On the Road to College with Betsy Woolf – San Diego’s 3 Universities

*The last time I visited the University of San Diego, I toured a beautiful mission-style campus overlooking Mission Bay, and that has not changed. The emphasis is on the three Cs: collaboration, creativity and critical thinking in its schools of business administration, engineering and arts and sciences. The core curriculum includes one year of college writing and the study of ethics, and over 75% of students study abroad. Will new things be happening at this Catholic campus of 5700 undergrads that is 55% female, 48% Catholic and 44% from California? Stay tuned as a new president has recently taken the helm.

*San Diego State University is all about spirit. A Division I university on the San Diego trolley line, SDSU has an enrollment of 30,000 undergrads and 5,000 grad students. The institution, which hosts a diverse student body, is one of the schools of the California State University system, and its out-of-state tuition is quite reasonable – $11,160. I saw a major construction project on campus, as the university is in the process of creating South Plaza, a mixed-use student housing and retail venue.

*The University of California at San Diego is a member of the University of California system, and the school year is divided into quarters. The 24,000 undergrad students on campus are housed among 6 residential colleges, each with its own emphasis and personality. The campus, surprisingly, is hilly and wooded, and there is a wonderful attitude here – from the house teetering at a dangerous angle atop the engineering building to the statue of the Cat in the Hat gracing the plaza outside the main library.

Copyright 2015. Betsy F. Woolf. All rights reserved.