By Compiled by Kemi Akinwale, Mira Jang and Sherrie DeLaine

“Some college guides don’t tell you what it’s really like at college, so we surveyed a sprinkling of students who are in college now to get a sense of what their schools are like. We hope the following information will help you make your college decision. Remember, you are the final judge. You should visit any school you are really serious about attending. Note: the tuition fees listed here do not include room and board.

Barnard College
Location: New York City
2,274 undergrads
Tuition: $18,646
Acceptance rate: 49 percent
Attending Barnard College, a women’s school in New York City, helped build character and maturity for senior Elaine Kao, a psychology major from Arcadia, California. Barnard is filled with career-oriented, ambitious students with good professors and clubs and organizations to join. Most students live in dorms which she describes as okay. Diverse, politically correct, studious, liberal, and prestigious are some words to describe Barnard. Although there isn’t much of a campus since Barnard is in New York City, Elaine says that being in such an environment has made her more ambitious. She recalls falling on her rear-end after sliding through an ice patch as the funniest thing that happened to her in college.

California Lutheran University
Location: Thousand Oaks
2,963 undergrads
Tuition and fees: $12,040
California Lutheran University is a Division III school and Omar Perez wishes it was Division I because he plays football. Omar used the words studious, fun, and beautiful to describe his school. The classes are small and the dorms are fun. People are really friendly and the community is very safe. Omar does not regret moving away from home. Omar claims the student faculty ratio of 15:1 is the best thing about his school. The food isn’t as bad as he thought it would be. The weather is great with a 75 degree average year round.

Cal Poly State University San Luis Obispo
Location: San Luis Obispo
Fees for California residents: $1,859
Non-resident tuition: $7,380
The best thing about Cal Poly State University San Luis Obispo is that from the minute you get there, you receive hands-on experience. One student explained that as a pre-veterinary student the hands on experience is really necessary. You can also start on courses in your major from your first year.
Two freshmen said that the student body is conservative, narrow-minded and lacks diversity. They both say moving away from home has given them more independence. The social scene is calm and fraternities and sororities are popular among some people. The professors are good and very helpful. The small class sizes (25-30) encourage personal attention. Architecture, agriculture and engineering are really strong departments at Cal Poly. Thu Nguyen encourages business majors to go to another school.

California State University of Los Angeles
Location: Los Angeles
Fees for California residents: $1,575
Non-resident tuition: $7,380
Mark Valderrama likes Cal State LA because it offers him excellent research opportunities because the physics department is small. The professors are dedicated and CSLA is inexpensive. But he dislikes the lack of challenge and wishes he had moved away from home. His funniest experience: he showed up to school early one day after staying up all night. He fell asleep in front of the class and woke up three hours later and found his classmates leaving!

California State University at Northridge
Location: Northridge (in the San Fernando Valley)
Fees for California residents: $1,048
Non-resident tuition: $7,592
Ginny Zoraster liked California State University at Northridge because it allows her to be a college student and have a “real life” with a job in the field she wants to enter. As a freshman, Carolina Salas likes the people and the many events offered at CSUN. The downside of CSUN for Ginny is that it lacks a traditional college atmosphere. Ginny regrets not leaving home while Carolina likes being able to stay at home. Carolina feel that it is safe, even at night and Ginny encourages applicants to get involved.

Claremont McKenna
Location: Claremont, California
877 undergrads
Tuition: $17,140
Acceptance rate: 42 percent
Claremont McKenna has tough classes but there are lots of parties. It also has a strong Christian fellowship. Hans Leung said that people don’t have to go to frat parties because “the whole school is one big party.” The professors are really caring and funny. Campus food and dorms are pretty good. Hans says “McKenna’ll help with recommendations [for jobs] and stuff.” His funniest experience was when some girls from another college took a bath in a fountain at his school.

Columbia University
Location: New York City
3,518 undergrads
Tuition: $19,068
Acceptance rate: 25 percent
A third-year, double-major student in pre-med and economics at Columbia University, Yong Joon Jang describes the Ivy League school as tough, diverse, intense, liberal, prestigious, and a party school. Located in New York City, Columbia offers small class sizes, convenient dorm arrangements, and many clubs and organizations for students to join. However, fraternities and sororities are fairly small and athletics isn’t a major part of students’ lives. Academics is the main focus for most. But when students want to unwind, West End Bar located near campus is a popular choice as well as the on-campus pool-hall. The music scene covers a wide spectrum of tastes with techno being a favorite among the many who are into the New York club scene. Although an expensive choice, leaving Los Angeles’ sunny weather for New York’s mostly cold to freezing temperatures was worth the unexpected exposure to life that Columbia provided. He suggests that applicants visit the campus because students either love it or hate it.

