Crosstown in Southern California

Osprey

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My DS and I are headed to LA and San Diego in January and are planning to visit some colleges while we are there (we are out of state, but in an area that is part of the Western Student Exchange). If he doesn’t get into USAFA he is looking at AFROTC. We will be visiting USC (probably too expensive, but want to check out because of crosstown possibilities), Cal State Long Beach, and possibly a few others in the LA area. Will also be checking out SDSU in San Diego. Anyone have experience going crosstown to USC from Cal State Long Beach or other LA school? Or crosstown to SDSU from another institution in San Diego County? Doable or not? And, is transport provided/coordinated or are they on their own?
 
Cross town to usc COULD be difficult due to the high traffic in the area. Traveling a few miles could take over an hour in LA.
 
Crosstown is a tough proposition anywhere in SoCal, as the travel would likely occur in rush hour. Ditto for Silicon Valley.

OTOH, San Jose State is a host school, as is Sacramento State.

It appears to be a lot easier to go to Sacramento State from crosstown school UC Davis.
 
Suggest you speak with cadets from the school you are seeking to attend. They may have made carpool arrangements or in some cases the PMS may have cadre hold a few remote classes at your campus.
 
My DS and I are headed to LA and San Diego in January and are planning to visit some colleges while we are there (we are out of state, but in an area that is part of the Western Student Exchange). If he doesn’t get into USAFA he is looking at AFROTC. We will be visiting USC (probably too expensive, but want to check out because of crosstown possibilities), Cal State Long Beach, and possibly a few others in the LA area. Will also be checking out SDSU in San Diego. Anyone have experience going crosstown to USC from Cal State Long Beach or other LA school? Or crosstown to SDSU from another institution in San Diego County? Doable or not? And, is transport provided/coordinated or are they on their own?
Have you checked the AFROTC website about the crosstown schools? It looks like CSLB goes to Loyoloa Marymount or UCLA. LMU would be a lot closer to Long Beach that UCLA (or USC) and would be doable dependig on how often the cadets have to go up. There might be a bus. You should contact the unit directly (you can find this info at the AFROTC college locator page: https://www.afrotc.com/college-locator/
Also, keep in mind that USC does offer pretty good merit aid, so if your son is competitive for USAFA, he should also be in the running for merit aid. But you won't know the aid unless you apply.
Finally, have you looked at the Western Student Exchange school list? No LA or SD area schools are on the list: https://wuesavingsfinder.wiche.edu/search-results.php
 
USC isnt close to any of Cal State schools. Closest would be CAl State LA which is about 10 miles and 30-45 minutes with normal traffic. Long Beach is further out at 27 miles and 1 hour. CAl STate Northridge is 28 miles and about 1.5 hours. Distance between LB and Loyola is 26 miles or 1 hour. Distance between LB and UCLA is 34 miles or about 1.5 hours. Distance between UCLA and Loyola is 11 miles and about 1 hour. Most of my times are with heavy traffic
 
As a lifelong resident of Southern California, just avoid LA last all costs. Now of course if you get a full ride scholarship, there won't be any costs ;) Even then, I'm not sure I'd be willing to live in LA if I had other options. I liver in SD County, my wife went to SDSU and I worked for the City of SD for 29 years so I'm pretty familiar with the area. SD traffic gets worse every year but it will take another 10,000+ years to compare to LA traffic.
 
Thanks for the responses - crosstown does seem like an extra hurdle to avoid if possible. @k2rider, I’m with you on San Diego over LA (I lived in SD for several years) but want to show DS some variety while we are in So Cal. SDSU would be nice, but no western student exchange (WSE) - still more affordable than UC schools from out of state. Thought CSU Long Beach was on the WSE list, but it isn’t (bummer dude). Anyway, looking forward to a fun trip - will be interesting to see what DS thinks of LA LA land and San Diego.
 
We visited LMU and thought it was a beautiful cmapus. It's tucked away in a section of LA that is outside the usual traffic problems. And they are known for good merit aid. If you're hoping for ROTC, you can shoot for the more expensive schools.
 
Thanks @unknown@1961, looks like we might add LMU to the list and check it out over CSU Long Beach. Another friend just visited with their DD and liked it more than USC or UCLA.
 
Thanks @unknown@1961, looks like we might add LMU to the list and check it out over CSU Long Beach. Another friend just visited with their DD and liked it more than USC or UCLA.
It's a great school. We have friends whose son is there and we toured it this summer. When you're on campus, you feel like you're on an island in LA. The other school to look at in the area if you are going to fund the tuition with a scholarship is Pepperdine. It's set on its own little perch outside LA in beautiful surroundings. We also toured UCLA (only afforadble if my kid got ROTC, and a "reach" school), and it's setting impressed us. It's in Westwood and you can walk to whatever you want as a student and avoid the LA traffic known as he!!. :)
 
I’m with you on San Diego over LA (I lived in SD for several years)

I agree with SD trumping LA. SDSU is a host school for AFROTC, which will make DS's life a lot easier. Another pro for SD is that it is so military heavy so he will have many opportunities to experience the service (and benefit from the NEX, etc) before he commissions.

If he's looking at Navy as well (another great option for pilots), USD is the host school so he'd have to travel a few times a week. 8west will be busy in the morning while he's getting to USD but that's just San Diego traffic. San Diego is also a great city for mids as it's the life of 3rd fleet and much, much, more.
 
