Dang, my kid didn’t get into any public CA University with a 4.2 GPA that was applied to.

grapedrink

Duke status
May 21, 2011
25,927
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A Beach
Remember when UCSC did away with grades a few decades ago? It was a disaster. Students had trouble getting in to grad schools and employers recruited elsewhere, where student success whas easier to evaluate.
iirc UCSC was pass/no pass from the start in the 60s/70s. Which didn't matter for the first few decades because it was mostly liberal arts. Then in the 80s/90s they started pushing into STEM. Those were the grads that had trouble with grad school and complained, at which point they added the letter grade option.

I started in 2000, and I was the last class/catalog year that still had the pass/fail option for all courses and could still get a GPA with only 2/3s of classes graded. All classes after that had mandatory grades for 75% of your courses. About a decade ago they also created a program that scans your written evaluations for key words and the algorithm assigns a grade.

Looking back at those days . . . :beer:
 

SlicedFeet

Miki Dora status
Dec 17, 2004
4,730
968
113
Swarm Diego
It’s official, UofArizona it is.

They offered her $14k a year in merit scholarship which bring them in line with most UC’s. UofA will be $30k while the UC’s are roughly $28k a year. Six hour drive home, way cheaper rent down the line, frozen tuition, even found a roommate in her major for the dorms from SF this past weekend while visiting for an admitted student tour.

Glad this whole process is over, it was more stressful for me than her.

She did get into U of Oregon, Penn State Univeristy Park, Trinity, Santa Clara, LMU, Michigan, and San Francisco State. She was able to apply to SFSU late after being denied to SLO. SFSU was a close second but they don’t offer the major she is interested in. She loved the campus at UofOregon but that would have been $50k a year. The schools above would have been between $40k to $65k a year.

My take, the CSU system needs a huge overhaul and Community Colleges need dorms pronto. Yes, CC is currently free, but rent in CA is insane plus your looking at one year leases. Then furniture, internet, utilities, then some random roommate. That’s a lot for a 17/18 year old to deal with or family with limited excess income. They need out of the nest, especially for the parents sanity. Also, SFSU should be on everyone’s radar, not sure why that one was overlooked from the getgo.
 

Subway

Administrator
Staff member
Dec 31, 2008
13,496
10,103
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LBNY
The nucleus of what is now our sort of large company was basically made up of U of Arizona grads. the long time (now deceased) CEO basically hired all of his buddies from the football team to run the various markets and regions around the country. Some of them are genuinely smart and competent execs, some are utter morans
 

Yewstreet

Legend (inyourownmind)
Nov 8, 2019
422
760
93
It’s official, UofArizona it is.

They offered her $14k a year in merit scholarship which bring them in line with most UC’s. UofA will be $30k while the UC’s are roughly $28k a year. Six hour drive home, way cheaper rent down the line, frozen tuition, even found a roommate in her major for the dorms from SF this past weekend while visiting for an admitted student tour.
Damn my whole tuition for 4 years was 24K USD in mid 2010's. US tuition rates are crazy!
 

Mr Doof

Duke status
Jan 23, 2002
24,850
7,747
113
San Francisco, CA
this is my favorite part of telling people I went to school in San Francisco....their response is usually, "I went to Cal, where did you go"

LOL SFSU LOL
My kid goes there and she loves it. Going thru ceremonies next month then it's on to grad school. She did the 2 years at CC thing, I figure she saved me $55K.

If you are showing up for the ceremony, I'll buy you a congratulatory beer.

Send me a PM to set things up.
 

sushipop

Michael Peterson status
Feb 7, 2008
3,317
5,790
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The Dagobah System
Also, SFSU should be on everyone’s radar, not sure why that one was overlooked from the getgo.
they are still accepting applications for fall ‘22 but it’s for their liberal arts certificate program. Sounds like it’s designed for gap year student and a way to chip away at Gen Ed classes under a liberal arts format. Kinda cool sounding and would be interesting to know if they allow dorm access.
1651091101885.png
 

PeterDj

Legend (inyourownmind)
Jul 11, 2018
467
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In a letter of rec, teachers are asked if students have taken the most rigorous courses offered. If they're not offered, it's beyond the student's control.

I just found out that one of my son's friends has an older sister w/ a 4.6 GPA. She got accepted to a few UCs, but w/o any financial scholarships (no surprise). Her family told her that they can't afford for her to go, and she'll have to go to a JC for 2 years.

If you saw the house they just bought (they drive Acuras), you'd be surprised how they can't make it work. I think they're trying to keep her from moving out (over protective family, first fledgling, etc.).
It could be they want to prevent her from becoming a trustafarian. My parents and extended family could have paid for my school, but learning how to apply for financial aid and dealing with the bureaucracy of scoring free money is a life lesson. Plus, when you know you have loans to pay off after graduation you don't spend much time at the frat houses wasting money on alcohol. My dad worked in real estate and knew the trick of refinancing your home to get an equity loan to pay off other loans. So he pushed me to buy a house a fast a possible. I was house broke for years, but now it's stress free with only 3% interest on my loan. When I hear about all these kids whining about loan deferments after graduation. I just think to myself you get what you pay for. Spend your GE extra curricular credits on economics classes instead of basket weaving and glass blowing. Learn the game of money.
 
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Muscles

Michael Peterson status
Jun 1, 2013
2,596
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California/Hawaii
It could be they want to prevent her from becoming a trustafarian. My parents and extended family could have paid for my school, but learning how to apply for financial aid and dealing with the bureaucracy of scoring free money is a life lesson. Plus, when you know you have loans to pay off after graduation you don't spend much time at the frat houses wasting money on alcohol. My dad worked in real estate and knew the trick of refinancing your home to get an equity loan to pay off other loans. So he pushed me to buy a house a fast a possible. I was house broke for years, but now it's stress free with only 3% interest on my loan. When I hear about all these kids whining about loan deferments after graduation. I just think to myself you get what you pay for. Spend your GE extra curricular credits on economics classes instead of basket weaving and glass blowing. Learn the game of money.
I have a hard time relating to anyone in this thread.

