My wife moved with me to start college out here. She got residence right away the first year we were here, and with in-state status, SDSU's cost for one full course load of classes was under 1000$ Its like 10K+ if you are out of state.
Also, all the community colleges here run 17$ per credit. Which is dirt, dirt cheap. So a lot of people get here, and just do CC for 2 years and then transfer to SDSU. That is your most cost efficient route...
I see that you mentioned PLNU. I live about a mile from there. Do your research. Every student there signs contracts saying that they will not drink, smoke etc. etc. If ANY student is seen even at a party with other people drinking, they are expelled. If they ever purchase alcohol, cigarettes or anything. They are expelled...
So, while the school sits on top of the best stretch of reef breaks on the west coast, being a student there sounds really sh**y.... PLNU is a super christian school. Like, onward christian soldier type stuff, so if that is your cup of tea, then you would love it. But if you are looking to go to a normal school, dont even look there...
UCSD is the best obviously, cause their campus is litterally ON SCRIPPS and Blacks is basically on the campus. You can see waves from class. But UCSD is a lot moer expensive and MUCH harder to get into. USD is very expensive and private. SDSU is your typical big, party school with a decent academic program and a really good atheltic program. They have surf teams etc. too.
Hope that helps. But CA is designed for college. If you know when you are relocating, I advise sending some mail out to someone you know right away so you can get residency ASAP and use all the in-state benefits. Out of staters get bent over big time.
They let my wife claim residency the first week we got here. The school just forgot to verify. They asked how long we lived here, she said 14 months (LIE) and they just stamped the papers and we saved thousands... But I am sure we were the exceptions, not the rule. It typically takes exactly one year to claim residency...
Hope that helps.... SDSU is an easy choice. Fun school. Like every one of my friends out here is an alumni there, so I go to a lot of games and stuff. The only problem with SDSU is that its about a 15 minutes drive to the beach... and UCSD is on the sand...
But sh**, whats 15 minutes really?
And if you can afford it, do what every young american college kid in San Diego does...Go to SDSU, Live in Pacific Beach and commute 15 minutes to school so you can roll out of bed and walk to the surf every morning.... You will be happy with the trade off. Much better to live off campus at the beach if you do the SDSU thing...
Ohhh, and wrap it up, SDSU has a nickname "STD-SU"
