec 16, 2020 11:54 pm
manatee2005 wrote: Tue Dec 15, 2020 4:44 am

My biggest problem with UCs is how they don’t offer big majors in every location. My son is going for business and a lot of UC campuses don’t even have a business major. Only Berkeley, Irvine and Riverside do. This is the most populous state in the country and only three campuses offer business majors. Then you have Berkeley, UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, UC San Diego, UC Irvine that are almost impossible to get in and have high rejection rates. Riverside, Santa Cruz and Merced aren’t regarded as high quality compared to those previous ones. And riverside and Merced campuses are terrible.
Then you have cal states which are mostly a joke. Who wants to go to Cal state Bakersfield??
Cal poly SLO and Cal Poly Pomona are good ones but also not easy to get into even though they are part of cal state system.
And even San Diego state which 20 years ago would accept anyone who knew how to spell fish taco, is all of a sudden very selective because of so much interest in California schools.
Sorry for being negative, my son has went through California school system from K to 12 and I feel like there’s no good business program for him in the largest state in the Union. We’re stuck with out of state or private schools.
Correct, but they do have plenty of reasonable equivalent alternatives. UCLA doesn’t have Business Admin; but it certainly has Economics and Finance. I believe the same at UCSB. It wouldn’t make sense for every CSU and UC to all offer the same majors. Course of study should be one of the primary school choice criteria; not proximity to the beach or beauty of the campus.

I mentioned I went to a CSU; I passed on UCLA, CalPoly and UCSB because of major choice. I tell my kids that now and they think I’m crazy since they are keenly aware of how difficult these schools are to get into in today’s world; but in the late 90s when I was in college it certainly wasn’t the same. I was good student, not great; 3.7 gpa and 1120 SAT (1600 Pt scale at that time) and was accepted to every school I applied to but Stanford (didn’t apply to any ivy leagues). Now a days it sounds like a those numbers put you on a fast track to no where
Yeah, 3.7 gpa and 1120 SAT now puts you in Arizona State
😀
Which is a fine school in nice town and great state. I’ve spent a lot of time in Tempe, and I don’t think the 50k+ students going there are making a mistake by any stretch. In fact I have 2 ASU alumni working for me today.

Way too much value is being put of the names of many colleges, especially CA UC Systems. They are great schools, but a business graduate from UCI or Cal are no more likely to be successfully in actual business than the student who graduated from CSU Bakersfield, Fresno, Sacramento etc.
I don’t disagree with your last sentence but KPMG and Deloitte aren’t recruiting from CSU Bakersfield to my knowledge.

That I don’t know, but I do know as a matter of fact that PWC does actively recruit from CSU Chico and E&Y recruited CSU Sacramento. So yeah, big 4 are looking at CSU graduates.
Topic Author
manatee2005
Posts: 2136
Joined: Wed Dec 18, 2019 8:17 pm

Re: Shopping for college

Post by manatee2005 »

DoubleComma wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 8:49 am
manatee2005 wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 3:03 am
DoubleComma wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 12:14 am
manatee2005 wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 12:04 am
DoubleComma wrote: Wed Dec 16, 2020 11:54 pm

Correct, but they do have plenty of reasonable equivalent alternatives. UCLA doesn’t have Business Admin; but it certainly has Economics and Finance. I believe the same at UCSB. It wouldn’t make sense for every CSU and UC to all offer the same majors. Course of study should be one of the primary school choice criteria; not proximity to the beach or beauty of the campus.

I mentioned I went to a CSU; I passed on UCLA, CalPoly and UCSB because of major choice. I tell my kids that now and they think I’m crazy since they are keenly aware of how difficult these schools are to get into in today’s world; but in the late 90s when I was in college it certainly wasn’t the same. I was good student, not great; 3.7 gpa and 1120 SAT (1600 Pt scale at that time) and was accepted to every school I applied to but Stanford (didn’t apply to any ivy leagues). Now a days it sounds like a those numbers put you on a fast track to no where
Yeah, 3.7 gpa and 1120 SAT now puts you in Arizona State
😀
Which is a fine school in nice town and great state. I’ve spent a lot of time in Tempe, and I don’t think the 50k+ students going there are making a mistake by any stretch. In fact I have 2 ASU alumni working for me today.

Way too much value is being put of the names of many colleges, especially CA UC Systems. They are great schools, but a business graduate from UCI or Cal are no more likely to be successfully in actual business than the student who graduated from CSU Bakersfield, Fresno, Sacramento etc.
I don’t disagree with your last sentence but KPMG and Deloitte aren’t recruiting from CSU Bakersfield to my knowledge.

That I don’t know, but I do know as a matter of fact that PWC does actively recruit from CSU Chico and E&Y recruited CSU Sacramento. So yeah, big 4 are looking at CSU graduates.
That’s good to know. My todo list is to find out from all 28 colleges where my son applied what are the companies that hire their graduates before he has to decide on May 1. I haven’t been very successful in finding this out yet.
My son did apply to CSU Chico because our neighbor’s kid goes there and we figured if he gets in then we’ll ask the why their kid chose it.
livesoft
Posts: 86079
Joined: Thu Mar 01, 2007 7:00 pm

Re: Shopping for college

Post by livesoft »

Good news! College applications and future enrollment are down for the 2021-2022 school year. Competition should be less fierce.
Wiki This signature message sponsored by sscritic: Learn to fish.
retired recently
Posts: 582
Joined: Sun Oct 04, 2009 6:09 pm

Re: Shopping for college

Post by retired recently »

livesoft wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 9:46 am Good news! College applications and future enrollment are down for the 2021-2022 school year. Competition should be less fierce.
This is true at lower ranked schools and community colleges but definitely not true at the tippy tops. MIT apps are up 60% over last year and I think this is true at all say top 20 schools, probably top 50. Definitely a strong discussion to be had around whether the tippy tops are worth the money, but in any case, apps are way up this year. (and spots are down slightly as some kids last year took gap years)
Last edited by retired recently on Thu Dec 17, 2020 9:56 am, edited 1 time in total.
MarkRoulo
Posts: 1198
Joined: Mon Jun 22, 2015 10:25 am

Re: Shopping for college

Post by MarkRoulo »

IMO wrote: Wed Dec 16, 2020 11:09 pm
One can always consider transferring. I also was told that there is some program in CA that lets one more direct acceptance into a UC if one goes via community college.

Whats the saying, better to be a big fish at a smaller school ....
...
The California community colleges are well aligned with both the Cal State and University of California systems. Each class at a community college has information about whether the class transfers to Cal State, UC or both. In addition there is a web-site that provides mappings of individual community college classes to individual classes at each Cal State or UC (so, for example, a US History class 17A and B at your local might map to US History 4 A,B,C at a given UC).

