So, my best friend and I have decided to move to San Jose because we both are going to be working in the tech field and we're both sick of winter. I was wondering if anyone lived out there and could give me some sort of idea as to what colleges are highly regarded. I'm looking to get into database administration because my favorite part of being a billing analyst was building and tweeking reports and databases.
Moving to California
- Thread starter Bowielee
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Have you looked into housing yet? It's pretty expensive to move into CA.
This. Very much this. I had to move OUT of CA to afford to leave my parents' place.
As far as school there is a San Jose State, I believe. I'm not sure which schools are the place to be for tech stuff, though.
I'm a Bay Area native, and I agree with the two posters above. Carefully consider the cost of living here, since it is the main reason I canNOT wait to move out of this state. If possible, I'd try to live outside of San Jose city and commute--Fremont and Newark are a bit cheaper, and Union City's worth a shot too. (Each is about a twenty minute drive to San Jose)
Another thing to keep in mind is a combination of the recession hitting the country (California most of all) and how it's affecting the school systems. Huge fee hikes (with more coming down the pipe, including the student registrar of the CSU system voting for a 30% tuition increase), coupled with reduced class offerings and financial aid, have made me happy this is my last year in the California school system. For four years, I paid roughly $1050-1100 a quarter (not including books, parking passes, etc), parking passes were ~$40, there were a ton of classes , and parking was good. Now it's been jacked up to nearly $1700 a quarter with financial aid remaining at a standstill, parking passes have skyrocketed (from quarter to quarter, it went $40, $60, to currently $96), and all course sections--including GE, so a few friends have had to defer their graduations because all their courses were full--are being slashed to the bare minimum.
The other part of it is the job market. Tech is good, and there are a LOT of tech companies in the area, but the recession's hit us pretty hard so it's a large crapshoot. A friend of mine graduated with a 3.8 GPA from UC Berkeley's microbiology program, has three years of relevant research experience, and the only job she's been able to land in nine months has been as a lab tech at the lab she previously volunteered in. That aside, if you're dead-set on it, schools I'd recommend checking out would be (in no particular order) San Jose State, CSU East Bay, Stanford, and UC Berkeley.
Don't get me wrong: although I'm definitely ready for a change of pace, I love the area. I was born and raised here, and I still compare everywhere I might move to it...but it's definitely seen better days, and I'm tired of the rising cost of living with the shrinking pool of opportunity.
As far as jobs go, we've both looked at job postings in our respective fields and the job prospects seem really good compared to where I am right now. I'm in Wisconsin and jobs in this area in particular have shrivelled down to near nothing. I can't even find a part time crap job while going to school.
Living out of the city does sound like a good idea, though.
Living out of the city does sound like a good idea, though.
Definitely look into close cities, I'd recommend sticking to no further than 60 miles or so. CA commutes are usually hell and you don't want to make it too much of a stress, plus gas is going to run you around 3 bucks a gallon, give or take.
K
Koko
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Collect your surfboard and medical license on your way in.
Collect your surfboard and medical license on your way in.
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