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Applying to schools and trying to move to California , help!

likemyorbs

likemyorbs

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jul 20, 2008
1,956
5
NJ
I just recently graduated community college here in nj. I would like to apply to universities in California. My gpa isn't the highest, but workable. I'm trying to live in southern Cali, preferably San Diego. Does anyone have any suggestions of what schools to apply to? Of course it will cost more for me since Im out of state. Also, in addition to loans and parental help, I'll need a part time job. How is the part time job market there? Any help would be appreciated. I want to apply for the spring 2013 semester and I have so much work to do in the next few months. I'll also need to find an apartment since I don't plan on living the dorm life...
 
likemyorbs said:
I just recently graduated community college here in nj. I would like to apply to universities in California. My gpa isn't the highest, but workable. I'm trying to live in southern Cali, preferably San Diego. Does anyone have any suggestions of what schools to apply to? Of course it will cost more for me since Im out of state. Also, in addition to loans and parental help, I'll need a part time job. How is the part time job market there? Any help would be appreciated. I want to apply for the spring 2013 semester and I have so much work to do in the next few months. I'll also need to find an apartment since I don't plan on living the dorm life...
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Trying to do the same thing. Getting jobs out there is a tough thing to do. I'm dying to go to Gnomon.
 
i live in san diego.

big schools

UCSD
USD
SDSU

junior colleges

Miramar
Grossmont
Mesa

plenty of PT jobs here, the city is all students really. none is from here!
 
You want help? My piece of advice is never EVER go to COMMIEfornia ... or anywhere on the left coast for that matter!
 
Looks like you need to do some basic research and Googling to check out what schools are in the area, what campus life is like, and ultimately what the off campus life is like for apartments and jobs.

It's insanely easy to get a part time job on campus if you qualify for Federal Work Study (FWS), but it's not that bad if you don't since there's non-FWS (or no preference) jobs too. They probably pay better than most PT jobs you could find, plus you're still on campus, and they're great ways to get a foot in the door for post-grad jobs on campus (really the only way for many openings).

You've got to get on the ball ASAP - if you want any chance at getting money from schools, you probably have to be early in the application cycle, and for a Winter/Spring 2013 start that's probably any day now (if not already). Then figure out the living and work situation stuff.
 
Did you do any research on your own? Any at all? This is a basic question that is easily answered on your own. As a community college graduate I would suspect you should manage this one on your own. However, as a former so. cal. resident, the part time market is probably fine if you're cool with minimum wage. What school do you want to go to? Well that depends on what you want to do in life. SD is great, it's really the place to be in many respects, but you're going to need to find roommates, pick a school, get in (the year has begun) and get a job that allows you to go to school and still pay bills.

What do your parents think?
 
Well, I've researched this before and will need to again in a year or two, but...

As you may know, California has ten UC schools, nine of which are for undergraduates. There are also 23 CSUs, only some of which may be worth moving for.

If you want to live in San Diego, there's UC San Diego and also San Diego State University. In my opinion, it wouldn't be worth it to move from NJ and pay out-of-state tuition to go to SDSU, although UCSD on the other hand is thought of as the third best UC by many. If you're looking strictly at public schools in CA, I would only consider moving for UCB, UCLA, UCSD, UCI, UCD and UCSB (especially if you're going to major in Physics). I haven't really looked much at private colleges since California has three private colleges that are highly competitive and the rest are just too expensive. One private school I was accepted to would have put me in 100k+ debt after graduating, so I stayed away from them since the UC school system is nice anyways.

I just realized that your original post is from Aug 16th, but if you have any specific questions, I might be able to answer them.
 
likemyorbs said:
I just recently graduated community college here in nj. I would like to apply to universities in California. My gpa isn't the highest, but workable. I'm trying to live in southern Cali, preferably San Diego. Does anyone have any suggestions of what schools to apply to? Of course it will cost more for me since Im out of state. Also, in addition to loans and parental help, I'll need a part time job. How is the part time job market there? Any help would be appreciated. I want to apply for the spring 2013 semester and I have so much work to do in the next few months. I'll also need to find an apartment since I don't plan on living the dorm life...
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Are you trying to go to graduate school or something?

Why California? What are your plans?

Just arbitrarily moving to California without having a solid reason seems like a bad idea.
 
colourfastt said:
You want help? My piece of advice is never EVER go to COMMIEfornia ... or anywhere on the left coast for that matter!
Click to expand...

Guessing you're a republican? Well I'm not, I don't support the conservatives and their disgusting agenda and I would fit in well in Cali.

----------
eric/ said:
Are you trying to go to graduate school or something?

Why California? What are your plans?

Just arbitrarily moving to California without having a solid reason seems like a bad idea.
Click to expand...

I have a pretty good reason, I never want to see snow again as long as I live. I despise winter. I think California is the most beautiful state and I want to start my life there. And yes I want to go to grad school and start my career there.
 
I moved here from Pennsylvania in 1984. Didn't know a soul when I arrived in my beat up VW Bus and $200.

First off, if you live here for a year, you'll qualify for in-state. So get your butt here NOW, and claim you arrived on 15 August. Register to vote and get your drivers license. Now you'll have in-state tuition next September.

The UC system is the best. With one application, you can apply to as many campuses as you want. They are very particular about the prerequisites, so don't assume you've covered everything. You may need some junior college classes to meet all of the prereqs. Figure this out by December, so you can take any junior college classes you may need this Spring.

UC Berkeley is the best one, of course, but UCLA and UC San Diego are also exceptional. UC Davis is home to the world's greatest winemaking programs. Even the famous, fifth-generation French winemakers send their children to Davis. UC Santa Barbara is a top-flite school in a gorgeous coastal community.

Or you can listen to that pudwacker anti-communist guy and study in the oil sludge of mosquito-infested Texas, or whatever hellhole he's from.
 
likemyorbs said:
I have a pretty good reason, I never want to see snow again as long as I live. I despise winter. I think California is the most beautiful state and I want to start my life there. And yes I want to go to grad school and start my career there.
Click to expand...

California is one of the top 5 states in the U.S. :)
 
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