What do you think are the best colleges in california?

Question

What do you think are the best colleges in california?

Answer 1

UC Davis is a research school with a good tradition of undergraduate teaching, and is particularly strong in the sciences. For a good liberal arts education, Pepperdine is a great choice (also located on a hill above Malibu - can't beat that!). Westmont is a SoCal secret that probably deserves more attention.

The big UC schools with the nationally known football team (you know who you are) are great, especially for graduate students - but  they are huge and impersonal and a student can get lost. I would say this is true of all the UC schools, even my Aggie alma mater. Santa Cruz might be the exception, but it's full of hippie weirdness.

The Claremont colleges are something to consider, but most of them are pretty much the standard PC race-class-gender Liberal liberal arts schools. Harvey Mudd is the exception here, being a hard-core engineering school with a strong biology program, too.

Then there's California's "ivy," Stanford. I risk offending some people here, but my take is that it's not all it's hyped to be. The grade-inflation capital of the world, it's a lot harder to get in than to get out. Plus, it's a lot of money to pay to get the same kind of indoctrination in PC that you can get across the Bay in Berkeley. Which, honestly, is what you will get most places.

For the more conservative or open-minded student, I would suggest Westmont, Pepperdine, or a hidden gem in Northern Cal, University of the Pacific. Yes, it's in Stockton. But my impression is that it's an intellectually honest place and a more wholesome atmosphere than the party schools.  

Answer 2

USC!

Answer 3

USC, The Claremont colleges, Stanford, The UC's, and Cal Poly.  

Answer 4

it really depends on the major you want but some good ones are

uc berkeley

stanford

ucla

uc san diego

...all the uc's should be pretty good