There are a few things I’ve taken notice of as far as the differences between schools on the West Coast vs the East Coast. Since I am sure many of us can relate, figured I would share with you all the major differences.
Common majors When I flew back to California for the summer one of the first things I did was visit a friend of mine at the University of California, San Diego. She gave me a tour of her campus, showed me her favorite spots, and even introduced me to some of her friends. As we were talking, however, there was one thing that I noticed almost instantly… the difference in majors. While most people on the East Coast seem to major in Business and the Visual or Performing Arts, the West Coast leans more towards Biology and the Social Sciences (via College Board). There are tons of great programs for different majors at any school around the country, but it’s easy to see that geographic location can play a huge role.
via College Board
Education leading up to college Everyone is used to hearing the words “private school” and “public school,” but I didn’t really hear about “prep schools” until I moved to New York. While there are prep schools located across the country, you are more likely to find them on the East Coast than the West Coast. Prep schools, for those of you who don’t know, are another type of private school, but they are more focused on preparing their students for college. This difference in education also produced a difference in graduating class sizes. I personally graduated from a class of over 600 students, but when I started college I continuously met people who graduated from high school with a class of under 100 people. This may not be the case for everyone, but for me it was definitely a bit of a shock.
via Google Maps
