colleges
It was a beautiful all over California last weekend when I visited schools this weekend.
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
We left early on Friday morning to make it to SLO's Open House at 8. We visited the College of Architecture and Environmental Design. "An ivy league education, with UC selectivity, at Cal State prices." Haha. They seem to have a really nice arch program here, but for those that are absolutely sure they're going to be architects. There aren't many other good options here if I need to change majors. The campus was okay. The dorms are tiny and there aren't many options. They're upgrading their facilities. The atmosphere seemed really laid back.
As for San Luis Obispo, it's small. The dowtown area is cute but it'd probably get boring. It's by the beach and the mountains. There's a reason they call it the "slo" life.
I don't think I'm going here.
Drove north to San Jose. Stayed at my uncle's for the night...
UC Berkeley
We drove up to the school in the morning. We attempted to watch The Ring in the car. BAD idea. "Play it already! AHhhh no stop!"
The campus is HUGE, but beautiful. It was overwhelming at first. The classical style of all the buildings is intimidating. Cal Day was chaotic. There were so many people and things to do. We visited one of the housing units. They have two new buildings and they're SOOO nice. Very impressive. They're going to be open this fall, so it'd be cool to live there. We also visited the College of Environmental Design. It seems like the 4 year program would be the best option if I'm unsure of being an architecture. There's more freedom to change majors here. The place is so big that you have to take the trolley to tour the campus. All of the students I talked to seemed genuninely excited to be there.
Berkeley is a nice college town. There's a lot of restaurants and quirky stores within walking distance of the campus. It seems to be bustling with activity, which was a nice change from SLO. Plenty of interesting characters here, like the bums with the "Trying to get drunk!" sign and all the hippy-types and liberals. San Francisco isn't far. Good transportation systems. It's not that far, right? ahem...by plane.
This may be a strong possibility.
Drove home and got home around 11:30. Home sweet home...
University of Southern California
This is the school I know best since I've been pining over it for so long. It was just me and my dad today because everyone else was tired. The USC campus is great. I think the brick buildings are a lot more friendly in appearance than the classic architecture they were going for at Cal. The campus is smaller than Cal's. Campus tours were by foot. Ahem. I saw Sunny there! We visited the School of Architecture of course. I think all the architecture buildings at each school were the ugliest on each campus. Isn't it ironic? We went to Parkside to see the newest dorms on campus. They were really nice too, but our tour guide was really lame and boring. We ended the visit talking to a financial aid advisor. Oi, the cost!
The area around the campus isn't the greatest. There isn't anything worthwhile within walking distance of the campus, except for the Science Center. That's kind of a disappointment since I won't be taking a car to school.
This was my first choice but after visiting Berkeley and with the cost of attending this school for five years, it's going to be difficult.
So ends the trip. I really have to think about which college is best for me. After a day of thinking about the financial situation, I know I'm going to have to let go of USC. Slowly. Now I'm considering UCLA because I've been questioning becoming an architect and ideally, I would like to stay in Southern California. And hello, it's UCLA, so why not if i'm unsure? TWO WEEKS until that May 2 deadline.
Cal or UCLA? Do I want to stay here and have access to the comforts of home or do I want to start over completely? Architecture or something else? If something else, what?
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
We left early on Friday morning to make it to SLO's Open House at 8. We visited the College of Architecture and Environmental Design. "An ivy league education, with UC selectivity, at Cal State prices." Haha. They seem to have a really nice arch program here, but for those that are absolutely sure they're going to be architects. There aren't many other good options here if I need to change majors. The campus was okay. The dorms are tiny and there aren't many options. They're upgrading their facilities. The atmosphere seemed really laid back.
As for San Luis Obispo, it's small. The dowtown area is cute but it'd probably get boring. It's by the beach and the mountains. There's a reason they call it the "slo" life.
I don't think I'm going here.
Drove north to San Jose. Stayed at my uncle's for the night...
UC Berkeley
We drove up to the school in the morning. We attempted to watch The Ring in the car. BAD idea. "Play it already! AHhhh no stop!"
The campus is HUGE, but beautiful. It was overwhelming at first. The classical style of all the buildings is intimidating. Cal Day was chaotic. There were so many people and things to do. We visited one of the housing units. They have two new buildings and they're SOOO nice. Very impressive. They're going to be open this fall, so it'd be cool to live there. We also visited the College of Environmental Design. It seems like the 4 year program would be the best option if I'm unsure of being an architecture. There's more freedom to change majors here. The place is so big that you have to take the trolley to tour the campus. All of the students I talked to seemed genuninely excited to be there.
Berkeley is a nice college town. There's a lot of restaurants and quirky stores within walking distance of the campus. It seems to be bustling with activity, which was a nice change from SLO. Plenty of interesting characters here, like the bums with the "Trying to get drunk!" sign and all the hippy-types and liberals. San Francisco isn't far. Good transportation systems. It's not that far, right? ahem...by plane.
This may be a strong possibility.
Drove home and got home around 11:30. Home sweet home...
University of Southern California
This is the school I know best since I've been pining over it for so long. It was just me and my dad today because everyone else was tired. The USC campus is great. I think the brick buildings are a lot more friendly in appearance than the classic architecture they were going for at Cal. The campus is smaller than Cal's. Campus tours were by foot. Ahem. I saw Sunny there! We visited the School of Architecture of course. I think all the architecture buildings at each school were the ugliest on each campus. Isn't it ironic? We went to Parkside to see the newest dorms on campus. They were really nice too, but our tour guide was really lame and boring. We ended the visit talking to a financial aid advisor. Oi, the cost!
The area around the campus isn't the greatest. There isn't anything worthwhile within walking distance of the campus, except for the Science Center. That's kind of a disappointment since I won't be taking a car to school.
This was my first choice but after visiting Berkeley and with the cost of attending this school for five years, it's going to be difficult.
So ends the trip. I really have to think about which college is best for me. After a day of thinking about the financial situation, I know I'm going to have to let go of USC. Slowly. Now I'm considering UCLA because I've been questioning becoming an architect and ideally, I would like to stay in Southern California. And hello, it's UCLA, so why not if i'm unsure? TWO WEEKS until that May 2 deadline.
Cal or UCLA? Do I want to stay here and have access to the comforts of home or do I want to start over completely? Architecture or something else? If something else, what?