If you take 7 specified classes at your community college, finish 60 semester units (or 90 quarter units), maintain a GPU above a UC campus specified minimum (3.2 - 3.4 typically) then you can apply for a TAG (Transfer Acceptance Guarantee) transfer to ONE UC college (excluding Berkeley, UCLA and UCSD) and the rules say that they guarantee to take you.

You can ALSO just apply to UC campuses directly from your community college and the claim is that transfers are viewed favorably by the UCs as long as you have a good GPA.

My son is doing this, so we'll know if there is a catch by March-ish of 2021 :-)

On balance, I've been happy with his community college experience (minus his taking classes via Zoom for close to a full academic year ... but if we were going to do that I'd rather pay in-state community college tuition than out-of-state tuition). NO LECTURE HALL classes (and the college has only one room that seats ~75 students), so every class has been 20-30 students. In some (but far from all) respects this has been closer to a SLAC education experience than he would have received at a flagship state campus with lots of large lecture hall classes for the first two years. Most/all of his teachers know him.

The only thing missing is the "living away from home" bit, which is unfortunate, but wouldn't have happened anyway for most of the past year ...
OldBallCoach
Posts: 604
Joined: Mon Dec 10, 2018 4:22 pm

Re: Shopping for college

Post by OldBallCoach »

The best deal for college is to raise your child to be 6'4" 265 pounds and run a 4.5 40....that will get you full cost of attendance for 5 years at most football playing schools...the other plan is to really really do your homework on the schools that best meet the career that your child wants to go into and make an appt with the schools financial aid program and HAMMER them for money...act like you are buying a car be tough and dont take no for an answer. There is almost ALWAYS a way if your child is willing to do the work. I recruit kids everyday and its not always about the money either...look at the best deal but make sure its what your child really wants...location matters also....and if money is an issue do your first 2 years at a community college then transfer....be sure your credits are going to transfer and plan ahead...good luck....
chipperd
Posts: 1674
Joined: Sat Sep 24, 2011 5:58 am
Location: here and now

Re: Shopping for college

Post by chipperd »

manatee2005 wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 9:37 am
DoubleComma wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 8:49 am
manatee2005 wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 3:03 am
DoubleComma wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 12:14 am
manatee2005 wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 12:04 am

Yeah, 3.7 gpa and 1120 SAT now puts you in Arizona State
😀
Which is a fine school in nice town and great state. I’ve spent a lot of time in Tempe, and I don’t think the 50k+ students going there are making a mistake by any stretch. In fact I have 2 ASU alumni working for me today.

Way too much value is being put of the names of many colleges, especially CA UC Systems. They are great schools, but a business graduate from UCI or Cal are no more likely to be successfully in actual business than the student who graduated from CSU Bakersfield, Fresno, Sacramento etc.
I don’t disagree with your last sentence but KPMG and Deloitte aren’t recruiting from CSU Bakersfield to my knowledge.

That I don’t know, but I do know as a matter of fact that PWC does actively recruit from CSU Chico and E&Y recruited CSU Sacramento. So yeah, big 4 are looking at CSU graduates.
That’s good to know. My todo list is to find out from all 28 colleges where my son applied what are the companies that hire their graduates before he has to decide on May 1. I haven’t been very successful in finding this out yet.
My son did apply to CSU Chico because our neighbor’s kid goes there and we figured if he gets in then we’ll ask the why their kid chose it.
For real, your son applied to 28 schools?
"A portfolio is like a bar of soap, the more it's handled, the less there is." Dr. William Bernstein
DoubleComma
Posts: 2066
Joined: Sun Aug 23, 2020 2:23 pm

Re: Shopping for college

Post by DoubleComma »

manatee2005 wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 9:37 am
DoubleComma wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 8:49 am
manatee2005 wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 3:03 am
DoubleComma wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 12:14 am
manatee2005 wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 12:04 am

Yeah, 3.7 gpa and 1120 SAT now puts you in Arizona State
😀
Which is a fine school in nice town and great state. I’ve spent a lot of time in Tempe, and I don’t think the 50k+ students going there are making a mistake by any stretch. In fact I have 2 ASU alumni working for me today.

Way too much value is being put of the names of many colleges, especially CA UC Systems. They are great schools, but a business graduate from UCI or Cal are no more likely to be successfully in actual business than the student who graduated from CSU Bakersfield, Fresno, Sacramento etc.
I don’t disagree with your last sentence but KPMG and Deloitte aren’t recruiting from CSU Bakersfield to my knowledge.

That I don’t know, but I do know as a matter of fact that PWC does actively recruit from CSU Chico and E&Y recruited CSU Sacramento. So yeah, big 4 are looking at CSU graduates.
My son did apply to CSU Chico because our neighbor’s kid goes there and we figured if he gets in then we’ll ask the why their kid chose it.
Chico is a fantastic school. Many people will argue or refuse to let go of the “party school” reputation from the 80/90s. I know several who have graduated from there as been there dozens of time visiting friends during my college years and as an adult for work.
A couple quick things I learned and love about it...

Small college town experience, very similar to UGA in Athens.
Housing cost is extremely affordable when compared to SLO, SB, Bay Area etc.
Four distinct seasons, but still mild and no snow
Unbelievable outdoor recreation opportunities, with probably the BEST city park in CA. Bidwell Park, especially upper Bidwell.
Very quick trips to SF, Tahoe, Sacramento, Reno anything you could want for a quick getaway.
Topic Author
manatee2005
Posts: 2136
Joined: Wed Dec 18, 2019 8:17 pm

Re: Shopping for college

Post by manatee2005 »

chipperd wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 3:53 pm
manatee2005 wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 9:37 am
DoubleComma wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 8:49 am
manatee2005 wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 3:03 am
DoubleComma wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 12:14 am

Which is a fine school in nice town and great state. I’ve spent a lot of time in Tempe, and I don’t think the 50k+ students going there are making a mistake by any stretch. In fact I have 2 ASU alumni working for me today.

Way too much value is being put of the names of many colleges, especially CA UC Systems. They are great schools, but a business graduate from UCI or Cal are no more likely to be successfully in actual business than the student who graduated from CSU Bakersfield, Fresno, Sacramento etc.
I don’t disagree with your last sentence but KPMG and Deloitte aren’t recruiting from CSU Bakersfield to my knowledge.

That I don’t know, but I do know as a matter of fact that PWC does actively recruit from CSU Chico and E&Y recruited CSU Sacramento. So yeah, big 4 are looking at CSU graduates.
That’s good to know. My todo list is to find out from all 28 colleges where my son applied what are the companies that hire their graduates before he has to decide on May 1. I haven’t been very successful in finding this out yet.
My son did apply to CSU Chico because our neighbor’s kid goes there and we figured if he gets in then we’ll ask the why their kid chose it.
For real, your son applied to 28 schools?
Yes and I have the spreadsheet and admission fees to prove it 😀
However out of 28 schools, 13 are UC and Cal state campuses so it was just checking off campuses on the app. So basically 15 + UC + Cal State. And out of those 15 about 14 were on the common app so it was also just adding a school and modifying the essay a little bit. Wasn’t that much work for him from what I’ve seen.

