I am a prospective international student based in India. I know that the CSU’s (LB, SJSU) are good schools, but they don’t seem to be have any reputation in India. I am looking at better ranked colleges as well. Should I consider going to a CSU, if I get in ( I probably will get in) ?
In the abstract, I wouldn’t pay the OOS rate to attend a CSU (perhaps Cal Poly SLO). It really depends on your budget, qualifications and what you want to study- and probably where you want to live after you graduate…
They’re good safeties (except Cal Poly SLO and perhaps SDSU). However for an international student, picking the more residential CSU’s, if using them as safeties, would probably be better - Chico, Sonoma, SDSU for instance. SJSU is special, because there’s a huge discrepancy between most of its majors and its computer science program; it’s very commuter and in a big city so it’s fairly impersonal.
SDSU, Cal Poly SLO definitely worth it in my opinion. Both are on par with UCs. As for the rest of them, it’s debatable, but generally speaking Chico and SJSU are both pretty good.
Many employers in the US do not care where a student gets their undergrad degree, only what kind of skill set an applicant can bring to the job. If it is the same way in India, then the Cal states noted above are worth checking out.
On http://www.collegedata.com , you can look up the CSUs and see in their Campus Life profiles the percentage of frosh living in the dorms, which is probably the best proxy for how residential (versus commuter) the campus is. Note that most resident students at most campuses live nearby off campus after frosh year.
How is the business program at Cal states? (specifically sjsu and Csulb)
I’ve heard SJSU is pretty good. Can’t speak on CSULB though.
Business programs at most of the CSUs are very good. Several UCs have good biz programs too but, again both are hard to justify on a cost basis for an international applicant. Also, their admission thresholds vary widely so, without knowing you SAT and GPA, it would be easy recommend a campus that’s not in your range.
That said, I’d encourage you to look at Santa Clara, Loyola Marymount and University of San Diego which will give you a private school environment for a cost not unlike a OOS UC.
Without your stats and budget, i really can’t guide you further.
If you’re going to look at CSUs make sure you figure out if their programs are impacted. My friend at the SFSU business program is having a lot of problems getting into upper division classes because they keep cutting teachers.
For business I’d pick sdsu and cal poly slo oer sjsu. Long Beach is good, but very commuter.
CSUs are a great option for California in-state students if they 1) Do not have or do not want to pay higher tuition 2) Want to commute from home and there is a CSU nearby 3) Find a program that is good at a certain CSU 4) Do not get into a UC and still want a 4-year public university 5) Like a particular CSU, etc
But as NCalRent says, once you are paying out-of-state tuition, it would be good to compare to other public and private universities.
If looking at UC’s for business, keep in mind that only UCB, UCI, and UCR offer undergraduate business programs. Other UC’s offer flavors of econ so it just depends on what you are looking for. This also contributes to the selectivity of top CSU business programs (i.e. Cal Poly Slo and SDSU). Very popular degree that I would argue is underserved by California publics.