Moving To The US - Is California Full of Dickheads?

[ehbes]

What kind of thing are you looking to study? Not trying to sound biased but te northeast has some I the best universities in the country

Not forgetting that the west coast has The University of California system (LA, Irvine, Berkley, etc.), Caltech, and Stanford among others.

Some of the best Are ne not all

[kidshuffle]

What kind of thing are you looking to study? Not trying to sound biased but te northeast has some I the best universities in the country

Not forgetting that the west coast has The University of California system (LA, Irvine, Berkley, etc.), Caltech, and Stanford among others.

And the NE has MIT, The Ivy League, Pitt...

[Shum]

Just sayin' that the west coast has more than it's fair share of quality universities, not beefin with the east coast or anything.

[ehbes]

[alphacat]

As someone said earlier, it's really best that you come and visit the places you're considering beforehand. There's probably at least one ninja in every major metro area on your list that'd be happy to show ya around, too.

[icanicant]

Not really what you are asking but if you got shit grades is there really any point going to Uni? The debts you are gonna end up with are crazy and it is not like you are gonna walk into a job guranteed at the end of it, certainly not one with crazy pay (this depends a bit though - i.e. if you do something pretty specialised)

[idontreallygiveashit]

I live in San Francisco.

Yes, there are scads of "hipster douchebags" walking around. There are also lots of friendly, normal people leading interesting lives that don't give a shit what the mustache-&-skinny-jeans faction does - in fact, SF loves to rip on hipsters more than almost anybody... there's a cottage industry of nothing but satire videos mocking them and their lemminglike stupidity.

We have lots of culture and diversity as well. In fact, some folks are gonna wanna be friends with you just because you have a British accent (but you can ignore them since they're obviously superficial.) Nobody's gonna corner you and take issue with your nationality though, unlike other parts of the country.

San Francisco is a serious money/finance town, for better or worse. More employment opportunities for the appropriately credentialed than most places, plus bigger salaries due to our outrageously high cost of living. Bear in mind that that's in SF proper though; you can find cheaper places to live outside the city and still be within ½ hour of downtown.

Finally, L.A. requires that you have a car. If you don't... you have no life. The San Francisco Bay Area on the other hand has a pretty extensive transit infrastructure so you can get around.

Don't get me wrong: SF isn't perfect. We're expensive and a little full of ourselves. But - there's a reason it's such a popular tourist destination for Europeans too...

This is great info - i do have a driving license now but the chances of getting a car and maintaining it are unlikely - and before anybody says "you are poor why are you trying to move out" well im not poor, i do/will work and know the details of the loan i can get. Just some budgeting.

PM me if you have any other questions.

Appreciate that.

What kind of thing are you looking to study? Not trying to sound biased but te northeast has some I the best universities in the country

Not forgetting that the west coast has The University of California system (LA, Irvine, Berkley, etc.), Caltech, and Stanford among others.

Think i mentioned that i wouldn't be able to get into UC/ be willing to be $120,000 in debt in tuition alone when i leave. There is a limit.

Not really what you are asking but if you got shit grades is there really any point going to Uni? The debts you are gonna end up with are crazy and it is not like you are gonna walk into a job guranteed at the end of it, certainly not one with crazy pay (this depends a bit though - i.e. if you do something pretty specialised)

I didn't get "shit" grades, just not good enough to get into UCL, and im not a terrific well-rounded person to get into UC, no matter what i get in the SAT. The whole "stopping uni" bombshell i dropped on my mum the other day and she was nearly in tears! I reckon i have the skills to achieve what i want in life (i.e start my own business/ take over my father's little thing and transform it) so i'm hoping that if i can transfer to a better Uni (i made some poor choices and ended up at the wrong uni doing the wrong course) i can at least give myself a little boost. Plus, i can go somewhere i want to go, start a fresh and be who i've always wanted to be. If you knew about my life then you would realise that it needs a radical transformation because if not, i reckon this is the year i kill myself. Serious. Anyway, this isn't even the fucking issue.