The problem this year was they would make admittance decisions with no SATs, pass fail grades in spring 2020 so warped GPAs, sports canceled, volunteering and internships impossible, state budgets for education decimated. Online school this fall so impossible to get a hold of counselors. Also we had no chance to tour any schools in spring break of 2020 or summer of 2020.
And we are locked down in California so we didn’t even get a chance to talk to other parents about where their kids are going. I haven’t seen another parent since March.
The plan of applying to 1 reach school, 2 with good chance and 1 safety was out the window because we didn’t know what would be a reach and what would be a safety school.
We figured he’ll apply to a lot of them and then we’ll sort them out in the spring if he gets accepted. Hopefully they will be open for tours for spring break 2021 although I doubt it at this point.
Topic Author
manatee2005
Posts: 2136
Joined: Wed Dec 18, 2019 8:17 pm

Re: Shopping for college

Post by manatee2005 »

OldBallCoach wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 9:58 am The best deal for college is to raise your child to be 6'4" 265 pounds and run a 4.5 40....that will get you full cost of attendance for 5 years at most football playing schools...the other plan is to really really do your homework on the schools that best meet the career that your child wants to go into and make an appt with the schools financial aid program and HAMMER them for money...act like you are buying a car be tough and dont take no for an answer. There is almost ALWAYS a way if your child is willing to do the work. I recruit kids everyday and its not always about the money either...look at the best deal but make sure its what your child really wants...location matters also....and if money is an issue do your first 2 years at a community college then transfer....be sure your credits are going to transfer and plan ahead...good luck....
This is true. My son was on the basketball team in 9th grade but never got the growth spurt like other kids so he was out haha.
Topic Author
manatee2005
Posts: 2136
Joined: Wed Dec 18, 2019 8:17 pm

Re: Shopping for college

Post by manatee2005 »

DoubleComma wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 8:04 pm
manatee2005 wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 9:37 am
DoubleComma wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 8:49 am
manatee2005 wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 3:03 am
DoubleComma wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 12:14 am

Which is a fine school in nice town and great state. I’ve spent a lot of time in Tempe, and I don’t think the 50k+ students going there are making a mistake by any stretch. In fact I have 2 ASU alumni working for me today.

Way too much value is being put of the names of many colleges, especially CA UC Systems. They are great schools, but a business graduate from UCI or Cal are no more likely to be successfully in actual business than the student who graduated from CSU Bakersfield, Fresno, Sacramento etc.
I don’t disagree with your last sentence but KPMG and Deloitte aren’t recruiting from CSU Bakersfield to my knowledge.

That I don’t know, but I do know as a matter of fact that PWC does actively recruit from CSU Chico and E&Y recruited CSU Sacramento. So yeah, big 4 are looking at CSU graduates.
My son did apply to CSU Chico because our neighbor’s kid goes there and we figured if he gets in then we’ll ask the why their kid chose it.
Chico is a fantastic school. Many people will argue or refuse to let go of the “party school” reputation from the 80/90s. I know several who have graduated from there as been there dozens of time visiting friends during my college years and as an adult for work.
A couple quick things I learned and love about it...

Small college town experience, very similar to UGA in Athens.
Housing cost is extremely affordable when compared to SLO, SB, Bay Area etc.
Four distinct seasons, but still mild and no snow
Unbelievable outdoor recreation opportunities, with probably the BEST city park in CA. Bidwell Park, especially upper Bidwell.
Very quick trips to SF, Tahoe, Sacramento, Reno anything you could want for a quick getaway.
Thanks for the description, I’m glad he chose it. Hopefully he gets in and we can tour it before May 1.
chipperd
Posts: 1674
Joined: Sat Sep 24, 2011 5:58 am
Location: here and now

Re: Shopping for college

Post by chipperd »

manatee2005 wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 8:12 pm
chipperd wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 3:53 pm
manatee2005 wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 9:37 am
DoubleComma wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 8:49 am
manatee2005 wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 3:03 am

I don’t disagree with your last sentence but KPMG and Deloitte aren’t recruiting from CSU Bakersfield to my knowledge.

That I don’t know, but I do know as a matter of fact that PWC does actively recruit from CSU Chico and E&Y recruited CSU Sacramento. So yeah, big 4 are looking at CSU graduates.
That’s good to know. My todo list is to find out from all 28 colleges where my son applied what are the companies that hire their graduates before he has to decide on May 1. I haven’t been very successful in finding this out yet.
My son did apply to CSU Chico because our neighbor’s kid goes there and we figured if he gets in then we’ll ask the why their kid chose it.
For real, your son applied to 28 schools?
Yes and I have the spreadsheet and admission fees to prove it 😀
However out of 28 schools, 13 are UC and Cal state campuses so it was just checking off campuses on the app. So basically 15 + UC + Cal State. And out of those 15 about 14 were on the common app so it was also just adding a school and modifying the essay a little bit. Wasn’t that much work for him from what I’ve seen.

The problem this year was they would make admittance decisions with no SATs, pass fail grades in spring 2020 so warped GPAs, sports canceled, volunteering and internships impossible, state budgets for education decimated. Online school this fall so impossible to get a hold of counselors. Also we had no chance to tour any schools in spring break of 2020 or summer of 2020.
And we are locked down in California so we didn’t even get a chance to talk to other parents about where their kids are going. I haven’t seen another parent since March.
The plan of applying to 1 reach school, 2 with good chance and 1 safety was out the window because we didn’t know what would be a reach and what would be a safety school.
We figured he’ll apply to a lot of them and then we’ll sort them out in the spring if he gets accepted. Hopefully they will be open for tours for spring break 2021 although I doubt it at this point.
Ah, ok. Thanks for that rationale.
It is a strange time to be attempting to choose a school without being able to visit and get a feel for a place. My youngest is going through the same process, although she was on almost all the campuses she applied to at some point. Either on tours with one of her older two in prior year(s) or due to her (previous) desire to play soccer in college, so went to many I.D. camps at prospective schools. This, along with her chosen career goal (attend grad school to become a physician's assistant so she can work in emergency medicine) really narrowed it down by the time it came for her to apply. I had to convince her to get her application number up to 8. Guess she got lucky in a sense. Best of luck to you and your son. Hopefully he will start hearing back soon from some soon, if not already.
"A portfolio is like a bar of soap, the more it's handled, the less there is." Dr. William Bernstein
Topic Author
manatee2005
Posts: 2136
Joined: Wed Dec 18, 2019 8:17 pm

