1. Survival Guide: The College Experience
Santa Fe High School
Jeremey Hunter
College and Career Pathways Advisor
Tri-Cities ROP

2. How to Choose a College
Do I want to go to a 2 year or 4 year college or a public/private school?
Consider the Environment of the school: school size, extra- curricular activities, sports, clubs, religious, commuter or residential school, etc.
How much will it cost to attend?
Am I eligible for scholarships?

3. How to Choose a College
Services and Programs. Choose a college that offers you the services you need and the programs you are interested in (Majors + Programs).
Environment of the geographical area: climate, things to do, work opportunities, is family there, etc.
Consider your Major and Costs. If you are unsure what you want to study, community college may be a better option for you.
Meeting College Requirements. Are you on the right track? –A-G, SAT/ACT, Personal Statement

4. Step 1: Thinking About Your Major
Research a few possible fields of study that you may want to pursue in college.
Majors/minors
It is perfectly fine—and sometimes advisable – to apply as “Undeclared”.
50% of college students change their major 1-3 times!
 Tips for choosing possible majors: Here are a few questions you should ask yourselves…
What are my favorite classes?
What are my favorite hobbies/extracurricular activities?
What do career/personality assessment tests usually suggest for me? (collegeboard.com; princetonreview.com)
What do I love doing?
Where do I see myself for the rest of my life?
What do I see myself doing for the rest of my life?

5. How to Choose a Major What are my favorite subjects in school?
Take courses in areas that appeal to you, and then think about which subject truly motivates you.
What do I like doing when I’m not in class?
Explore ROP courses.
MyMajors.com
Whodouwant2be.com
MyBigFuture.com
College Board

6. Impacted Majors
An impacted major is a major for which more students apply for than the school can accommodate. It is a classic example of when Demand exceeds Supply. When this occurs, the major becomes impacted and therefore is susceptible to higher standards of admission.

7. Impacted Majors
Cal State Long Beach: Most programs and majors are impacted.
Cal State LA: Biology, Business Administration, accounting, management, and marketing, child development, criminal justice, nursing
Cal State Dominguez Hills: No impacted majors/programs.

8. Desirable Majors to Study
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM)
Aerospace Engineers
Electrical Engineering
Biologists
Computer Programmers
Graphic Designers
Accountants

9. Step 2: Find a school that fits
Institution type
Public
Private
Vocational/specialized
4-year
2-year
Degrees offered
A.A., B.A., B.S., M.A., M.S., Ph.D., Certificates, etc.
Majors and minors offered
Do the majors offered match your interests?
Academic focus of campus
Theoretical vs. practical
Popular majors (and percentage of students in each major)
Geographic location:
Distance from home
In-state vs. out-of-state
Campus/enrollment size:
Large vs. small classes

10. •Four prominent systems in California:
College Options
•Four prominent systems in California:
• California State University (CSU/Cal State's)-23
• University of California (UC’s)-10
• CA Private Colleges & Universities-76
• Community Colleges-112

11. Community College Over 100 community colleges throughout California
Most community colleges offer open enrollment, meaning there are no GPA or testing requirement.
Most community colleges are two year institutions and offer Associate's Degrees.

12. Community College Rio Hondo College Citrus College
East Los Angeles College
Cypress College
North Orange County Community College
Glendale Community College
Mount San Antonio College
Fullerton College
Pasadena City College
Los Angeles City College

13. California State Universities
Four year, public university system based in California. With 23 campuses and nearly 479,000 students enrolled, it is one of the largest public university systems in America.
Quality teaching and instruction with a strong focus on practical, career based instruction.
Requires a minimum 2.0 GPA to apply, along with satisfactory performance on SAT/ACT examinations. Students with a 3.0 or higher are not required to to submit an SAT/ACT score.
Average tuition is $5,472 with roughly 80% of students receiving some sort of financial aid.

14. California State Universities
Chico East Bay
Monterey Bay San Luis Obispo San Francisco
Bakersfield Fresno Humboldt Sacramento Stanislaus
Channel Island Dominguez Hills San Bernardino Long Beach
Los Angeles
Northridge Pomona Fullerton San Diego San Marcos
Maritime Academy San Jose

15. University of California (UC)
Four-year, California-based, public university system with 10 campuses that serve over 250,000 students.
Strong academic focus on research and theory-based learning.
In addition to meeting the 3.0 minimum G.P.A. requirements, ALL undergraduate applicants are required to take the SAT/ACT examinations.
Average tuition for California residents is roughly $13,900 per year. This price does not include additional expenses such as books, room and board, or transportation.

16. University of California (UC)
Berkeley Davis Irvine
Los Angeles
Merced
Riverside San Diego
San Francisco
Santa Barbara Santa Cruz

17. Private Universities
Private universities are four-year institutions that are funded and operated independently, without government control.
Unlike public schools, private universities have somewhat free-reign to set their own admission policies which are often based additional factors beyond just academics. As a result, private universities tend to much more selective in their admission process.
Though it varies from institution to institution, tuitions at private universities, generally, tend to be higher than those at public universities.
Due to their relative selectiveness, private colleges and universities are often smaller and more intimate than public institutions.

18. Private Universities
Azusa Pacific University Pitzer College Biola University Santa Clara University University of the Pacific University of San Francisco Pepperdine University Occidental College Pomona College California Institute of Technology Loyola Marymount University Stanford University
Chapman University Harvey Mudd College Claremont McKenna College University of San Diego Whittier College California Baptist University University of La Verne Point Loma Nazarene University California Institute of the Arts University of Redlands Hope International University University of Southern California