<p>A few comments. </p>
<p>First off, Cal does not have TAG. Nor does UCLA. Or San Diego. </p>
<p>Second, the decision of which route is a personal one. At ASU you’d get more of the traditional college experience your 1st 2 years than you would at a CC (unless you went away to attend a CC, which some people do at SBCC; see my post in the UCSB forum).
Here you’re making what I think is an erroneous assumption. Graduate from a top school like Stanford, a top LAC, and they’ll want to talk to you in the advertising industry. Cal, maybe. UCSB, probably not. But once you get outside the top 2 dozen or so schools you’ll need to bring something else to the table. I’d bet that an ASU grad with a few good internships and some solid on-campus experience will do better than a grad that did little more than attend a solid college, even if they graduate with a high GPA. Experience and connections are what will get your foot in the door in advertising, or graduating from a top-brand college.</p>