Humboldt State University
Location: Arcata
Fees for California residents: $1,676
Non-resident tuition: $7,380
Michelle Yeung thinks the best things about Humboldt State University are the “wonderful professors [and] small classes” The dorms and food are pretty cool and many bands come to play at Humboldt. Michelle likes the friendly people at Humboldt and would recommend Humboldt to others. It is located by a beach and forest. She thought it was pretty funny when someone stole her mattress on Halloween because they thought she stole their cigarettes.

Mills College
Location: Oakland
860 undergrads
Tuition: $14,542
Acceptance rate: 82 percent
Gabrielle Glorious, a freshman, really likes this women’s school because the classes are small (15 people) and students get a lot of personal attention. The campus is beautiful and the dorms feel like home. Gabrielle also said the classes are challenging and tough. The best class she’s taken is “Women in Contemporary Society,” which teaches women how to be strong. Her advice to applicants is to be ready to make a serious commitment to studying.

Occidental College
Location: Los Angeles
1,563 undergrads
Tuition: $16,894
Acceptance rate: 59 percent
Josie Valderrama majored in history at Occidental College. The best part of Occidental for her were the liberal professors. They were inspiring and helpful with great lecture topics. Most students lived in dorms and the dorms were “fun, communal, and friendly.” Josie feels that you need a car because there isn’t much in Eagle Rock. The frat parties are popular for beer drinkers. She feels she would have done better at a “more free-spirited, liberal and larger campus.” She described Oxy as “lacking in a mature social environment and while the administration is trying hard to push multiculturalism, students are CLUELESS.” Josie regrets not moving away from home.
As a freshman with a possible major in sociology at Occidental, Jennifer Kambara said the people are cool and the professors are available to help students. The classes are small (15-20 students) and the student body is pretty diverse: 60 percent white, 40 percent minority. The dorms range from beautiful to ugly. The organizations are many and diverse. Another thing Jennifer likes about Oxy is that she gets to be away and close to home at the same time. Jennifer also feels that the classes at Occidental are excellent.

Princeton University
Location: Princeton, New Jersey
4,538 undergrads
Tuition: $20,960
Acceptance rate: 14 percent
Princeton University has a pretty weird social scene. It’s monopolized by eating clubs kind of like fraternities and sororities but no one lives there and it’s coed. Andrea Au is a senior majoring in history and feels the classes are “tough.” The professors are very open to student suggestions and are quite approachable. She says the worst thing about Princeton is that “many people have a sense of inferiority because there are so many bright people.” The food is okay and most people live in dorms. Princeton is near New York and the campus is medium-sized. There isn’t much sun and there is some snow. The student population is pretty diverse. Andrea doesn’t regret moving away from home but moving in and out at the beginning and end of each year is a hassle because she lives so far away.

San Diego State University
San Diego State is located in a beautiful city. But according to Ginny it is a major party school. Drinking and partying are rampant. The off-campus dorms were pretty nice and the weather is great. Ginny feels she should have based her decision more on the school than the city.

Stanford
Location: Palo Alto (northern California)
6,561 undergrads
Tuition: $18,669
Acceptance rate: 20 percent
Aracely Tamayo feels that one of the best things about Stanford is that there’s a place for everyone. If you like partying, there are parties and if you’re into studying, there are study groups. The worst thing about Stanford is that’s it’s hard to get off campus, even though San Francisco is only 45 mintues away. She says that people believe that students at Stanford don’t date. Well they do, but it may be on a lesser scale than at other schools. Fraternities and sororities are kind of popular and there are a lot of theme parties, in addition to art exhibitions and speakers. Dorms vary in quality. Aracely says Stanford is a strong school in all areas because there are really good professors in everything. It’s also a great school for undergrads.

University of Arizona
Location: Tucson, Arizona
26,468 undergrads
Tuition for non-residents: $7,500
Acceptance rate: 85 percent
Class sizes at the University of Arizona vary from 30 to 150. Ming Woo thinks the food on campus is “crap on a plate.” But the dorms are a lot of fun. The Greek system isn’t really popular. U. of Arizona has a pretty good basketball team. Ming Woo advised college applicants to pick a school strong in your major.

University of California at Berkeley
Location: Berkeley
21,138 undergrads
Tuition for California residents: $4,623
Acceptance rate: 40 percent
UC Berkeley lecture have 200-700 students. Michelle Kambara says it has given her a good education and encourages applicants to “go for it.” Dalia Martinez thinks that UC Berkeley is “diverse and the campus is beautiful.” The people are great but the dorm food sucks. The professors are pretty good. Her worst experience was sleeping one and half hours before she took two finals. Michelle says moving away from home made her grow up and Dalia said it made her appreciate her mom more. Dalia said it rains a lot up there and you don’t really need a car because everything is in walking distance. The social scene is pretty active and fraternities and sororities are popular.

