During the Mid Semester Break, I had the opportunity to go down to Southern California and tour a variety of schools in the beautiful city of San Diego, California. The three schools I toured were the University of San Diego (USD), University of California San Diego (UCSD), and San Diego State University (SDSU). Each school had their own individual strengths that I hope to highlight. 

Before I talk about each college, let’s first talk about the beautiful San Diego area. San Diego has great weather all year round, which explains why so many young people look to get into colleges there. The location of San Diego is also great, offering access to the beach, Los Angeles, and Mexico. And, with over 1.3 million people living in the area, there are plenty of potential job opportunities for big companies.

The first college I visited was the University of San Diego. USD rests atop a gigantic hill that allows for a great view of the many wonders that the city of San Diego holds. As a Catholic school, USD has a chapel on campus that was one of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. The tour guides spoke about the wide variety of clubs on campus, which eased my mind knowing that I would be able to find like-minded people to befriend. USD is a great school with good academics, a beautiful campus, and an extremely vibrant student life. In my opinion, it’s a school worth considering, and especially visiting if you’re in the San Diego area.

The next college that I visited was the University of California San Diego. The University of California (UC) system is one of, if not the most prestigious college systems in the United States. UCSD is no outlier. They pride themselves on their status as a top five research university in the world.  UCSD also has access to millions of materials through the UC system. The entire UC system library is available to UCSD students, and allows them to look for academic papers, textbooks, and any other kind of information that they could possibly need to do quality research. But even if the UC library somehow doesn’t have what a student needs, he or she can make a request for the school to purchase the desired material, at which point it will be added into the library for every student in the UC system to access at any time. As someone who is very interested in research opportunities, this is a big pull factor for me.

The last school that I visited was San Diego State University. SDSU is known for their sports teams and student life. Walking across the campus, I noticed that there was an extremely diverse student body with people from all backgrounds and religions, which was an upside to me. While on the tour, we got to see the school’s extremely nice gym and sports facilities where their Division 1 basketball team trains. The facilities are also open for any other students who wish to use them. SDSU also has an honors college for students who desire more rigorous classes. As we were on the tour, the tour guide said that the campus was small enough to see a familiar face every day.  SDSU is a school with great sports, good academics, and a thriving student life.

All of the schools that I visited were great, and each stood out in their own way. Applications for all of these schools have passed, but are still worth looking at if you can. While it is too late for seniors to apply, juniors should definitely take a look at these schools and see if they appeal to them.