Re: Shopping for college

Post by manatee2005 »

chipperd wrote: Fri Dec 18, 2020 3:00 am
manatee2005 wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 8:12 pm
chipperd wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 3:53 pm
manatee2005 wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 9:37 am
DoubleComma wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 8:49 am

That I don’t know, but I do know as a matter of fact that PWC does actively recruit from CSU Chico and E&Y recruited CSU Sacramento. So yeah, big 4 are looking at CSU graduates.
That’s good to know. My todo list is to find out from all 28 colleges where my son applied what are the companies that hire their graduates before he has to decide on May 1. I haven’t been very successful in finding this out yet.
My son did apply to CSU Chico because our neighbor’s kid goes there and we figured if he gets in then we’ll ask the why their kid chose it.
For real, your son applied to 28 schools?
Yes and I have the spreadsheet and admission fees to prove it 😀
However out of 28 schools, 13 are UC and Cal state campuses so it was just checking off campuses on the app. So basically 15 + UC + Cal State. And out of those 15 about 14 were on the common app so it was also just adding a school and modifying the essay a little bit. Wasn’t that much work for him from what I’ve seen.

The problem this year was they would make admittance decisions with no SATs, pass fail grades in spring 2020 so warped GPAs, sports canceled, volunteering and internships impossible, state budgets for education decimated. Online school this fall so impossible to get a hold of counselors. Also we had no chance to tour any schools in spring break of 2020 or summer of 2020.
And we are locked down in California so we didn’t even get a chance to talk to other parents about where their kids are going. I haven’t seen another parent since March.
The plan of applying to 1 reach school, 2 with good chance and 1 safety was out the window because we didn’t know what would be a reach and what would be a safety school.
We figured he’ll apply to a lot of them and then we’ll sort them out in the spring if he gets accepted. Hopefully they will be open for tours for spring break 2021 although I doubt it at this point.
Ah, ok. Thanks for that rationale.
It is a strange time to be attempting to choose a school without being able to visit and get a feel for a place. My youngest is going through the same process, although she was on almost all the campuses she applied to at some point. Either on tours with one of her older two in prior year(s) or due to her (previous) desire to play soccer in college, so went to many I.D. camps at prospective schools. This, along with her chosen career goal (attend grad school to become a physician's assistant so she can work in emergency medicine) really narrowed it down by the time it came for her to apply. I had to convince her to get her application number up to 8. Guess she got lucky in a sense. Best of luck to you and your son. Hopefully he will start hearing back soon from some soon, if not already.
He heard back from Arizona, Arizona state and Alabama so far that he got in. And one of the cal states. Still waiting for the holy grail of UCLA, but they won’t make the decision until march.
chipperd
Posts: 1674
Joined: Sat Sep 24, 2011 5:58 am
Location: here and now

Re: Shopping for college

Post by chipperd »

manatee2005 wrote: Fri Dec 18, 2020 3:21 am
chipperd wrote: Fri Dec 18, 2020 3:00 am
manatee2005 wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 8:12 pm
chipperd wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 3:53 pm
manatee2005 wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 9:37 am

That’s good to know. My todo list is to find out from all 28 colleges where my son applied what are the companies that hire their graduates before he has to decide on May 1. I haven’t been very successful in finding this out yet.
My son did apply to CSU Chico because our neighbor’s kid goes there and we figured if he gets in then we’ll ask the why their kid chose it.
For real, your son applied to 28 schools?
Yes and I have the spreadsheet and admission fees to prove it 😀
However out of 28 schools, 13 are UC and Cal state campuses so it was just checking off campuses on the app. So basically 15 + UC + Cal State. And out of those 15 about 14 were on the common app so it was also just adding a school and modifying the essay a little bit. Wasn’t that much work for him from what I’ve seen.

The problem this year was they would make admittance decisions with no SATs, pass fail grades in spring 2020 so warped GPAs, sports canceled, volunteering and internships impossible, state budgets for education decimated. Online school this fall so impossible to get a hold of counselors. Also we had no chance to tour any schools in spring break of 2020 or summer of 2020.
And we are locked down in California so we didn’t even get a chance to talk to other parents about where their kids are going. I haven’t seen another parent since March.
The plan of applying to 1 reach school, 2 with good chance and 1 safety was out the window because we didn’t know what would be a reach and what would be a safety school.
We figured he’ll apply to a lot of them and then we’ll sort them out in the spring if he gets accepted. Hopefully they will be open for tours for spring break 2021 although I doubt it at this point.
Ah, ok. Thanks for that rationale.
It is a strange time to be attempting to choose a school without being able to visit and get a feel for a place. My youngest is going through the same process, although she was on almost all the campuses she applied to at some point. Either on tours with one of her older two in prior year(s) or due to her (previous) desire to play soccer in college, so went to many I.D. camps at prospective schools. This, along with her chosen career goal (attend grad school to become a physician's assistant so she can work in emergency medicine) really narrowed it down by the time it came for her to apply. I had to convince her to get her application number up to 8. Guess she got lucky in a sense. Best of luck to you and your son. Hopefully he will start hearing back soon from some soon, if not already.
He heard back from Arizona, Arizona state and Alabama so far that he got in. And one of the cal states. Still waiting for the holy grail of UCLA, but they won’t make the decision until march.
Congrats to your son, and by extension, you. Sounds like he'll have lots of good options to sort out.
"A portfolio is like a bar of soap, the more it's handled, the less there is." Dr. William Bernstein
OldBallCoach
Posts: 604
Joined: Mon Dec 10, 2018 4:22 pm

Re: Shopping for college

Post by OldBallCoach »

manatee2005 wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 8:19 pm
OldBallCoach wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 9:58 am The best deal for college is to raise your child to be 6'4" 265 pounds and run a 4.5 40....that will get you full cost of attendance for 5 years at most football playing schools...the other plan is to really really do your homework on the schools that best meet the career that your child wants to go into and make an appt with the schools financial aid program and HAMMER them for money...act like you are buying a car be tough and dont take no for an answer. There is almost ALWAYS a way if your child is willing to do the work. I recruit kids everyday and its not always about the money either...look at the best deal but make sure its what your child really wants...location matters also....and if money is an issue do your first 2 years at a community college then transfer....be sure your credits are going to transfer and plan ahead...good luck....
This is true. My son was on the basketball team in 9th grade but never got the growth spurt like other kids so he was out haha.
Well we need kickers too...LOL...Best of luck to your son.
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manatee2005
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Re: Shopping for college

Post by manatee2005 »

