What’s the difference between the 3 San Diego colleges?

[Anonymous]

UCSD, San Diego State, University of San Diego. Our DD is interested in studying journalism (at least for now) and is trying to discern between the 3. Any perspective on what each school is known for and what kind of students are happy where? PS: I should note our family is Jewish. Would USD be a bad choice if not Catholic?

[Anonymous]

UCSD = large public, out of state cost 65k, no aid
SDSU = large public, out of state cost mid 40s(?), no aid
USD = medium size Catholic, offers merit

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but USD has a reputation for having a gorgeous campus (you can see this online) whereas the others, meh.

You should probably find a forum specific to USD to ask your religion question. I suspect it would be a non-issue.
(You can find college specific forums at reddit and College Confidential, e.g. https://www.reddit.com/r/USD/, https://talk.collegeconfidential.com/c/colleges-and-universities/university-of-san-diego/444)

San Diego is a biotech hub and, accordingly, bio-related majors would be the thing to study at UCSD. Other than that, it's very hard to imagine how UCSD would be worth the out of state cost. UCs (and possibly the CSUs as well) have a reputation for overcrowding, difficulty getting classes, and difficulty graduating on time.

[Anonymous]

SDSU is the biggest and the biggest party school of the three; UCSD is a large public but doesn't have the big sports focus that UCLA/Cal have; in terms of campuses, USD, UCSD, then SDSU. Of the three, UCSD has the best academic reputation. USD is Jesuit, for what it's worth, so it's likely not "too" Catholic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:SDSU is the biggest and the biggest party school of the three; UCSD is a large public but doesn't have the big sports focus that UCLA/Cal have; in terms of campuses, USD, UCSD, then SDSU. Of the three, UCSD has the best academic reputation. USD is Jesuit, for what it's worth, so it's likely not "too" Catholic.

To clarify, USD is not Jesuit, though nonetheless, it's probably not "too" Catholic.

OP, maybe this will help? https://hillelsd.org/usd/

[Anonymous]

UCSD has excellent medical school if you can get in.

[Anonymous]

I'm from San Diego. SDSU is a party state school. Not somewhere a top student would have gone. UCSD is a good school, but not the best of the UC's. USD just kind of random - attracts same people that any other mid-ranking private school would attract.

[Anonymous]

How would UCSD compare with UMD and UVA?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How would UCSD compare with UMD and UVA?

It is the UMBC / George Mason of California.

That said, CA is so so different from the dmv. You have the whole JC/ cal state/ UC system. Berkeley is the UVA/ UMD but it is so overcrowded and impossible to get into the classes you need to graduate. Not everyone can pay for a third year at UCB after two years of JC. The people I knew who went to UCSD were extremely hardworking, ambitious first gen children of immigrant pa who wanted to be scientists/doctors and cure cancer kind of people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How would UCSD compare with UMD and UVA?

It is the UMBC / George Mason of California.

That said, CA is so so different from the dmv. You have the whole JC/ cal state/ UC system. Berkeley is the UVA/ UMD but it is so overcrowded and impossible to get into the classes you need to graduate. Not everyone can pay for a third year at UCB after two years of JC. The people I knew who went to UCSD were extremely hardworking, ambitious first gen children of immigrant pa who wanted to be scientists/doctors and cure cancer kind of people.

not even close to being true.

[Anonymous]

The whole UC system is so good, you can’t make comparisons to the Md or VA university systems. Berkeley and UCLA are the top two, but UCSD is a great uni and are superior to many state flagships.

Op, where do you live? I think only UCSD would have a well know rep on the east coast.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How would UCSD compare with UMD and UVA?

It is the UMBC / George Mason of California.

That said, CA is so so different from the dmv. You have the whole JC/ cal state/ UC system. Berkeley is the UVA/ UMD but it is so overcrowded and impossible to get into the classes you need to graduate. Not everyone can pay for a third year at UCB after two years of JC. The people I knew who went to UCSD were extremely hardworking, ambitious first gen children of immigrant pa who wanted to be scientists/doctors and cure cancer kind of people.

UCSD is better than the George Mason of California. It also gets more applications than UVA and UMD combined.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How would UCSD compare with UMD and UVA?

It is the UMBC / George Mason of California.

That said, CA is so so different from the dmv. You have the whole JC/ cal state/ UC system. Berkeley is the UVA/ UMD but it is so overcrowded and impossible to get into the classes you need to graduate. Not everyone can pay for a third year at UCB after two years of JC. The people I knew who went to UCSD were extremely hardworking, ambitious first gen children of immigrant pa who wanted to be scientists/doctors and cure cancer kind of people.

UCSD is better than the George Mason of California. It also gets more applications than UVA and UMD combined.

UCSD research expenditures are greater than UMD and UVA combined as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How would UCSD compare with UMD and UVA?

It is the UMBC / George Mason of California.

That said, CA is so so different from the dmv. You have the whole JC/ cal state/ UC system. Berkeley is the UVA/ UMD but it is so overcrowded and impossible to get into the classes you need to graduate. Not everyone can pay for a third year at UCB after two years of JC. The people I knew who went to UCSD were extremely hardworking, ambitious first gen children of immigrant pa who wanted to be scientists/doctors and cure cancer kind of people.

UCSD is better than the George Mason of California. It also gets more applications than UVA and UMD combined.

UCSD research expenditures are greater than UMD and UVA combined as well.

And the Maryland boosters like to mention world university rankings. In QS world rankings, UCSC is 54, Maryland is 152, and UVA is 217.

[Anonymous]

This thread is ample evidence that NOVA / East Coasters are sheltered. UCSD is comparable to UVA, not UMBC or George Mason. That comparison is ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

UCSD grad, CA native here. Lots of misinformation in this thread. The UC system ranks higher than the Cal State system. USD is a lovely private Jesuit school. As for the poster saying the UCSD campus is ugly, I have fond memories of watching the La Jolla cliffs hangliders from my classes in Muir as well as walking through eucalyptus groves on my way to the iconic library. Former friends and classmates went on to be stars in their fields... some doctors, some lawyers, some bio chem researchers, others part of San Diego’s rise in technology (Paul Jacobs / Qualcomm ring a bell?). It’s a great school but realize that recent changes have made it harder to get in to the UC schools from out of state.