My parents didn't have a way to pay for me go to college so applying to multiple places with the expectation my parents would pay my living expenses was a non-starter when I was a senior in high school. I turned 18 and was essentially forced to figure it out. Same with my wife. The whole concept of people dropping $200K+ for their child to get a bachelor's degree is wild.
 

kelpcutter

Gerry Lopez status
Aug 24, 2008
1,266
1,602
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It could be they want to prevent her from becoming a trustafarian. My parents and extended family could have paid for my school, but learning how to apply for financial aid and dealing with the bureaucracy of scoring free money is a life lesson. Plus, when you know you have loans to pay off after graduation you don't spend much time at the frat houses wasting money on alcohol. My dad worked in real estate and knew the trick of refinancing your home to get an equity loan to pay off other loans. So he pushed me to buy a house a fast a possible. I was house broke for years, but now it's stress free with only 3% interest on my loan. When I hear about all these kids whining about loan deferments after graduation. I just think to myself you get what you pay for. Spend your GE extra curricular credits on economics classes instead of basket weaving and glass blowing. Learn the game of money.
I had a psychology professor ask the class why they were going to college. Most responded to get a better paying career. Her response was, if money is your motivation, why aren't you studying finance?
 
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kelpcutter

Gerry Lopez status
Aug 24, 2008
1,266
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I have a hard time relating to anyone in this thread.

My parents didn't have a way to pay for me go to college so applying to multiple places with the expectation my parents would pay my living expenses was a non-starter when I was a senior in high school. I turned 18 and was essentially forced to figure it out. Same with my wife. The whole concept of people dropping $200K+ for their child to get a bachelor's degree is wild.
Same. Parent's didn't have money and nobody in the family was a college grad to guide me. I had to figure it out and pay for it myself. I took a long wandering route through CC and multiple institutes of higher education earning multiple degrees and professional certs while working full time and raising kids. Not a path I would recommend, but it worked out in the end.
 

bluemarlin04

Michael Peterson status
Aug 13, 2015
2,565
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I have a hard time relating to anyone in this thread.

My parents didn't have a way to pay for me go to college so applying to multiple places with the expectation my parents would pay my living expenses was a non-starter when I was a senior in high school. I turned 18 and was essentially forced to figure it out. Same with my wife. The whole concept of people dropping $200K+ for their child to get a bachelor's degree is wild.
Yea but don't you want your kids to not have to figure it out like you did?

A lot of people save their entire kids' lives to provide that experience for them and set them up for a good education.

If you start saving in a 529 the day they are born then you should have a massive amount saved for them.

There is something to say about setting them on a path where the only thing they need to focus on for 6 years is school. Get in, get a Bachelors and go straight to grad school and exit at 24 on a good trajectory.
 

ghostshaper

Phil Edwards status
Jan 22, 2005
6,242
2,866
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It's not that they want her to pay for herself to go; they told her she can't go bc they can't pay for it, which is shvtty. They're weird, sheltering people.

Sucks for her to work so hard, get accepted, then told sorry, we can't afford it, while they drive nice cars and live in a new expensive house.

She doesn't have the independence to say she's going and will pay for herself bc of the way they raised her.
 

kidfury

Duke status
Oct 14, 2017
24,647
10,477
113
It’s official, UofArizona it is.

They offered her $14k a year in merit scholarship which bring them in line with most UC’s. UofA will be $30k while the UC’s are roughly $28k a year. Six hour drive home, way cheaper rent down the line, frozen tuition, even found a roommate in her major for the dorms from SF this past weekend while visiting for an admitted student tour.

Glad this whole process is over, it was more stressful for me than her.

She did get into U of Oregon, Penn State Univeristy Park, Trinity, Santa Clara, LMU, Michigan, and San Francisco State. She was able to apply to SFSU late after being denied to SLO. SFSU was a close second but they don’t offer the major she is interested in. She loved the campus at UofOregon but that would have been $50k a year. The schools above would have been between $40k to $65k a year.

My take, the CSU system needs a huge overhaul and Community Colleges need dorms pronto. Yes, CC is currently free, but rent in CA is insane plus your looking at one year leases. Then furniture, internet, utilities, then some random roommate. That’s a lot for a 17/18 year old to deal with or family with limited excess income. They need out of the nest, especially for the parents sanity. Also, SFSU should be on everyone’s radar, not sure why that one was overlooked from the getgo.
Congratulations Sliced! She's going to be so stoked.
 

ghostshaper

Phil Edwards status
Jan 22, 2005
6,242
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Just heard a story on NPR yesterday from a journalist from the WSJ:
He explained a case of a girl (white) who had good grades, high SATs, 4-5s on her APs and got rejected from all the top schools b/c she was coming from large "buckets" of applicants. Schools only choose so many from each bucket. She was too much like all the other applicants. Nothing set her apart, which is why I tell my students, do something that makes you unique, don't just focus on grades.

He also said that admissions committees spend about 8 min on average initially looking at an application to see if they make it to the next round, in which they'll read the essay and spend more time.
 

Random Guy

Duke status
Jan 16, 2002
32,005
6,132
113
None of this advice works if your kid is a dummy, btw.
in New York, state schools don’t have the prestige that California state schools have, but they’re affordable for many, even if it means taking out loans
average students get accepted to average SUNY schools
graduates from average SUNY schools are able to get hired, even if they don’t have a 4.0

does California not have a reasonably affordable path for the average person, or even the below average?