I just got accepted into Cal Poly SLO for computer science and that got me to wandering. Since Cal Poly SLO is the best CSU, how would it hold up against UCs suchs as Davis, Irvine, Santa Barabara and Santa Cruz in terms of COmputer Science or any other engineering degree
<p>well if you plan to go to grad school I would say Davis or Irvine are better choices, SLO is better then santa barbra and santa curz for all aspects for those degrees. If you just want to earn a bachlors or masters degree SLO is better then Davis and probably equal to irvine depending on degree.</p>
<p>One note: There is no such thing as a "second/third tier" UC. CalPoly SLO is a 2nd tier university, none of the UCs are. </p>
<p>That being said, for Computer Science, it's a tough call - from talking to computer programmers in the field, a degree from UC Davis or UC Irvine is preferrable compared to the other schoosl you listed. Good luck.</p>
<p>There are second tier UCs and third, too. I know many kids who got into CS at UCI and UCSB who did NOT get into Cal Poly. It is probably more respected than all but top tier (UCB, LA and SD) UCs for CS.</p>
<p>Cal Poly is actually considered among the best undergrad engineering colleges in the nation. it has a very high reputation in the engineering community and there are many employers which include Cal Poly on their list of preferred places from which to recruit engineering students. Too many people get caught up looking at general rankings for universities and assume on that basis it is not high. They just don't look in the right places. Even US News ranks it as number 2 among colleges without Phd. programs in the area of computer engineering. In engineering, its reputation spreads far wider than most of your UC's except Berkeley.</p>
<p>Cal Poly SLO is indeed a wonderful school if you want to go into engeneering. If you wanted to go there for an English or History degree it would not be your best bet, but I'd say it's a great school for computer sciences.</p>
<p>There's a difference between Engineering and Computer Science; if some of the recent posters have been referring to Electrical and Computer Engineering, I believe you are mistaken at what the original poster meant. Computer Science is far different from Engineering and many universities don't consider CS to be in their "College of Engineering." At least from the standpoint of a recruiter from Silicon Valley, UC Irvine would catch their eye more than CalPoly SLO - but I don't mean to say that having CalPolySLO on your resume won't raise a few eyebrows either.</p>
<p>Marbles: Why do you consider Cal Poly second-tier? If you are referrencing US News, that is simply not the case. Also, computer science is one the of the best majors at poly. i agree going to a UC would be better for a history major, but computer science is better than many other engineering programs @ poly.</p>
<p>marbles actually a silicon vally recruiter would probably prefer a student from cal poly because cal poly teaches more of what goes on in the actual industry rather then theroy which many UCs teach. So for pratical application in the real world cal poly is better for research and goodness for grad school go with uci.</p>
<p>socalnick,</p>
<p>I don't think a Silicon Valley recruiter would prefer Cal Poly students. Generally recruiters think that UC students are more qualified than Cal Poly students.</p>
<p>Agree with Socalnick, employers like Cal Poly engineers better than lower UC engineers hands down.</p>
<p>Beleive me my dad works for a computer engineering company and he says that former cal poly students do better then UCI students.</p>
<p>I'm not a silicon valley employer, but I would think cal poly SLO would be valued above UCI as well. I think becasue cal state is "below" the UC's, they probably are more practical versus the theoretical nature of the UCs.</p>
<p>My dad used to work for a small engineering firm, and they hired grads from UCs as well as Cal Poly. The UC grads had all the math and conceptual stuff down, but when it came to the actual building and designing of stuff, their weakness showed.</p>
<p>how is calpoly compared with ucla engineering.
what does acceptd conditionally at calpoly mean?</p>
<p>UCLA hands down. It means keep your grades up.</p>
<p>I'm aware that each school instructs its students differently, with CalPoly SLO having its own advantages. To correct myself, CalPoly is neither a 1st tier or 2nd tier university - it falls between the two in a gray area. That being said, my dad who works in Silicon Valley has said that he does recognize CalPoly as a good school but the fact remains that he has not seen any CalPoly graduates working for any of the 7 major companies he has worked for (Microsoft, 3COM, Oracle, etc). It's possible that CalPoly is regarded higher than UCI in SoCal, but that certainly isn't the case in NorCal.</p>
<p>celebrian25: Although you are a very helpful college expert, I suggest that you don't post about topics you aren't knowledgable in, especially Computer Science graduates and Silicon Valley - considering you believed that CalPoly Pomona was better than CalPoly SLO a few weeks ago.</p>
<p>You couldn't tell by my post I was just saying I thought because of quality that UC's were more theoretical, which is true of many elite schools? I wasn't trying to prove any point.</p>
<p>"I'm not a silicon valley employer, but I would think cal poly SLO would be valued above UCI as well."</p>
<p>You were clearly trying to make a point.</p>
<p>no, not really. I was just supporting the general consensus. No real opinion :p</p>