OldBallCoach wrote: Fri Dec 18, 2020 5:14 pm
manatee2005 wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 8:19 pm
OldBallCoach wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 9:58 am The best deal for college is to raise your child to be 6'4" 265 pounds and run a 4.5 40....that will get you full cost of attendance for 5 years at most football playing schools...the other plan is to really really do your homework on the schools that best meet the career that your child wants to go into and make an appt with the schools financial aid program and HAMMER them for money...act like you are buying a car be tough and dont take no for an answer. There is almost ALWAYS a way if your child is willing to do the work. I recruit kids everyday and its not always about the money either...look at the best deal but make sure its what your child really wants...location matters also....and if money is an issue do your first 2 years at a community college then transfer....be sure your credits are going to transfer and plan ahead...good luck....
This is true. My son was on the basketball team in 9th grade but never got the growth spurt like other kids so he was out haha.
Well we need kickers too...LOL...Best of luck to your son.
Haha. Actually what I heard recently is that kids are starting to play squash because there’s a shortage in squash players haha
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cockersx3
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Re: Shopping for college

Post by cockersx3 »

manatee2005 wrote: Sat Dec 12, 2020 6:16 pm
cockersx3 wrote: Thu Nov 26, 2020 11:34 am
manatee2005 wrote: Thu Nov 26, 2020 2:41 am
cockersx3 wrote: Sat Sep 12, 2020 3:52 pm
manatee2005 wrote: Tue Sep 01, 2020 8:06 pm

Nice! Thank you for the update.

How did the tour seem? Did you tour any other colleges?
She loved it! Had low expectations heading to the school, but she went there and was totally blown away. She's wants to be an engineer (just like her dad!) and was really impressed with the engineering part of campus. It's a beautiful campus, and their students really seem to like it there - definitely a strong sense of community. Liked how it was spread out as well - it's obviously a huge school, but by spreading out the campus we're hoping the density won't be as bad.

We also checked out Auburn and she liked it there too, for mostly the same reasons. Tough decisions coming to be sure - just need to get her SAT scores back (early next week?) and get a better sense of where she will be competitive.
How's your daughter's application process? My son found out this week that he got into ASU (Arizona State) and University of Alabama. We just found out through the portals and emails so we didn't get any officials letters yet with scholarship information. My son is applying to every major college south of Nashville, he is applying without test scores so he didn't think he would get admittance decisions so early. I think he'll slow down now and only apply to the ones he really wants like UTexas Austin, University of California (campuses in LA and Santa Barbara) , Auburn and Clemson.
She's been accepted to Alabama and Arizona! Also admitted to WVU and other schools. We have initial scholarship offers back from the first two, both in line with auto merit tables and with costs in line with our State U. Hoping to hear offer from WVU next month. Have to say, having several college acceptance letters and good merit this early is a very good place to be.

She is still waiting for other colleges but probably won't hear more until January. That said, the three schools listed are very high on her list. She's already asking me whether we can check out Arizona in person...watched the virtual presentations (including the one specially for the engineering school) and came away impressed. Right now I think Alabama is at the top of the list primarily because that's the only college to which she's been accepted that she has actually seen in person, but we'll see what the next few months brings.

Best of luck with your son's college applications! It will be an interesting spring, to be sure....!
Did your daughter hear from any other schools? We got $9k from ASU Tempe, kind of disappointing since it’s $49k before scholarships so it would be $40k per year for ASU.
Yes! She got accepted to WPI with a very strong merit package. She had treated that as a long shot due to the cost, and also her having test scores that - while strong - was under the 50% mark for that school. The total cost after scholarships is about the same as it would have been at Alabama (her second choice). In addition, the program at WPI seemed like a much better fit. She really likes the quarter system they have there along with the focus on project based classes. (We went on a tour there pre-COVID and really, really liked it.)

So, long story short - she's part of the WPI herd now! Already sent in the enrollment deposit. This was her dream school, and with the costs now in line with the other schools she was looking at, this was a no-brainer. The other schools were great too, but WPI was by far the best fit for her.

Best of luck with the college hunt with your son! Did you hear back anything from the UAlabama competitive scholarship? My daughter didn't hear anything on that 15 Dec date (she sent her scholarship application before end October) - not that it matters now. We also took a ride out to WVU and did a self guided tour, and was ...underwhelmed. I really, really wanted to love that school - the price after scholarships was fantastic - but the campus was just too old and small and the location was just too remote for our tastes. Ultimately she and I are happy with her choice of school :D
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cockersx3
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Re: Shopping for college

Post by cockersx3 »

livesoft wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 9:46 am Good news! College applications and future enrollment are down for the 2021-2022 school year. Competition should be less fierce.
Yeah, I think we are seeing that in the college application process too. Several of the mid-tier schools to which my daughter applied have moved up admissions notifications timelines to earlier than in past years, and they are also moving up scholarship timelines as well. To me this suggests that they may be concerned about enrollment in fall of 2021...
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manatee2005
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Re: Shopping for college

Post by manatee2005 »

cockersx3 wrote: Fri Dec 18, 2020 8:14 pm
manatee2005 wrote: Sat Dec 12, 2020 6:16 pm
cockersx3 wrote: Thu Nov 26, 2020 11:34 am
manatee2005 wrote: Thu Nov 26, 2020 2:41 am
cockersx3 wrote: Sat Sep 12, 2020 3:52 pm

She loved it! Had low expectations heading to the school, but she went there and was totally blown away. She's wants to be an engineer (just like her dad!) and was really impressed with the engineering part of campus. It's a beautiful campus, and their students really seem to like it there - definitely a strong sense of community. Liked how it was spread out as well - it's obviously a huge school, but by spreading out the campus we're hoping the density won't be as bad.

We also checked out Auburn and she liked it there too, for mostly the same reasons. Tough decisions coming to be sure - just need to get her SAT scores back (early next week?) and get a better sense of where she will be competitive.
How's your daughter's application process? My son found out this week that he got into ASU (Arizona State) and University of Alabama. We just found out through the portals and emails so we didn't get any officials letters yet with scholarship information. My son is applying to every major college south of Nashville, he is applying without test scores so he didn't think he would get admittance decisions so early. I think he'll slow down now and only apply to the ones he really wants like UTexas Austin, University of California (campuses in LA and Santa Barbara) , Auburn and Clemson.
She's been accepted to Alabama and Arizona! Also admitted to WVU and other schools. We have initial scholarship offers back from the first two, both in line with auto merit tables and with costs in line with our State U. Hoping to hear offer from WVU next month. Have to say, having several college acceptance letters and good merit this early is a very good place to be.

She is still waiting for other colleges but probably won't hear more until January. That said, the three schools listed are very high on her list. She's already asking me whether we can check out Arizona in person...watched the virtual presentations (including the one specially for the engineering school) and came away impressed. Right now I think Alabama is at the top of the list primarily because that's the only college to which she's been accepted that she has actually seen in person, but we'll see what the next few months brings.

