Well Ive recently grown tired of living in BFE aka south mississippi and me and a friend have decided to transfer schools and attend college in california
The only problem is that we know no one that lives there and we dont really know much about the different areas that we could move to and what not (UC Santa Barbara has looked the best so far)
If you guys could point me in the right direction in good schools combined with a good living area and what seems to be the main concern affordability, im all ears ( ive heard of the insane real estate prices but also have heard jobs pay much more then here)
So guys some advice please I plan to move by the end of summer and I need all the help I can get :help

SUp man, I'm goin to UC Riverside next fall and have lived in Cali my entire life. When you come here expect lots of high taxes, high gas prices, decent pay, and EXPENSIVE housing. Depending on your income bracket, you can figure out where you wanna go. SB is good school, a little on the party side, but area is $$$$$. UCLA, forget about it, hard to get in and crowded. Living could be cheaper depending on where in LA you go. Riverside, kinda out in the boonies, but that means open roads and relitivly cheap housing. Cheapest on campus housing of te UC's. There are of couse the Cal States. But there is so much to explain. Ill just PM you my phone number and you can just call me. oo much crap to write in a message. Lates man!

If school is the most important, what do you intend on studying? That would narrow it down some at least.

I live in the Santa Barbara area and if you want to come to California and have a descent amount of cash or could find a descent paying job, then this is the place to go. The best weather and you are away from the big city worries. It's a really laid back beach town here. The Isla Vista area (more than likely you will be staying there if you go to UCSB) is a party zone (drugs) and so I don't know what you think about that. I'd really recommend coming out here but beware the rent will be much higher than elsewhere. The crappiest house that looks like a dumpster here can't be bought for less than $500,000 so rent is pretty scary. But that aside, UCSB is where its at. Oh and you won't be getting any kills here either and there aren't any ricers. The only rice freaks are students (hs/college) who have semi-complete (bodykit only and a fart can exhaust) "rockets".

I used to live in the LA area (Valencia) and although that was a cool place, I can't imagine living anywhere else in the United States. I got the beach on one side, mountains on the other, and islands across the channel. It's great living here, and overall, it's great to live in California. To be honest, the rest of the U.S. seems kind of weird....anyways....good luck!

Honestly at this rate we should just sell the rest of the county to Mexico and Canada.

Stay out of San Diego please.

Well yeah like said above it depends on what you wanna do... Norcal is better :dunno

Socal > the world

Hollywood is your place :)

I would second UCSB as a nice place to go to. Good mix of people/ethnicities, dedicated party zone (isla vista), good academic reputation (US News college rankings) and a student body that stays relatively local on the weekends. Or do they? (i didn't go there...only had friends that went there). My friends little sister is currently there.

What year are you guys?

Honestly I would concentrate mostly on what school is best for your major and education and work from there. If you have to live in a crappy place but go to a school that will benefit you in the long run then I say so be it. I have lived in both NorCal (lived there most my life) and SoCal (currently living in crap ass Riverside because going to UC Riverside). Both are nice but I prefer NorCal do to a number of reasons (less smog, less traffic, better roads, less bums, etc.) But I have to admit that there are many places in SoCal that are really nice as well. Decide which school is best for you and work from there.

UCI & Irvine > rest of cali

UCI has no social life

UCI has no social life

its what you make of it

UCI has no social life

Ahh.

But with 5,775 asian chicks.......you can -make- one. :D

I moved to the bay area about 10 months ago. So here it goes again: bring a big big wallet, rent is through the roof around here. Actually, everything is pretty expensive over here. Oh, you might get a thing for asian chicks.... It's happening to me! Oh, this place is definitely NOT mississippi...

If school is the most important, what do you intend on studying? That would narrow it down some at least.
I'm with him.

Here are the top schools by region (Northern CA, Central Coast, Southern CA area):

NorCal: UC Berkeley and Stanford are 2 of the best schools in the nation. Expect to pay tons of $ for Stanford tuition. it is located in Silicon Valley, where prices are high (if you're looking to BUY a house), but cheaper rentals are available. UCB is a great place to go--very diverse city, really close to San Francisco. Rental prices have dropped in recent years, but I don't know if they have come back up.

Central Coast: Cal Poly SLO ("Harvard of the West") is a great school for Business, Architecture and Engineering. Not as diverse of a place, and a really quiet area. Poly is in the middle of nowhere, so be prepared to be bored. SB is only 90 miles south, so feel free to drive down there every weekend to party (I did). The good thing about Cal Poly is, it's a Cal State school (cheaper), but the education level and the school name is better than most UCs. UCSB is also getting better known for its Business school.

SoCal: UCLA, USC, Caltech. Everyone knows the #1 ranked football USC Trojans, and the school is pretty good too. UCLA is probably the best public school in the LA area.

Personally, I prefer the Bay Area to all other parts of CA.

Honestly at this rate we should just sell the rest of the county to Mexico and Canada.

Stay out of San Diego please.
agreed. i am tired of it taking me 3 hours to drive to mission valley/northpark from downtown LA.

