UC vs. CSU

ChAoTiCpInOy

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Jun 24, 2006
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The State of California has three levels of higher education, University of California, California State University, and various community colleges. For the average person undertaking engineering, what would be the best course of action? And for a BS in engineering is a CSU degree better than UC degree? Basically what I'm asking is what's better UCs or CSU in terms of engineering?
 

Parasitic

Diamond Member
Aug 17, 2002
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UC, hands down. You're less limited by the availability of a particular field, plus because all UC campuses are major research institutions there are always new things going on. Innovation and new ideas are important for engineers.

<< Berkeley ChE
 

LongCoolMother

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Sep 4, 2001
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UCs by a long shot, if not only for the reputation. CSUs are excellent universities, while the UCs are world famous / leading research institutions.
 

Buttzilla

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Oct 12, 2000
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all depends on what your looking for. bigger classes but less hands on = UC; smaller classes, more hands on, but limited options as well as curriculum = CSU.

went to UC for undergrad
now at CSU for masters

it all depends on what your looking for. if you need someone to hold your hand then i'd go for CSU. if your looking for the college experience, social life, drinking, meeting lots of young people, where YOU are ultimately responsible for your actions then UC is the way to go. at the UC level, i find profs care less at what students do, they're busy with research and grad students proc the classes 90% of the time. so if you fail, they can care less. while at CSU, i'm in charge of the classes i TA down the the curriculum and grading.

it's pretty different from each other. funny thing is, there's so many post bach students nowadays that go to CSU that are alums of the UC system. most, like me, are eventually going to prof school (heading to dental school next year) and just trying to get an edge on the grad apps.

in the end, it's what you make of it and if your able to take advantage of connections and opportunities presented. granted, UC system has a wider network, but that doesn't say CSU isn't well connected either.

btw, we have lots of post baccs cause we figured if you can go to a state school and still get into prof school, why pay UC tuition fees when CSU fees are 1/4 of the price. anywho, PM if you want more info.

*minor edit for grammer and spelling, sorry studying for pathophysio midterm =( *

 

LtPage1

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Jan 15, 2004
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Originally posted by: LongCoolMother
UCs by a long shot, if not only for the reputation. CSUs are excellent universities, while the UCs are world famous / leading research institutions.

Bingo. As a humanities major at a UC, trust me when I say that there is a TON of money being poured into the engineering departments in the UC system. Prestige, caliber of professors, networking opportunities, facilities, equipment, you name it- the UCs are in a completely different class.

Like has been said earlier- this is not to disparage the CSU system. But the UCs (with the exception of the brand-new Merced) are all ranked so highly for good reason.
 

kevinf2090

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Jul 23, 2005
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but what about the choice between the lowest ranked UC (UCR or UCSC) and a fairly good CSU such as CSU fullerton
 

LtPage1

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Jan 15, 2004
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Originally posted by: kevinf2090
but what about the choice between the lowest ranked UC (UCR or UCSC) and a fairly good CSU such as CSU fullerton

UC. It's not even a question. I'm a third-year History/Politics major here at UCSC, and I've got a few engineering friends- they work their asses off with state of the art facilities, world-class professors, and the prestige of a UC diploma that grad schools and the workforce know about and respect accordingly.

There's just so much more money spent on the UCs than at the CSUs. It's not just about the name recognition- there are more resources available because of more state funding, and an enormous amount of corporate funding as well, that's just not there in the state schools.

By the way, in terms of engineering, Santa Cruz is up there (if not with Berkeley or LA) with the upper tier of engineering departments at the UCs. :)
 

MotionMan

Lifer
Jan 11, 2006
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Originally posted by: kevinf2090
but what about the choice between the lowest ranked UC (UCR or UCSC) and a fairly good CSU such as CSU fullerton

UCs:
Berkeley
Davis
Irvine
Los Angeles
Merced
Riverside
San Diego
San Francisco
Santa Barbara
Santa Cruz

CSUs:
Bakersfield
Channel Islands
Chico
Dominguez Hills
East Bay
Fresno
Fullerton
Humboldt
Long Beach
Los Angeles
California Maritime Academy
Monterey Bay
Northridge
Cal Poly, Pomona
Sacramento
San Bernardino
San Diego State
San Francisco State
San Jose State
Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo
San Marcos
Sonoma State
Stanislaus


I would take any UC over any CSU except for the two Cal Polys (but those are specialized schools). I might take Fullerton, Northridge, San Diego State and San Jose State over Merced and Riverside.

