I know UIUC CS might be ranked the best among the three but for CA in state kids I am not sure it’s worth $80K+ more for 4 years. So it might be more sensible to choose between UCSD Math+CS and Cal Poly CS. At UCSD transferring to CS is far from a sure thing but Math+CS seems respectable on its own. Well a few math courses to take on top of typical CS core which, if you can handle it, can be a good thing depending on grad school choice or line of CS work. Location wise SD seems more appealing. None is strong on social. CS strength are both good and very comparable on employability. SD probably has better quality of non-Eng academics and overall student body. What do you think?
If you’re okay with doing Math-CS, I’d attend UCSD
@DoctorP, based on what? I know it’s just one company, but Apple has twice as many Poly grads as UCSD grads working for them. What’s your rationale?
BTW, they also have twice as many Poly grads as UIUC grads too.
@eyemgh Apple’s a example, but Twitter hires more UCSD grads than either school and Google goes UIUC > UCSD >>> SLO. I can do that too 
I said UCSD because it has a stronger engineering alumni network in California than either of the schools, and a much stronger startup base and entrepreneurial culture. Tons of successfully funded CS startups have been spawned by UCSD research or graduates, like Emotient which was recently bought by Apple. UCSD also has more incubators and startup opportunities in its surrounding area, as well as more advanced research in critical fields like embedded systems engineering, human-computer interaction, and information. The huge research budget and numerous research opportunities are even more important as Just4Years wants to pursue grad school (and since he’d technically be pursuing a math degree there it’s even more of a plus). And like he said, SD has a higher quality of non-engineering academics and is in the best location of the three by far.
I’m not saying Poly is better because of Apple. I’m saying it’s not obviously worse. I don’t think based on anything you’ve said that UCSD is the clear choice. CP has a strong engineering alumni network and has engineers and CS majors in the top companies up and down the west coast.
I think the only safe declaration is that UIUC isn’t worth the premium. Deciding between the two CA schools should come down to finances and really which one the OP has the strongest positive gut reaction to after visiting both of them. They both have too many strengths (and weaknesses, like all schools do) to simply claim one “better.”
Aside from comparing the employment outlook for each school, I think OP’s statement that the social scene in Cal Poly is the same as UCSD is inaccurate. Cal Poly has very strong school spirit and is very social given its location in a college town. The student body is very active and social, and there are lots of activities happening both on and off campus. So I would say Cal Poly has this definite advantage over UCSD.
Location wise there are definitely two camps, those that want big city and are willing to put up with the traffic, pollution, etc. for expanded access to restaurants, concerts, etc. and those who feel the opposite. They prefer the nurturing solitude afforded by the isolation of SLO. Not being from California and having been to both SLO and SD, I far prefer SLO, but I can certainly respect the opposite opinion. What’s important isn’t what I prefer, but that you asses both and see which one fits you the best.
I know nothing about the social scene at UCSD, but the opinion that Cal Poly doesn’t have a strong social scene is incorrect.
Lastly, if you can get past PayScale’s methodology weaknesses, there’s quite a gap in earning potential between the two. Take it with a grain of salt. http://www.payscale.com/college-salary-report/best-schools-by-majors/computer-science.
Thanks eyemgh and Co from CP camp. I appreciate it. I know from a pure ROI standpoint, in the field of CS and in CA, it’s hard to beat CP by any school. The thing about CP is that, at my HS, which is a top CA public school, and one that’s heavy STEM oriented, not too many very top students even applied to CP. Now I did not get into CP CS on 1st round so I know it’s very competitive esp. for CS. But these top kids would fill the bucket of UCB EECS first, and then L&S CS and/or UCLA CS, and then UCSD CS. We are talking about 3.9+ UW/2300+ kids from a very top HS. And this is for CS where CP should deserve more respect. Now in non-CS/Eng fields even fewer overall bothered applying CP. That concerns me quite a bit as after all, the college is not just about getting a good job (well that’s important of course), but also explore the other “intangibles”. I am not saying CP won’t give you that, but the ‘overall’ academic caliber of faculty and students at SD just seem to be a notch above CP. CS here and there probably will be both all right (heck SJSU would be already). Location is about even to me. One is a good typical rural college town while the other has a better access to ‘civilization’ (half kidding). I got a weekend to think about.
Go where your gut tells you to go, but don’t equate your school’s extreme bias against Cal Poly with reality. Just because lots of your class doesn’t bother to apply there doesn’t mean there aren’t lots of other VERY smart students from other schools who did. The average stats for CENG admitted students tend to hover around 4.13 GPA/1413 SAT. Remember two very important things about those numbers, the max Cal Poly GPAs are lower than UC GPAs because Poly counts 9th grade, further diluting the 8 honors/AP semesters and those averages are pulled down by several non-competitive majors within the CENG. You can be assured that the students in your cohort who are CS or engineering will be every bit as smart and qualified as your SD classmates and probably more than the UIUC average. You don’t get an admission rate of 10% by accepting a bunch of dummies. Again though most importantly, don’t justify what’s “best” based on some preconceived notions or criteria that aren’t relevant to you. Base it on the things that you care about. You’ll be fine either way. Good luck.