[AxeD]

Respect for the way you approach this.

No idea about living in the US, I would definitely consider Chicago and Detroit though. Also, think about other countries.
University is free in Norway and in a few other countries too I think.

[ehbes]

Respect for the way you approach this.

No idea about living in the US, I would definitely consider Chicago and Detroit though. Also, think about other countries.
University is free in Norway and in a few other countries too I think.

not detroit, extremely rough place

[Soiree]

I like it up in northern cali, but only if you are a massive stoner.

[alphacat]

Respect for the way you approach this.

No idea about living in the US, I would definitely consider Chicago and Detroit though. Also, think about other countries.
University is free in Norway and in a few other countries too I think.

not detroit, extremely rough place

Yeah. No offense to the Detroit ninjas but it's not worth the elevated risk of getting jacked/dying just to tell mates back home you live in Juan Atkins' hometown. I'm from Chicago, and we used to joke about how rough Detroit was...

One other thought - don't rule out Vancouver B.C., especially with Commonwealth citizenship. If I had to live anywhere else [that I've been to] it'd definitely be Vancouver. Srsly.

[daeMTHAFKNkim]

L.A is pretty trashy/shit ton of people/takes about an hour-2 hours to get from 1 side to the other even though it's only like 20 miles. But it's pretty great at the same time with some great areas

Seems like there is a lot of stuck-up people there. I've only been there twice. Shit ton of mexicans everywhere. About every 10 people you see it'll be 8 mexicans Lol. You go by Malibu/Brea/beach houses/rich areas and it's white people.

[ehbes]

If you want nice college town look at providence, rhode island
There are6 schools in the surrounding area and it's on the water

[Phigure]

go to san francisco, it's a lot cooler than LA

[inDistinkt]

I've been out to CA a few times to visit an uncle who lives in San Francisco and have been to LA a few times too. I did see a lot more "hipster types" than I do in Boston, but like everyone said, the majority of the people you'll meet are cool, friendly, just normal people. I love Cali just because of how beautiful and diverse the landscape is, plus the great weather.
But if you don't really care about climate, and you're looking for a good business school, then I'd say look towards the Northeast/ New England area too. Boston especially is a hub of business schools.

[hdechter]

If you can afford it go to San Fran, Santa Barbara is amazing as well.

[Suangi]

Fair warning if you do choose Penn State. It's a 3 &1/2 to 4 hour bus ride from Philly, and being central Pa, more resembles some of the backward middle states you mentioned if you venture a few blocks outside the little downtown area. good school though and a great state park just outside town if hiking/camping/nature is your thing. the place has it's pros and cons. There are good schools in Philly like dickenson, jefferson, u penn. check em out if youre serious about pa. Boston does sound like a good idea for cool climate, business schools, and city environment that isnt too dodgy nor too pretentious.

also, i didnt realize uni in the UK had gotten so expensive. i just thought it was next to free like the rest of western europe.

[test_recordings]

Everyone I've met from California has actually been sound, which surprised me as from what I watch on TV I got the impression that everyone's a nobhead.

I know they stereotypical bellends exist though, my mate's going out with a girl from Orange County and her parents are stinking rich, overtly christian (not saying grace at the table and admitting to not be christian caused some awkward silence) and they bang on about social welfare payment schemes stealing their money and "Goddamn Mooslims taking over!"

[murky21]

I think two words answer this question: Medicinal Weed

[magma]

Beautiful scenery, beautiful people, generally liberal attitudes, medical marijuana... bordering the Sierra Nevadas/Lake Tahoe so you can drive from Bay to Snow in about 4 or 5 hours. Yosemite. I'm pretty sure Cali is the best bit of America. I'd find it hard to turn down if someone offered me a route to move there... not sure I'd say the same for any other state.

San Francisco please... LA looks like it could be kind of depressing.