Time for College. SD or Santa Cruz, Best Fishing?

[Papasequoia]

BTW, I graduated from the CSU system and was able to retire while still in my 40's so don't go thinking that the UC's are automatically superior to the CSU's!!!!!

Absolutely, Bob. I would add that CA community colleges should not be ignored either. CA has the most organized, integrated system of community colleges in the country. Just because a school is a CC, CSU, UC or private does not automatically guarantee that you will find poor or excellent professors at any level as they all have both, regardless of reputation or size. Additionally, at the larger schools (including UCs) undergraduate classes, especially at the 1st and 2nd year levels, are often taught by teaching assistants (i.e. grad students). The more senior professors teach mostly graduate level classes. Not to mention that survey courses and core requirement classes at larger schools are often huge and 'taught' in auditoriums, whereas with a smaller school, including a community college, you might end up in a classroom with 30 students being taught by a professor with a PhD and many more years of teaching experience than the grad student you would have ended up with at a UC or USC. The one-on-one, personal interaction of these types of classes can be a big help for the student who might get lost in the gaping maw of a large university.

However, all of that being said, money does talk. With money you have better infrastructure. The labs are up to date with the most modern materials and supplies, and by that I mean everything from an art lab to a science lab. There is money for guest speakers, visiting scholars, more and better libraries, etc. etc. Public school funding in California is based on FTES (Full Time Enrolled Student). For the colleges, they count units or credits. A full-time student is considered to be one taking 30 units per year (for example, 5 three unit classes per semester). Rather than count warm bodies since some students are part-time and some take more than a full load, CA adds up the number of units being taken by students each year. They then apportion the amount of money to the schools based on how many FTES they have. The amount of money given to the different systems in CA is different for CC/CSU/UC as follows:

For the school year of 2007-2008, the amount of money given to the different systems per FTES was
K-12: $7,571
Com. Coll: $5,891
CSU: $12,293
UC: $18,508

No wonder you find better facilities at the UC campuses than at the other schools. Again, it may not necessarily affect the education one gets. A dedicated, studious, serious student can excel at any of these schools, and find dedicated educators to help them along.

http://www.hancockcollege.edu/public_affairs/pdf/CCLeague,FastFacts09.pdf

[Trootfisher]

don't pick a school based on fishing, it's only 4-6 years of his life, and in the grand scheme of things that's a short amount of time compared to his whole life. You wouldn't want to look back and say "well, I wish I'd gone to a different school, but at least the fishing was good."

that being said, UC Santa Cruz is closer to some really nice waters in the western sierra.
1/2 hour drive over the hill, then 2 to 2 1/2 hour drive to a couple nice rivers.
ALso can fish for steelhead in the San Lorenzo and some other local creeks.

Depends on what kind of fishing you are looking for, plus what kind of school you are looking for.

If he is dead set on that major, pick the better school for it. Especially for Pre-med. Grades don't just cut it. Pre-med students from CSU schools have a harder time getting into med school than pre-med students from UC schools.

[jazz on the fly]

I would add that CA community colleges should not be ignored either. CA has the most organized, integrated system of community colleges in the country.

Ok, now I have to weigh in. While CA has one of the best community college systems, I have to warn you that if a person is not extremely motivated to get through and transfer, those places can become educational black holes. While they often have good programs and good professors, the environment and overall student mentality is not one of intense academic focus. I speak from personal experience on this one. I finally busted out after going to two different community colleges for more years than I care to admit. I live about 2 minutes from Mt San Antonio College (which I've heard is one of the top rated CCs). I can tell you that it's filled to the brim with people that it's painfully obvious that they don't belong in college (as much as it pains me as an educator to say that). I have known people that have been really focused and have made it in and out in two years, but they are in the minority. Just exercise a great deal of caution before deciding to go Community College.

BTW ... If he chooses SDSU, my aunt teaches Organic Chemistry and Human Physiology so he may end up in her classes if he goes the pre-med route ...