I heard that most CP CS grads go to industry directly rather than going to grad school elsewhere. Is that correct? I guess being easy to get a job helps but I also wonder if it’s due to doing over research kind of culture?
This is important because there’s so much noise out there the facts get lost. In spite of all the chatter about research, it’s a minority of students who do graduate work in engineering and especially CS no matter where they went to undergrad. The data is a bit soft, because it’s all voluntarily supplied, but job surveys bear this out. UCB is widely considered the most research oriented California state school (plus I couldn’t find UCSD data :D). In their 2014 survey only 6% of students (5 respondents) went to grad school. For the same class, one Cal Poly grad reported they were going to graduate school. Between both graduating classes at UCB and CP in 2014, only 6 of 189 students went on to advanced degrees. Of them 183 went onto get jobs, the vast majority in for profit businesses.
You will probably get more of a notification from the UCs about GRE dates and there will be more opportunities for research, but you can go to grad school from either and the fact remains, very few choose that route no matter where they went to UG.
For mechanical engineering, more students from both schools go on to get advanced degrees. Berkeley has a much higher percentage than Poly, but still a minority of all grads. UCB and Poly grads who decide to do more both get into good schools.
https://career.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/pdf/Survey/2014CompSci.pdf
https://careers.calpoly.edu/search.php
I hope this reinforces the notion that much of what we take as “fact” about schools really is myth.
@Just4Years Hi there, I had a similar situation when I was deciding on colleges. I was trying to pick between UCSD and Cal Poly, one had better prestige while the other was a much more financial sound decision. I also went to a high achieving high school which also ranked Cal Poly on a lower scale than UCSD and around the same as Davis, Irvine, and SB based on the students who ended up choosing the school.
Now, there is a notable link that you touched on earlier in your post. What I can tell you is that from my experience with other students who had the opportunity to pick UCSD, is that the main reason behind the lack of school spirit at UCSD is the same reason more of the “top” students ended up at UCSD. It isn’t that the top students applied to UCSD because it was a top school, it’s that it was the next best choice to LA and Berkeley. There’s a higher pool of students because everyone applies to those schools since another application is as simple as a click.
The kids who picked Cal Poly have always wanted to come to Cal Poly. After 4 years here, I can see why.
Well yeah about every kid in my HS would apply to UC and go down the list. CP and CSU are more like backup options. As a result I think CP CS is a bit underrated (but surely is still competitive). I was exactly planning the same thing like you said. If I get into UCB/LA/SD then I’d go. If not then I might actually go to CP over SB/I/D. It’s not just a pure reputation thing but I do think SD’s CS is pretty strong on its own right (IMHO it’s no worse than LA’s). But the curve ball now is that I am on SD’s M-C not CS direct. When you say “kids who picked Cal Poly have always wanted to come to Cal Poly”. What are the qualities of CP you think attribute to that, other than $5K less tuition per year? What if CP costs the same like UC do? I know of smaller class size and college town (more spirit). What else?
FWIW, my son chose Poly from out of state. Sure UCB and UCLA (and others) have good reputations, but they don’t do anything differently. My son specifically wanted a school that wasn’t a classic two years of book followed by two years of “real” engineering. Of those types of programs, Cal Poly is right at the top. Plus, they didn’t reinvent themselves to be that way. Poly has been that way since its inception. Contrary to popular belief, they are very strong on theory, but add practical application through labs for nearly every course and very active clubs. He is very happy he chose Poly. He had the stats to get lots of money at the program’s he applied to, so I’m fairly certain he would have gotten into UCB, but he didn’t feel any of the UCs were worth applying to. Like @NLinsanity said, students who pick Poly have looked past old guard reputation and chosen the school they feel is the best engineering school, period.
What you are saying is kids at CP get their hands dirty from the get go all the way through while others in research univ type like UC preach theory too much with not enough practice in comparison. I can kind of relate to that like some electrical engineering PhD who gets lost in the lab. But in CS, it’s hard to be hands off at undergraduate level. You have to be able to code to survive at UC or CP. I compare CP CS required courses vs SD’s and they are very similar (all ABET accredited anyway) with SD a few more on math/algorithm and advanced data structure stuff. Just about all courses require lab anyway. Perhaps at CP the teaching itself is more practice oriented and tailored to industry needs, while UC tilts toward research/theory stuff as profs are more into that. Either way kids have to code in and out of classes to advance. They should be all alright 4 year later. It’s the non-CS/Eng stuff that makes the difference and there’s no right or wrong just fit or not.
That’s a great question. My son is an ME. I think @NLinsanity and @r77r77 might be able to better answer through their friends’ experiences.
@Just4Years that sounded pretty accurate. At UCSD you’ll be expected to spend long hours coding in the CS basement. I might not see some of my CS friends for days at a time when they have projects due
You’ve nailed it…fit or not. You started better vs. worse based on the incorrect perceptions of your classmates. Now you’ve evolved to best fit, best based on the qualifications YOU set forth. Now you’re getting somewhere.