University of California at Los Angeles
Location: Los Angeles
23,619 undergrads
Tuition for California residents: $3,894
Acceptance rate: 50 percent
Everyone agrees that UCLA is crowded and many students have a hard time handling its size. One of the major disadvantages of its size is the difficulty in taking classes you want. But it also challenging, competitive and prestigious. It is surrounded by a beautiful city and has many academic support groups. The social scene is pretty active and the fraternities and sororities are popular. Lena Hicks says that the media department is top quality. One student liked the fact that “the guys are pretty cute”. Margarita Sandoval said don’t come to UCLA “if you’re not used to the big city.”

University of California at San Diego
Location: La Jolla
14,320 undergrads
Tuition for California residents: $3,988
Acceptance rate: 64 percent
A history major at UC San Diego, first-year student Kahl Jones says her school is diverse, politically correct, conservative, prestigious, and somewhat hard. A San Diego native, Kahl lives in an apartment while most first and second-year students live in dorms which she describes as “small.” She says the food is “revolting,” the guys are “ugly,” and the professors are “dull.” Students don’t date but rather just hang out together or have sex. The social scene is limited with an unpopular Greek system. Pacific Beach and Tijuana, Mexico are popular destinations for students who want to drink. Many local bands play on campus. Classes can be as large as 200.
First-year student Miranda Kwong enjoys the independence she received after moving from Los Angeles to San Diego. She lives in an apartment on campus and likes the food there even though it is always the same thing. The professors give interesting lectures although classes can be packed with too many students. There are clubs and organizations to join, and people do date. Students gossip and talk about lectures and where to spend their weekends. Rock, alternative, hip-hop, and R & B describe the music scene. Miranda likes the environment and beautiful setting of her school. She finds herself studying a lot since partying is not always an option.

University of California at Santa Barbara
Location: Santa Barbara
15,525 undergrads
Tuition for California residents: $4,098
Acceptance rate: 83 percent
One of the great things about UCSB is that it is close to the beach and Los Angeles. The professors are boring and the dorm food is pretty monotonous. The Greek system isn’t really strict or defined and there are a lot of random parties at Isla Vista. Katie Zoraster feels that the people there are unfriendly and don’t care about studies. Class sizes range from 30 – 800.

University of Southern California
Location: Los Angeles
14,918 undergrads
Tuition: $17,560
Acceptance rate: 72 percent
Niguel Merritt, a senior majoring in accounting, felt USC was cool because he thought the strong alumni support would make it easier to get a job. The social scene is very alive and fraternities and sororities are popular. He said the worst thing about USC is that its location isn’t safe. Junior Deborah Perez, architecture major, agreed. But Deborah thinks USC has a great marching band. Julie Carmans, a senior, described the dorms as “disgusting” and the social scene as wild and out of control. She said the worst thing about USC is that it is too politically correct.
Irma Padillo, a junior with a double major in broadcast journalism and Spanish, likes USC because says it good academics. Claudia Tejada said the professors are “very friendly, professional and helpful.” The five people who filled out the survey about USC disagreed about the quality of education it offers. Some said it was mediocre and some said it was excellent. Claudia and Irma both encouraged applicants to take their studies seriously because the classes are way too expensive to fool around. (Everyone complained about the expense.) They also said that USC needs more minorities because it lacks diversity.

Wellesley
Location: Wellesley, Massachusetts
18,705 undergrads
Tuition for California residents: $18,705
Acceptance rate: 38 percent
Erica Camacho is a junior at Wellesley with a double major in economics and math. She says the best thing about Wellesley is the diverse student body. There are a lot of international students, along with economic diversity. The worst thing is the intense, hostile competition. On the other hand, the dorms are friendly. People leave their things outside of the doors and in the morning they’re still there. One time she left her jewelry on the counter in the bathroom and when she went there a week later it was still there. Wellesley is prestigious and its name opens a lot of doors. The school offers good financial aid packages. Wellesley is a women’s school so if you want to have a real social life you have to go off campus. There are buses that take you into Boston and other nearby cities.
Erica Rosales, who may major in international relations, thinks Wellesley is great because of all the personal attention given to students, which helps with the difficult academics. It also has a very beautiful campus. The dorms are great because they look like castles and there is a lot of space. The dining hall has a fresh salad bar and you can always go get something to eat. Erica says moving away from home helped her realize her capabilities. She encourages people to apply because it’s one of the best schools in the country for women.”