Best California schools?

What's good? I'm a Cali resident and kinda want to stay relatively close to home for college. I'm undecided on my major yet, though. Does anyone have opinions on the best overall schools in California?

Hello! When it comes to all-around strong universities in California, several come to mind.

First and foremost is the world-renowned University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley), offering a vast array of high-quality programs in everything from Engineering to English. It's often recognized for its robust commitment to research and innovation.

Next is Stanford University, located in Palo Alto. Known for being a hub of tech and entrepreneurship, Stanford boasts cutting-edge programs especially in the STEM fields such as Computer Science and Engineering, though it also offers top-flight humanities programs.

The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is worth considering. Like UC Berkeley, UCLA is part of the UC system and is acclaimed for a multitude of programs, ranging from Theater and Film Studies to Biology.

If you're interested in private colleges, you might consider the Claremont Colleges—a consortium consisting of five undergraduate liberal arts colleges: Claremont McKenna, Scripps, Pomona, Harvey Mudd, and Pitzer. Each has its strengths, such as Harvey Mudd for Engineering and Claremont McKenna for Political Science and Economics.

California Institute of Technology (Caltech), located in Pasadena, is another school renowned for its focus on science and engineering, albeit with a much smaller student body than the others mentioned.

Remember, the 'best' school will vary depending on the individual—you'll want to consider factors like location, size, campus culture, extracurriculars, and potential majors. Each of these universities has aspects that make it unique, so it's worth exploring them in more depth to see which align with your personal preferences and academic goals.