Best of luck with your son's college applications! It will be an interesting spring, to be sure....!
Did your daughter hear from any other schools? We got $9k from ASU Tempe, kind of disappointing since it’s $49k before scholarships so it would be $40k per year for ASU.
Yes! She got accepted to WPI with a very strong merit package. She had treated that as a long shot due to the cost, and also her having test scores that - while strong - was under the 50% mark for that school. The total cost after scholarships is about the same as it would have been at Alabama (her second choice). In addition, the program at WPI seemed like a much better fit. She really likes the quarter system they have there along with the focus on project based classes. (We went on a tour there pre-COVID and really, really liked it.)

So, long story short - she's part of the WPI herd now! Already sent in the enrollment deposit. This was her dream school, and with the costs now in line with the other schools she was looking at, this was a no-brainer. The other schools were great too, but WPI was by far the best fit for her.

Best of luck with the college hunt with your son! Did you hear back anything from the UAlabama competitive scholarship? My daughter didn't hear anything on that 15 Dec date (she sent her scholarship application before end October) - not that it matters now. We also took a ride out to WVU and did a self guided tour, and was ...underwhelmed. I really, really wanted to love that school - the price after scholarships was fantastic - but the campus was just too old and small and the location was just too remote for our tastes. Ultimately she and I are happy with her choice of school :D
Congrats, that’s a great school! Nice to have it over with 😀
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manatee2005
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Re: Shopping for college

Post by manatee2005 »

retired recently wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 9:55 am
livesoft wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 9:46 am Good news! College applications and future enrollment are down for the 2021-2022 school year. Competition should be less fierce.
This is true at lower ranked schools and community colleges but definitely not true at the tippy tops. MIT apps are up 60% over last year and I think this is true at all say top 20 schools, probably top 50. Definitely a strong discussion to be had around whether the tippy tops are worth the money, but in any case, apps are way up this year. (and spots are down slightly as some kids last year took gap years)
I just saw an article on LA Times that UC applications are up 15% over last year.
Lazareth
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Re: Shopping for college

Post by Lazareth »

Congrat's on raising your child to this stage. I cant address your question directly but it might help to share my experience. Our 23 y/o just received her bachelor's degree from a state university and landed a good job in her field. I kept a spreadsheet of all costs. She had switched majors twice resulting in five years of undergraduate not four. Total cash cost about $60K most of which I had saved in a 529 account that I funded over the years. No debt.

I had diligently filled out the government FAFSA form every year starting in her senior year in HS, which was all basically a waste of time. There's no aid, just loans, for an average student whose parents sacrificed (new cars, expensive vacations) to save. Our balance sheet, while far from heroic, put us out of reach. But no problem, she started out at community college where she got most foundation courses out of the way while commuting from home. It's an incredible value and most of the professors also work at nearby universities. The deal was, I would pay the college bills, she was responsible for spending money and books (and wow did she become value-conscious when buying books). While attending community college she learned she did not want the education field after all, and she switched her major to medical-technology.

After two years at C.C. she moved away to a state university for the full dorm-life experience. She had a great 3rd-year of college however she soon decided medical-tech was not her thing either, and again switched majors. Realizing that her second change-of-major would require a fifth year of undergraduate college, she also decided that campus life, while fun, wasn't worth $30K per year, so for year #4 and #5 she moved home to attend a nearby state university that has an excellent and nationally recognized criminal justice studies program. And that bring us to this past summer when she received her diploma, started her new job, and opened her Schwab account.
a/69, retired, married, enjoy p/t employment. Three-fund portfolio, after decades of chasing active-managed fund performance.
NJdad6
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Re: Shopping for college

Post by NJdad6 »

manatee2005 wrote: Mon Aug 31, 2020 1:07 am
momvesting wrote: Mon Aug 31, 2020 12:36 am First of all, I agree with DIY test prep, but the kid has to be motivated and needs some help from a somewhat knowledgeable adult. I did it with my kid, a few tests we did together, untimed, discussing answers as we went. We also did LOTS of timed tests and graded/discussed them. She went from a 26 to a 32.

Some state schools will automatically give you in state tuition if you get a certain ACT or SAT score. Others will give you in state if you get any merit aid at all. The list varies depending on what your kid wants to major in and where those programs are available. Know your deadlines though, a lot of state schools have really late deadlines, like May, June, or even July, but to get merit aid or in state tuition based on ACT or GPA, you may have a much earlier deadline.

Also be aware that several schools play games with admissions. Tulane is a great example of this. You pretty much have to apply with one of their ED plans to get admitted, and ED means you are committed before you see the bill. My kid had much better stats than some of the kids we were seeing on College Confidential who were getting in ED or ED2 and getting large merit awards. My kid never made it off the waiting list. We saw similar games with Syracuse and Carnegie Mellon, they are protecting their yield rates.

It is a lot of research on your part and on the part of the kid. Your kid must do a bunch of their own research and be invested in the process. They need to have a good grasp of the financial situation too, for example, for my kid the CA schools (UCLA, Berkley) were out even if they had the major she wanted because for our income level, they were pricier than the private schools she was applying to.

Use the Net Price Calculator: https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/pay- ... alculators# (Left side, second one down) to get an idea of the price based on your financial situation. Schools that are not listed often have their own calculators on their websites.
For Tulane does it depend on which state your kid is applying from? I’m in California and I’ve heard a lot of kids from California are getting discounted tuition to Tulane.
Tulane is a difficult school to get into. They are one of those schools that want to see interest in Tulane as well as high grades and test scores. They track visits and interactions. Like some others they do not want to be a safety school. I think they fill up 80-90% on ED and EA applicants. They have students from all over the country with many from CA, TX, IL, NY. Tulane is generous with merit for the more qualified students.
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Re: Shopping for college

Post by texasdiver »

cockersx3 wrote: Fri Dec 18, 2020 8:23 pm
livesoft wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 9:46 am Good news! College applications and future enrollment are down for the 2021-2022 school year. Competition should be less fierce.
Yeah, I think we are seeing that in the college application process too. Several of the mid-tier schools to which my daughter applied have moved up admissions notifications timelines to earlier than in past years, and they are also moving up scholarship timelines as well. To me this suggests that they may be concerned about enrollment in fall of 2021...
My daughter applied to 8 Pacific Northwest schools and one CA school. None of them ED. So far she has gotten 4 admissions letters (3 public and one private) that all contain merit aid awards. They are all really trying to set the hook with lots of mailings and trying to suck her into social media sites for incoming students where she can meet her fellow future classmates and such. Her top two choices probably won't announce until March so she's basically just sitting on everything until then.
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manatee2005
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Re: Shopping for college

