J1 San Diego or Los Angeles

peter1039

Hey,

I know this has probably been asked a million times but I cant find a definite answer. Where is the best place for a j1, UCSD or UCLA? Looking for the place with the best nightlife and hopefully jobs available.

Thanks

D-Generate

Avoid LA, it really is a horrible city. Outlying cities like Huntington Beach are good but LA itself is awful.
San Diego is a good spot but it is packed with Irish people each summer and I imagine jobs are scarce too I imagine since there is a cheap source of labour from Mexico down there.
If I was you I would try places a bit further north. If you want a place with decent night-life and jobs the San Fran or Berkeley are a good gamble. Be warned though that although Berkeley looks close to San Fran, it is quite awkward to go from SF to Berkeley at night after the BART stops running which is around 11.

Santa Cruz is a spot where you are almost guaranteed a job at the Beach Boardwalk. Its a good spot to work and there are lots of Yanks and Bulgarians working alongside you which is a laugh. Unfortunately the night life isn't great with only 2 or 3 clubs but a good amount of pubs. Oh well, wherever you go in CA you will spend a lot of time travelling to other cities to check them out.

On a side note I don't know anyone that has ever gone to San Jose. It is definitely a cracking spot for nightlife when ever I ahve been there but not sure about jobs and errrr it has a bit of crime too. Good luck!

cooperguy

Stayed in Huntington Beach in 2008 and visited LA and San Diego. AVOID LA!! Its grand for a day trip to see Hollywood or what ever but it really is a bit of a hole. Even Hollywood isnt as impressive as you might think.

My recommendation is to stay in San Diego and do a trip up (if you have decided to definatly stay in one of those two cities). Tour around Hollywood etc. for a day stay in a Motel and go to Six Flags theme park for the next day. You will have enough of LA after that. Six Flags is brilliant though and is worth the trip all by itself. Youtube the theme park, the roller coasters there have to be seen to be believed!!

peter1039

Thanks for all the tips! We weren't actually on planning on staying in LA itself but in a town just outside it called Westwood which is where all the UCLA students stay, has anyone been there? When staying in San Diego do people generally stay near the college or not and does anyone have the names of decent accommodation? And lastly, has anyone got a job in Sea World in SD and if not will jobs be hard to find?

Thanks again

D-Generate

peter1039 wrote: »

And lastly, has anyone got a job in Sea World in SD and if not will jobs be hard to find?

Thanks again

A bunch of my pals worked in Sea World. Said it was a decent job but the money wouldn't completely fund your lifestyle there and they needed their own savings to cover some costs.

spjhalion

You're wasting your time looking into L.A, San Diego is where it's at. End of.



ps: Hi Peter

cooperguy

Will you not be there during the summer when the colleges are off and nobody will be around them?

peter1039

No, in America students are given the option to carry on with classes during the summer to finish their course early, there are also students who have to stay to do repeats. We were staying in the UCSB town Islas Vista last summer and there were loads of students.

spjhalion

I believe it's spelt Isla Vista, also you should probably check to see if it is as busy as UCSB was, not every college will have the same summer population. This is just my experience from going on several J1 Summers.

lil_lisa

I spent two summers in San Diego, got roughly two weeks work out of the whole thing (thats roughly seven/eight months of looking). Maybe in the outter cities and towns, if you know anyone its a big big help. I started looking around this time too. I answered every post on craigslist.org and applied to a lot of recruiting agencies. Maybe it was just my luck. Try hotels and entertainment security places too.

coconut5

If you're going to San Diego, I wouldn't advise living out near the university, it's really far away from both the beach and the city.

peter1039

Thanks! Do yo guys have the exact names of the best places to stay and also the names of some accommodation would be great, cheers.