<p>I know UC Berkeley and UCLA are, but what about UCs like Davis and San Diego? How about at a national level?
Do people recognize the competition of these schools as much as people in California do?
I know fame and reputation isn’t everything in a college, but is it worth going to a fairly competitive UC, taking on the competition, but not getting the name?</p>
<p>Have a few friends on the east coast. They’ve only heard of Berk and LA, and their knowledge of UCSD is purely based on “well there’s probably an SD UC”. They’re ignorant.
If you’re talking about employers (i.e. those with opinions that matter), then I’m afraid I can’t really help you. I’d ASSUME they’d have a basic knowledge of the system and hold it in a higher regard over CSUs.</p>
<p>I live in California now but grew up on the East Coast and, actually, I do not think that people there, the general public and a lot of employers, know the difference between a UC and a CSU. There is basically UC Berkeley, UCLA and then a bunch of California public universities where schools like UC Irvine and Cal State Fresno would largely be indistinguishable from each other.</p>
<p>Grad/professional schools know the difference, however. For example, both Irvine and Davis have strong neuroscience programs, which are well known in that field.</p>
<p>I live in New England and most of my friends only know of Berkley and UCLA. </p>
<p>Sent from my iPhone using CC</p>
<p>UCLA and Berkeley are the most popular (UCLA is so popular around the world that it has given rights to private companies in many countries to market its shirts and other products), but those who do not know about the other (nationally) top-ranked UCs probably also haven’t heard of schols such as Washington U (“Where is that? In Washington State?”), Carnegie Mellon, Tufts, Wake Forest, Vanderbilt, Bowdoin (“How do you pronounce that?”), Carleton, Davidson, etc. </p>
<p>Especially with all the overrated and overused rankings that flood the market nowadays, a prospective employer can easily just type in the name of the school and check where the school is in terms of comparative standing, so going to any UC, no matter how “unknown” it might be, would still have its advantages.</p>