After-trip report. Confirmed that crosstown in LA would be a bad idea. Took 40 min to get to USC (10 miles) from the airport at 11am diring a holiday week. DS loved USC, liked LMU. Two very different campuses. USC was bigger and more centrally located. LMU was smaller and quieter. Next up was UCSD. Beautiful and expansive campus next to the ocean. Crosstown AFROTC at San Diego State would be too far for comfort. Possible, but would be a struggle. San Diego state was a big campus state school (with AFROTC on campus). DS did not really care for it. University of San Diego was impressive. Beautiful campus and great location with small class sizes (they said their max was 40 students). Crosstown with San Diego State would be very doable. Public transport is available and admissions staff indicated that carpools are common for those doing crosstown ROTC at SDSU.
 
I went to SDSU and commissioned from the Detachment there. A large portion of the detachment went to state but the next largest school was UCSD. It is around a 20-25 minute drive to morning LLAB. All the traffic in the morning flows towards the coast so it isn't a hard commute. We also had several cadets from USD. I would say that is around a 15 minute drive. I loved my time at Det 075. Historically the det gets a great allotment of pilot slots. Of the 16 cadets who went up for rated in my year group, 14 got pilot slots. It is very year dependent, but it seemed to always beat the national average. Feel free to shoot me a PM if you have any questions.
 
After-trip report. Confirmed that crosstown in LA would be a bad idea. Took 40 min to get to USC (10 miles) from the airport at 11am diring a holiday week. DS loved USC, liked LMU. Two very different campuses. USC was bigger and more centrally located. LMU was smaller and quieter. Next up was UCSD. Beautiful and expansive campus next to the ocean. Crosstown AFROTC at San Diego State would be too far for comfort. Possible, but would be a struggle. San Diego state was a big campus state school (with AFROTC on campus). DS did not really care for it. University of San Diego was impressive. Beautiful campus and great location with small class sizes (they said their max was 40 students). Crosstown with San Diego State would be very doable. Public transport is available and admissions staff indicated that carpools are common for those doing crosstown ROTC at SDSU.

Not sure if this is going to provide any value but maybe my $.00001c may provide some consideration... - Please, take this as a grain of salt:

During my last 14 months in the USN I served at Coronado teaching a specific group of men in a very elite group for the Navy - gives you an idea of what I did. I also split time with an elite group of Marines at Camp Pendleton. I was their Doc through both training locations, after being deployed for over 6 years with both Marine and Navy Spec Ops units. While my role may be unique my experience is not - hence my comments. As an fyi, I loved my time in the military and still have the closest friends in life from that time but that is another convo.

The USN knew I was getting out and I would not re-enlist even with the bonuses, etc. I was in a great spot for advancing in the USN but I was ready to make the move at 28 years of age. That said, I lived in La Jolla and was offered a job at UCSD as a Trauma Nurse. They held the job for 2 months waiting for me to separate. Why do I say this? San Diego, UCSD, USD and SDSU were instrumental in my later twenties. I was married, and am still - going on 27 years of marriage - and the life, outdoors activity - diving, tri-athalons, mountain biking, motorcycling, beach, DIVING - DIVING - DIVING, people, youth, military, law enforcement, tourism, and year round awesome weather is what I love about San Diego. I do not think you can go wrong with any of those Universities. USD, SDSU, UCSD and Point Loma are great schools. It really comes down to the 'FIT' for you.

Background - I went to San Diego City College (SDCC) during my last year in the USN to finalize a few classes then transferred into UCSD on a TAG agreement. I chose UCSD over SDSU based on the specific program I wanted and because I live 2.1 miles away vs. 8-E to College St./Ave for SDSU. During my first quarter at UCSD I realized, as a veteran, this may not be the right campus for me. Had a run-in with a very ignorant person that bragged about their 2.1 GPA and how they got to that school due to their race - sorry, I believe in merit and the argument did not go over well for that individual as they had no facts or basis, just their feelings - anyway, it is what it is. Additonally, I had a run in with another college student, mind you 19 year old, because they did not like my language in the gym working out. Lol. I was 27 and rolled out from three combat deployments and working out in Marine Corps and USN gyms. Additionally, I was a full time trauma nurse at USCD Level-1 Trauma Life Flight and had to endure kids telling me I was guttural. That is after I saved one to four peoples lives in 12 hours through triage and intubation. That was almost a weekly occurence. My 'exhaust' was at the campus gym which is the floor above the super computer building where I took the majority of my classes. A lot of those people knew who I was. I was still in reserves, with a combat mohawk approved high and tight, and was pretty high speed in class back then. I threw the curve off a few times to say the least on our blue book exams. This does not make me better than anyone else. I am just letting you know my experience - which overall was very good.

Additionally, this is not to discourage your DS - I want him to succeed and be great. Schools in Southern Cal are outstanding. Just make sure it FITS with you. It is a 4 year commitment. Once you sign the paperwork ensure you are bought in fully. UCSD is great on education, and I did excel in honors and had an opportunity (was accepted) to Harvard, but my best time on Friday and Saturday was at SDSU - College campus with a college life.

By the way I did not go to Harvard and also I am not a genius. I just work hard. Really, I work hard and am a team player. I realized at the age of 29 I was not able to live that college life fully due to a full time job and marriage but I can tell you my single friends that left the USN and USMC love, lived and graduated from SDSU. They loved that school and still love it.

Another example, when I call UCSD for a transcript or paperwork requirement that requires an authorization for work, a new job or a transcript request they ask my my student number and refer to me as a student number. When I call my graduate school they refer to me as a person by my first and last name. Big difference IMO. That just happened last week.

Simply put, we all take different routes. I took another route. I went to UCSD and graduated with honors. UCSD is very boring when it comes to college life - my opinion - based on my experience (Warren School). A very focused, very engineering based college. I got a degree in critical thinking. Not a degree in Chemistry and History of Science with a pre-med focus. That is what my diploma says but my _real_ degree was in critical thinking. If you want to talk more directly about those schools let me know. I can offer more information if you are interested. Sorry for the rant.... Had to get that off my chest.

Good luck and God Speed!
 
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