MotionMan
 

kevinf2090

Senior member
Jul 23, 2005
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Originally posted by: MotionMan
Originally posted by: kevinf2090
but what about the choice between the lowest ranked UC (UCR or UCSC) and a fairly good CSU such as CSU fullerton

UCs:
Berkeley
Davis
Irvine
Los Angeles
Merced
Riverside
San Diego
San Francisco
Santa Barbara
Santa Cruz

CSUs:
Bakersfield
Channel Islands
Chico
Dominguez Hills
East Bay
Fresno
Fullerton
Humboldt
Long Beach
Los Angeles
California Maritime Academy
Monterey Bay
Northridge
Cal Poly, Pomona
Sacramento
San Bernardino
San Diego State
San Francisco State
San Jose State
Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo
San Marcos
Sonoma State
Stanislaus


I would take any UC over any CSU except for the two Cal Polys (but those are specialized schools). I might take Fullerton, Northridge, San Diego State and San Jose State over Merced and Riverside.

MotionMan

thanks becuase i am now deciding between san jose state university and UCR currently before anymore decisions come out. would SJSU be a better school for let's say a EE major
 
Feb 19, 2001
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You know, my summer internship recruited heavily from CalPoly. UCs are research institutions and they push students towards that directions. CSUs seem to have a lot of more hands on experience, but with that UCs = world class education, especially when you talk about the top 3 schools (Cal, UCLA, UCSD) Cal Poly is the only school I would consider, but even then I'd probably go to Davis or SB for engineering over CalPoly. SJ State is decent too in terms of engineering, but honestly, unless I had only UCSC and UCR, I would probably still be at a UC.

Go Bears.
 

MotionMan

Lifer
Jan 11, 2006
17,124
12
81
Originally posted by: kevinf2090

thanks becuase i am now deciding between san jose state university and UCR currently before anymore decisions come out. would SJSU be a better school for let's say a EE major

I think the a State school would have to have an outstanding and well-renowned program in a particular subject to pick it over almost any UC. So, unless San Jose has that kind of EE program, I would pick Riverside.

MotionMan
 

Hmongkeysauce

Senior member
Jun 8, 2005
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From my personal experience:
UC=grades depend heavily on midterms/final
CSU=grades depend on projects

but of course, that may be because I went to a UC for Biological Science and CSU for Computer Science. Also, the workload at a CSU does not even come close to the amount of workload you'll get at a UC.
 

thomsbrain

Lifer
Dec 4, 2001
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UC will definitely bring more prestige to your degree. Many companies require that your degree be from a "top-tier" school (Google comes to mind). CSU would not qualify as "top-tier." That said, there have been a lot of successful San Jose State computer science grads.

I would recommend that if you can get into any UC, do it over any CSU.
 

dr150

Diamond Member
Sep 18, 2003
6,570
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For undergrad, it doesn't matter.

Getting the degree (with tech skills) and getting good grades is what counts (you'll still get a good job with passing grades). Remember, a Bachelors will teach you only the competent basics (no splitting atom type of research).

Where do you think you'll do better?.........Berkeley/UCLA, where Valedictorians ruthlessly compete on the bell curve or a CSU (minus SLO) where B/C students will be your competition? (I get really pissed getting a 93/100 on a premed test and only getting a B+ or B).

Sure, UCs/Ivy Leagues have world class professors, but many only do research, and if they teach, they suck....this is b/c many of these intellectual giants have crappy communication/teaching skills. So this "superior" learning at this level is largely inconsequential. Yes,great stats to have for the college recruiting pamphlet but not 100% applicable to the skills you'll receive.


I see tons of CSU engineering students get great paying jobs in tech over UC students and Ivy Leaguers with Liberal Arts degrees. SKILLS are what matter!!

Get the RIGHT (i.e. tech oriented) degree and you're set. Tons of Tech companies are in desperate need of natively trained techies without having to dip into the H1B Visa immigrant pool. The industry has a high pay standard--regardless of school. Once inside the company, everything is equal. You'll have to rely on your training, hard work, opportunities and political/people skills.

Sure, a few highly selective companies like Google, Cisco, etc recruit really large numbers of engineering kids from Berkeley, but those are FEW companies. Who cares? Seriously!

Go to a CSU.....it's cheaper as well.



<---------Berkeley/Ivy Leaguer alum, btw.
 

beat mania

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Jan 23, 2000
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If you get full scholarship/grant ride, take UC. Otherwise unless you can get into Berkeley I'll just take whichever is cheaper.
 

OS

Lifer
Oct 11, 1999
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Atleast for the decent CSUs, it doesn't matter, especially for undergrad, just keep your grades decent.
I'm a cal poly grad and my cubemate is from a UC, we basically do the same stuff.