Socal > the world

Hollywood is your place :)
if you do that; i may offer to sublet you my place in hollywood.

but if that doesnt work out, dont come here either- we also dont need more traffic

:firedevil

Central Coast: Cal Poly SLO ("Harvard of the West").
:rofl x00010101010101


thanks for the good laugh.

Socal > the world

Hollywood is your place :)

For Sure.

if you can get into UCLA/Berkley go because of the rep.. UCSD is the best UC for sciences (aside from Berkley) but UCSB (my old school) is great in every way... SB is chill too, people who come here from bigger cities tend to be put off by the laid back attitude at first, but almost everyone falls for the partying their first year, and the city and lifestyle by the time they leave... Having lived here my whole life and going to LA and Irvine very very often, I would much rather live in SB for school...

oh yeah.. the only downside of Berkley is the LOCATION, socal should become its own state because its that much better (IMO :D )

Yeah, NoCal sux. They are just weird, not like Californians....stay out of there unless you are asian. Come to SB and chill...

thanks for the feedback guys
from what you guys said it seems that SB is what I thought, a laid back town with a good school which is great! because we are as laid back as it gets.. But you guys are scaring me on the price of living :eek: :) How much would it be for a decent two bedroom apartment?
Also my major is probably going to be Engineering going into my second year and my friend is going into his third.... we plan on going to a community college for as long as it takes to get in state tuition (hopefully a year or less) because theres no way we can afford the out of state cost
As for a job we are pretty good with car audio and electronics so circuit city or best buy seems like the best bet .... Anyone know how much they pay?? (here they start at 8 an hour)
Keep the suggestions coming we need all the help we can get :D

2 bedroom around here is about 2000 or more a month.

sb cant be any cheaper, considering the location.

Ok, well I am deeply considering santa barbara. If nothing else comes up I will try to go there. Planning on going to santa barbara city college until I can get into UCSB in-state. First, how much do some jobs around there start out at? circuit city or somthing of the sort. Also, does anyone have any good ideas of apartments to live in that are in the area and are nice for a decent price. Or any suggestions for a good job in the area. Also, is it just rent that is expensive over there, or is everything expensive. Ex: price of gas, average cost of a meal, average utilities or electric bill, if someone here has a one or 2 bed apt.
If you need some info on me to help where I may want to live. I am not a huge partier, but I do like to have fun. I probably enjoy my car more than anything. I am pretty smart, but not enought to get into UCLA or Berkley. I got a 29ACT and 1280 SAT and have a 3.71gpa. I can't wait to go surfing. I have lived on the water my whole life and don't want to leave it, that's why I want to go to a school on the coast. Never been surfing, but I like watersports and enjoy scubadiving, but guess I'll take up surfing instead of scuba, guess it'll be cheaper anyway. I am probably going to go mechanical engineering. My buddy isn't quite sure but has been leaning towards business of some sort, or international business, I really don't know.
Also, my buddy's g/f may be coming and she's a masseuse(sp?) Are there any resorts in the area or country clubs, that she could get a job at?

Any info is helpful, and thanks for all the input so far.

Ok, well I am deeply considering santa barbara. If nothing else comes up I will try to go there. Planning on going to santa barbara city college until I can get into UCSB in-state. .

if you go to SBCC you might not want to leave.. best campus i have ever been too, it makes it hard to study with the beach right there.. girls everywhere. If you go to CC there is plenty of apartment housing full of students within a couple of blocks.. rent can vary (expensive everywhere in cali) between 600 (room) - 2500 (two maybe three bdrms). Gas is expensive here, that is for sure, there are plenty of crappy jobs avail. in the downtown area, there is a circuit city, not many major chains though (aside form cc. and compusa) you could also always work at Costco.

There are many private golf clubs in town as well as resorts, being that the area is generally pretty wealthy. Biltmore/Bacara/Country clubs. If you really have some more questions you can send me a PM, I am a SB lifer (25 yrs) and can give you some more info.

yes, go to UCSB if you want to contract HIV/Herpes/The Clap/Hemorrhoids/Fleas/ and urinary tract infections just by LOOKING at the first 3 girls you meet.

Well I'm sure you can find good ones and bad ones everywhere.

no, 75% of UCSB students have an STD.

no, 75% of UCSB students have an STD.

be fair... its more like 65% :D

there are no STDs at UCSD (ugly chicks of san diego) because no one has been able to solve the differential equation of getting laid, but in all seriousness.. IV is often called "HIV" and all I can say is that white girls are easy and UCSB is the most predominantly white school in Cali!! therefore safe sex is the key

after that being said, the girls are still hot and the school is still awesome

move to compton.....i here its nice this time of year.


muahaha

Surprised no one has mentioned UC Santa Cruz. Some of the best BMW roads in the State just an hour south of San Francisco. My daughter had a room in Aptos with a view of the Pacific for about $700 a month. Even a good BMW garage in Capitola owned by an old racer buddy, Joe Valle (Valle Automotive.)