Post by manatee2005 »

texasdiver wrote: Mon Dec 21, 2020 8:10 pm
cockersx3 wrote: Fri Dec 18, 2020 8:23 pm
livesoft wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 9:46 am Good news! College applications and future enrollment are down for the 2021-2022 school year. Competition should be less fierce.
Yeah, I think we are seeing that in the college application process too. Several of the mid-tier schools to which my daughter applied have moved up admissions notifications timelines to earlier than in past years, and they are also moving up scholarship timelines as well. To me this suggests that they may be concerned about enrollment in fall of 2021...
My daughter applied to 8 Pacific Northwest schools and one CA school. None of them ED. So far she has gotten 4 admissions letters (3 public and one private) that all contain merit aid awards. They are all really trying to set the hook with lots of mailings and trying to suck her into social media sites for incoming students where she can meet her fellow future classmates and such. Her top two choices probably won't announce until March so she's basically just sitting on everything until then.
Same here. The safety schools came back right away but we want to see the good schools make their decision in March so we’re not doing anything either yet. April will be wild with college tours because the acceptances are due on May 1
texasdiver
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Re: Shopping for college

Post by texasdiver »

manatee2005 wrote: Mon Dec 21, 2020 9:21 pm
texasdiver wrote: Mon Dec 21, 2020 8:10 pm
cockersx3 wrote: Fri Dec 18, 2020 8:23 pm
livesoft wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 9:46 am Good news! College applications and future enrollment are down for the 2021-2022 school year. Competition should be less fierce.
Yeah, I think we are seeing that in the college application process too. Several of the mid-tier schools to which my daughter applied have moved up admissions notifications timelines to earlier than in past years, and they are also moving up scholarship timelines as well. To me this suggests that they may be concerned about enrollment in fall of 2021...
My daughter applied to 8 Pacific Northwest schools and one CA school. None of them ED. So far she has gotten 4 admissions letters (3 public and one private) that all contain merit aid awards. They are all really trying to set the hook with lots of mailings and trying to suck her into social media sites for incoming students where she can meet her fellow future classmates and such. Her top two choices probably won't announce until March so she's basically just sitting on everything until then.
Same here. The safety schools came back right away but we want to see the good schools make their decision in March so we’re not doing anything either yet. April will be wild with college tours because the acceptances are due on May 1
Last year a lot of schools pushed their signing date back to June because of Covid. I expect many will do the same thing this year as well. Especially those who might find it harder to fill out their classes. And especially if they are slow to re-open their campuses as the pandemic wanes.
mathwhiz
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Re: Shopping for college

Post by mathwhiz »

Yeah, even if you get into a good college, nothing is guaranteed. You need to have to know what you want to do with that degree. I can't tell you how many friends who got a degree and ended up in a completely different field because they kept changing their minds or hated what they studied. You need drive and focus to get internships and work experience, pound the pavement applying to dozens and dozens of companies for that first big break after school. Just going to a University career fair and having a job fall into your lap maybe works for the top 10%....everyone else has got to hussle. Those that can't go back to live with mom and dad and work retail while they figure out what they want to do with life.
snowox wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 4:43 am Not to change the subject but at some point it really comes down to the individuals ability to hit the streets and have some drive. I know way to many kids that are super smart but unfortunately wont go anywhere because all they ever did was have there nose in a book. Gotta have some street smarts and drive or it just doesn't matter where you went to school so try to identify that quality in your kid as well before just sending them off to a school. I have two in college now and two to go so I have learned its a big part.
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manatee2005
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Re: Shopping for college

Post by manatee2005 »

mathwhiz wrote: Mon Dec 21, 2020 9:34 pm Yeah, even if you get into a good college, nothing is guaranteed. You need to have to know what you want to do with that degree. I can't tell you how many friends who got a degree and ended up in a completely different field because they kept changing their minds or hated what they studied. You need drive and focus to get internships and work experience, pound the pavement applying to dozens and dozens of companies for that first big break after school. Just going to a University career fair and having a job fall into your lap maybe works for the top 10%....everyone else has got to hussle. Those that can't go back to live with mom and dad and work retail while they figure out what they want to do with life.
snowox wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 4:43 am Not to change the subject but at some point it really comes down to the individuals ability to hit the streets and have some drive. I know way to many kids that are super smart but unfortunately wont go anywhere because all they ever did was have there nose in a book. Gotta have some street smarts and drive or it just doesn't matter where you went to school so try to identify that quality in your kid as well before just sending them off to a school. I have two in college now and two to go so I have learned its a big part.
That’s why it’s important what major you take. I was lucky that I always liked computers and coding so it was a nobrainer for me to go into that. And it’s pretty easy to get a job in it. If my passion was fashion or art or violin I don’t know what I would have done.
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manatee2005
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Re: Shopping for college

Post by manatee2005 »

DoubleComma wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 8:04 pm
manatee2005 wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 9:37 am
DoubleComma wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 8:49 am
manatee2005 wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 3:03 am
DoubleComma wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 12:14 am

Which is a fine school in nice town and great state. I’ve spent a lot of time in Tempe, and I don’t think the 50k+ students going there are making a mistake by any stretch. In fact I have 2 ASU alumni working for me today.

Way too much value is being put of the names of many colleges, especially CA UC Systems. They are great schools, but a business graduate from UCI or Cal are no more likely to be successfully in actual business than the student who graduated from CSU Bakersfield, Fresno, Sacramento etc.
I don’t disagree with your last sentence but KPMG and Deloitte aren’t recruiting from CSU Bakersfield to my knowledge.

That I don’t know, but I do know as a matter of fact that PWC does actively recruit from CSU Chico and E&Y recruited CSU Sacramento. So yeah, big 4 are looking at CSU graduates.
My son did apply to CSU Chico because our neighbor’s kid goes there and we figured if he gets in then we’ll ask the why their kid chose it.
Chico is a fantastic school. Many people will argue or refuse to let go of the “party school” reputation from the 80/90s. I know several who have graduated from there as been there dozens of time visiting friends during my college years and as an adult for work.
A couple quick things I learned and love about it...

Small college town experience, very similar to UGA in Athens.
Housing cost is extremely affordable when compared to SLO, SB, Bay Area etc.
Four distinct seasons, but still mild and no snow
Unbelievable outdoor recreation opportunities, with probably the BEST city park in CA. Bidwell Park, especially upper Bidwell.
Very quick trips to SF, Tahoe, Sacramento, Reno anything you could want for a quick getaway.
Hey,

My son found out today that he got into Chico. We’ve been watching virtual tours on YouTube and “day in the life of student videos” today. Do you know how I can check which companies recruit Chico state graduates?
DoubleComma
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Re: Shopping for college

Post by DoubleComma »

manatee2005 wrote: Fri Dec 25, 2020 12:07 am
DoubleComma wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 8:04 pm
manatee2005 wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 9:37 am
DoubleComma wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 8:49 am
manatee2005 wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 3:03 am

I don’t disagree with your last sentence but KPMG and Deloitte aren’t recruiting from CSU Bakersfield to my knowledge.

