<p>If you where to rank the bottom three UCs: Merced, Santa Cruz and Riverside against the top four CSUs, Cal Poly SLO, Cal Poly Pomona, Long Beach State and San Diego State. How would the rankings look? I think this topic will be more bound to be discussed in the future since a lot of cash-strapped students, who would have otherwise have gone to a UC, are now looking at the CSU. Thank you.</p>
<p>CSU’s are a great option. Don’t read into rankings too much as the school you attend doesn’t matter all that much. What are you looking to study?</p>
<p>Civil engineering.</p>
<p>Good question. My son applied to UC Merced, UC Riverside, Cal Poly SLO, and San Diego State for engineering. So far accepted to UCR. We are considering all of these about the same ranking, with SLO at the top.</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure, in terms of “ranking” and reputation, SLO is at the top. It’s also going to be much cheaper than those UCs that you mentioned.</p>
<p>the rankings would look something like this:</p>
<p>[America’s</a> Best Public Colleges - Forbes.com](<a href=“http://www.forbes.com/2009/08/06/best-public-colleges-opinions-colleges-09-top.html]America’s”>America's Best Public Colleges)</p>
<p>only SLO from your list is on there, while the only bottom UC omitted is merced (which isn’t surprising seeing as it’s only like 6 years old.</p>
<p>Probably should note that UC Merced is not ABET Accredited yet. The rest of the schools listed in the OP are.</p>
<p>source: [Accredited</a> Programs Search](<a href=“http://www.abet.org/AccredProgramSearch/AccreditationSearch.aspx]Accredited”>http://www.abet.org/AccredProgramSearch/AccreditationSearch.aspx)</p>
<p>Just wondering, but I always under the impression that SJSU was one of the top CSUs, especially above CSULB… I always thought that it had the best engineering programs in the CSU system, second only to SLO.</p>
<p>I’m giving it (mostly) to the top CSUs because of the price and low faculty ratio. The two Cal Polys are definitely the best though.</p>
<ol>
<li>Cal Poly SLO</li>
<li>Cal Poly Pomona</li>
<li>UC Santa Cruz</li>
<li>Cal State Long Beach</li>
<li>San Diego State</li>
<li>UC Riverside</li>
<li>San Jose State</li>
<li>UC Merced</li>
</ol>
<p>Really, these type of 'rankings" are useless. You can rank colleges by average admitted student GPA, but does that imply anything useful?</p>
<p>UC’s and CSU’s offer a choice in approaches to any particular major/field. It appears that the CSU’s have a more job-focused, hands-on approach. Perhaps classes are more involving if the students in them have higher GPA’s (Does that aid classroom discussion, does that motivate the professor?). Some programs might boast of more renowned professors (doesn’t much matter if they aren’t assessible). I don’t think you can make a blanket statement about any one school, or system being better for anything.</p>
<p>If you do know your major interest you can compare programs, graduation rates, job placement etc. I bet every college does a pretty good job, depending MOSTLY on the students themselves and their participation. All the evidence one way or another is anecdotal.</p>
<p>"only SLO from your list is on there, while the only bottom UC omitted is merced (which isn’t surprising seeing as it’s only like 6 years old. "</p>
<p>Cal poly pomona is on there as well…</p>
<p>Two comments: 1) it depends on your major and 2) the CSUs are mandatory 5 yr and may soon be 6 year programs. Investigate!</p>
<p>^Not if you are 4-year pledge. Investigate!</p>