Choosing a College
There are a lot of options, a lot of paths to take. We'll try to make it manageable to start:
University of California System
The University of California System (UC) is designed to serve the top 12% of California high school graduates and is highly regarded nation wide. The UC System, which emcompasses ten campuses, draws students from all over the world, 90 percent of whom come from California. UC is a public university system that offers a wide range of undergraduate majors as well as master's and doctoal degrees.
Access the University of California Undergraduate Admissions Website for general information about the system and admissions. Use the links that follow to access the websites of the individual schools in the system:
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California State University System
The California State University System (CSU) is designed to serve the top 40% of California high school graduates. However, some campuses in the system are in such demand (“impacted”), or have majors that are in high demand, that they are nearly as difficult to enter as the UC system. Many CSU campuses are highly regarded nation wide as well. The CSU System offers a ful range of undergraduate programs, as well as master's programs, but does not offer doctoral degrees.
Access the CSU Mentor Website for information designed to help students and their families learn about the CSU system, select a CSU campus to attend, plan to finance higher education, and apply for admission. Use the links that follow to accessthe websites of the individual schools in the system:
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California Community College System
The California Community College System is designed to serve 100% of California high school graduates and anyone over 18 years of age. Community colleges provide excellent academic transfer programs for students seeking admission to 4-year colleges and universities. Community colleges also prepare students for two-year college degrees called Associate of Arts (AA) and Associate of Science (AS), and a variety of certificated occupational programs. Through concurrent enrollment, high school students are also invited to attend their local community college and take classes for enrichment, some of which can earn transferable university credit.
Access the California Community Colleges Website for a complete listing of all community colleges in California. You can use the links below to access the websites of local community colleges:
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College Search:
College Board
collegenavigator.com
collegedata.com
Assoc. of Independent California Colleges
College Ranking:
Forbes
U.S.News
Princeton Review
College Planning:
campustours.com
California Colleges
College Board
gocollege.com
Studying Abroad
Mapping Your Future
offtocollege.com
Private Universities
There are more than 1400 private colleges in the U.S., including over 100 in California. Some private schools have highly selective admissions, such as Stanford, Princeton and West Point. Others have less demanding admission standards.
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In general, selective private colleges expect students to have the most challenging four-year academic program that can be arranged, so going well beyond the 'a-g' requirements is advisable. A variety of informational resources regarding the private schools is available in the Career Center, Counseling Office, library, bookstores and the Internet (lists of websites is available in the Counseling Office). For some more information about some of the private colleges in California see www.aiccu.edu the Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities (AICCU).