That I don’t know, but I do know as a matter of fact that PWC does actively recruit from CSU Chico and E&Y recruited CSU Sacramento. So yeah, big 4 are looking at CSU graduates.
My son did apply to CSU Chico because our neighbor’s kid goes there and we figured if he gets in then we’ll ask the why their kid chose it.
Chico is a fantastic school. Many people will argue or refuse to let go of the “party school” reputation from the 80/90s. I know several who have graduated from there as been there dozens of time visiting friends during my college years and as an adult for work.
A couple quick things I learned and love about it...

Small college town experience, very similar to UGA in Athens.
Housing cost is extremely affordable when compared to SLO, SB, Bay Area etc.
Four distinct seasons, but still mild and no snow
Unbelievable outdoor recreation opportunities, with probably the BEST city park in CA. Bidwell Park, especially upper Bidwell.
Very quick trips to SF, Tahoe, Sacramento, Reno anything you could want for a quick getaway.
Hey,

My son found out today that he got into Chico. We’ve been watching virtual tours on YouTube and “day in the life of student videos” today. Do you know how I can check which companies recruit Chico state graduates?
Congratulations to your son on another acceptance.

I don’t have a specific contact, but I know Chico has a career center that organizes on campus interviews for internship and post college career placement. I’m sure a couple of phone calls could get you in contact with their career center.
JOEVANDAL
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Re: Shopping for college

Post by JOEVANDAL »

Check out The University of Idaho. Moscow, ID.
They are part of the WUE.
#3 public school value in the USA.
Great engineering, cybersecurity, and business programs.
They have been in person this year with their own on campus Covid testing.
Strong on campus residence life. Dorms and Greek System.
If you want, send me a private message, and I can help with application fees and answer any questions you may have. My son graduated in 2019 (4 years) and had a great experience.
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manatee2005
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Re: Shopping for college

Post by manatee2005 »

JOEVANDAL wrote: Fri Jan 08, 2021 11:45 pm Check out The University of Idaho. Moscow, ID.
They are part of the WUE.
#3 public school value in the USA.
Great engineering, cybersecurity, and business programs.
They have been in person this year with their own on campus Covid testing.
Strong on campus residence life. Dorms and Greek System.
If you want, send me a private message, and I can help with application fees and answer any questions you may have. My son graduated in 2019 (4 years) and had a great experience.
My son is not too keen on cold weather places though. He’s mostly looking at schools in the south.
Valuethinker
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Re: Shopping for college

Post by Valuethinker »

DoubleComma wrote: Wed Dec 16, 2020 11:54 pm

Correct, but they do have plenty of reasonable equivalent alternatives. UCLA doesn’t have Business Admin; but it certainly has Economics and Finance. I believe the same at UCSB. It wouldn’t make sense for every CSU and UC to all offer the same majors. Course of study should be one of the primary school choice criteria; not proximity to the beach or beauty of the campus.
I think the problem is that these are incredibly difficult schools to get into, generally, and a popular major like Business (or Finance & Economics) even the more so?

Also one wants to look at the "weed out" rate. My university there was typically a 30-40% dropout rate between first and second year (engineering, computer science, business etc.) although many would come back in another major (engineering to arts & science for example).

I think US private universities don't work that way. But Canadian public schools certainly did.
I mentioned I went to a CSU; I passed on UCLA, CalPoly and UCSB because of major choice. I tell my kids that now and they think I’m crazy since they are keenly aware of how difficult these schools are to get into in today’s world; but in the late 90s when I was in college it certainly wasn’t the same. I was good student, not great; 3.7 gpa and 1120 SAT (1600 Pt scale at that time) and was accepted to every school I applied to but Stanford (didn’t apply to any ivy leagues). Now a days it sounds like a those numbers put you on a fast track to no where
I applied to US & Canadian universities in the early 80s. I had a friend with an 800 math SAT, and decent English SAT (650-700). He didn't get into Princeton but did to MIT.

My sense is that it is a totally different ballgame now. These kids are prepped and trained for it, extra curriculars in HS designed for it, aimed like guide missiles by entrance coaches, etc.

I don't think one should get too fussed about Cal State vs U of California. The big research universities fund themselves by having huge early year classes, often taught by graduate student instructors. At least in my day. Their purpose is research, not teaching.

The major is probably more important than the college, unless you are talking about the really top or bottom end.
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gatorking
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Re: Shopping for college

Post by gatorking »

Hey,

My son found out today that he got into Chico. We’ve been watching virtual tours on YouTube and “day in the life of student videos” today. Do you know how I can check which companies recruit Chico state graduates?
The site gives median earnings for graduates, but not which companies.
https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/
Wenonah
Posts: 252
Joined: Sat Nov 24, 2012 12:30 pm

Re: Shopping for college

Post by Wenonah »

My daughter went to a private school where the list price (for tuition and boarding) a few years ago was 50,000.00, but she only paid 22,000.00.Four four years. Middle class kid with good extracurriculars and good SAT scores, but that was it. Don't discount the private colleges, is my point.
Topic Author
manatee2005
Posts: 2136
Joined: Wed Dec 18, 2019 8:17 pm

Re: Shopping for college

Post by manatee2005 »

texasdiver wrote: Mon Dec 21, 2020 8:10 pm
cockersx3 wrote: Fri Dec 18, 2020 8:23 pm
livesoft wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 9:46 am Good news! College applications and future enrollment are down for the 2021-2022 school year. Competition should be less fierce.
Yeah, I think we are seeing that in the college application process too. Several of the mid-tier schools to which my daughter applied have moved up admissions notifications timelines to earlier than in past years, and they are also moving up scholarship timelines as well. To me this suggests that they may be concerned about enrollment in fall of 2021...
My daughter applied to 8 Pacific Northwest schools and one CA school. None of them ED. So far she has gotten 4 admissions letters (3 public and one private) that all contain merit aid awards. They are all really trying to set the hook with lots of mailings and trying to suck her into social media sites for incoming students where she can meet her fellow future classmates and such. Her top two choices probably won't announce until March so she's basically just sitting on everything until then.
Hey texasdiver

How is your daughter’s school choice going?

We’re now looking at Baylor as the top choice.
Topic Author
manatee2005
Posts: 2136
Joined: Wed Dec 18, 2019 8:17 pm

Re: Shopping for college

Post by manatee2005 »

livesoft wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 9:46 am Good news! College applications and future enrollment are down for the 2021-2022 school year. Competition should be less fierce.
I heard the complete opposite. UCLA applications were up 26%.
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