This Week in Education Norcal College Roadtrip

Too Close to Home?




On the summer's college trip, my daughter fell in love with USC. She also knew that she was applying to San Diego State University. I was hoping for a college closer to home. My wife and I had our children later in  life. We planned very meticulously for them and the quality of their experiences. 

Tommy Trojan at USC

That was especially true for their educational development. We both taught at one of the highest performing schools in our district. We also knew the best teachers at that school and placed both children in the best classes. When they got to high school, they were ready to go. My daughter knew that we were striving to make sure that college was on the horizon. She accepted the challenge and took all the advanced placement classes she was allowed. Her first year the only course she didn't get an A in was physical Education.  She wasn't a fast enough runner to meet the time requirement of the PE teacher's grading system. She made the junior varsity girls soccer team. But could not run a mile in the prescribed time.  So, she was short of a 5.0 GPA.  She was accepted into the school's leadership class.  She even became an Associated Student Body officer, secretary.  She joined service organizations like Friday Night Live and volunteered at local elementary schools.  So when she said that USC was her first choice, we thought there was an actual chance.  
But my dream, being a graduate of California State University Sacramento, wanted her to move up to a more prestigious school.  For me I wanted her to go to Stanford.  It is closer to home.  No more than two hours even in bad traffic.  Therefore, we needed to go on a second college road trip in Northern California.  
Our first stop was San Jose State.  This school has been a strong destination for Norcal students.  Its campus is located in downtown San Jose.  It is a major urban setting.  The campus is surrounded by an older residential area.  An interesting fact on the tour meant very little to most of the prospective college bound students and even some of their parents. There is a statue of Tommie Smith and Juan Carlos.  Having lived in the 1960's I recognized the pose that the figures were taking.  In 1968 at the Mexico City Olympics, these two athletes chose to strike a controversial pose.  Many people thought that this was too political for the Olympics venue.  The action was greatly misinterpreted.  

The reason that the statue is present there is because the two American sprinters were students at San Jose State at the time. We finished with that day's tour and were ready for our next college tour.
The following morning we were ready for the Stanford.  There is something to say for tradition.  Stanford is oozing with tradition.  We went there in October and they were midst of a very successful football season. this added to the mystic tour.  Stanford had famous alumni in several different fields.  Sports figures include John Elway to Tiger Woods.  In politics there has been a President, four Supreme Court justices, four US Senators, and even presidents of other countries.  Business were dreamed up at Stanford from HP computer, Netflix, and also Trader Joe's.  There are countless number of actors and actresses.  Who wouldn't want there child to attend Stanford not that it guarantees success but because of the prestige that comes with attending there.  The campus was beautiful.  My daughter was enthused about a chance of attending this University. 

Stanford University

Sigourney Weaver,  Gretchen Carlson, 
Ted Koppel and Rachel Maddow walked here too.

Stanford known as the Farm

Hoover Tower

Banana Slug

The following day we headed out over the Coastal Range on the San Fransisco Peninsula toward the northern part of Monterey Bay to visit University California Santa Cruz.  This school is situated on a redwood forested bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean.  We caught the shuttle bus that took us up the hill to the campus itself.  My son was a little more excited about this location.  It was his type of laid back atmosphere.  Plus he was excited to learn that their engineering school had a robotic engineering degree.  He realized that he would need to attend a community college and then transfer. The campus was Earthy and woodsy. This was not my daughter's idea of college.  Her idea of camping is room service at a Hilton.  The UCSC mascot is the banana slug. You would think no one would be cheering "Go banana slugs!"  However, the students are proud to share their environment with this Santa Cruz native.  

I was glad to see this. I had sore feet.

Robot engineering got my son's interest

Buildings are so environmental friendly their modular construction would allow them to be removed.

"Somewhere high on a mountaintop down by the deep blue sea," Jesse Winchester sung in "Nothing But A Breeze."

Next San Fransisco State was on the itinerary.  My wife and I lived and worked in San Fransisco.  Luckily we worked downtown and not in the Avenues.  Why is that lucky?  Have you ever heard the Mark Twain quote, "The coldest winter I've ever spent was a summer in San Fransisco."  Well, unless you have ever visited there in the summer or lived there you don't understand the dynamic that happens because of the cold ocean water.  It is cold and foggy especially in those areas near the ocean.  that is where San Fransisco State is located.  Anyone who knows San Fransisco knows that the City, what Northern Californians call San Fransisco, has its best weather in April and October.  We went in October.  It was right after a previous day that had a light rain.  The puffy white clouds were floating by and the temperature was perfect.  I told my kids that this was a warm day for this area of San Fransisco. The tour was the most athletic tour we took.  All campus tour guides walk backwards pointing out the sights and disseminating valuable information about the school and what is needed to enroll.  The young lady that was our tour could have beaten a world class sprinter and do it backwards.  The school would have been adequate, but it was plopped in the middle of an urban setting.  

San Fransisco State

Student Union Building resembles a ship wreck

Subterranean Lighting

Lastly University California Davis was on deck.  This school is closet to our current home.  We are only 45 minutes away.  Many students who attend this University from our area commute.  This saves on money needed for living in a residence hall.  But realistically, I suppose that would diminish the college experience.  However, many of my daughter's friends are applying to UCD.  Therefore, it was a school that she was interested in.  The top nine percent of California high school students receive an automatic invite at one of the University California campuses.  She was notified that through criteria she could attend University California Riverside.  This is a Southern California school and we didn't have it on our radar.  She was not enthused about that school as a choice.  But that information gave her solace that she had the qualifications to go to a UC school.

Hold the pepper spray

Pedestrian beware bicycle lanes are for bikes

Davis has been known as a school where students use bicycles for the major transportation mode.  We also found because of the size of the campuses many schools also use the bicycles to get from class to class.  Davis's bicycle use is extended into the town of Davis itself.  So, why mention this?  My daughter failed when she was a child riding a two wheeler.  When she had training wheels, she was okay.  As soon as the wheels were raised or taken off she kept falling over.  So, now my daughter wants a bicycle and wants to learn to ride.  When you buy a bike now, do they give you lessons?  I am too old now to run behind a bicycle to help hold it up.
Now you know all the schools that we visited.  I wanted to make sure my kids could make a choice that worked for them.  Would they accept her at all these schools and which one would she pick.  Next week in This Week in Education, we will show you the school that she will attend in the Fall of 2012.