Hi, My son got admission offer at Cal Poly SLO into CS. He also got admission into UIUC (ECE), UW-Madison (CS) . She wants to do graduation at CMU, Berkeley, Stanford or MIT. We are local (California).
Do you see any disadvantage of doing undergrad at Cal Poly SLO vs. UIUC or UW-Madison etc…? We know Cal Poly SLO is excellent skill and will give him practical knowledge needed for industry. I was thinking having this kind of practical knowledge (internships) helps students to get into graduation.
But wondering whether there is bias for the top 4 universities to prefer students from research universities (U of *) rather than a school like Cal Poly SLO. Your help, comments are greatly appreciated. Cost of education is not a factor for us.
It almost sounds your kid want to pursue an academic career in CS after undergraduate studies. Do they know that for sure?
The industry is so hot these days, that hardly anyone stays in academia in CS post graduation, income is so much better in the industry from the get go. Of course, if they are bent set on an academic career, UIUC might have better prestige and slightly better opportunities for research, but then admissions to graduate school is a whole different game, and their GPA should count a lot more than anything else.
If I were you, the questions I would be asking are more about whether the undergrad school is a good match for your kid’s learning style and about how convinced they are about staying in academia post graduation. Other than that, CalPoly, UIUC and UW-Madison are very decent schools in their own right, and they should offer equally good opportunities for a successful path post graduation, whatever that might be.
It is much better to focus on having an excellent undergrad experience, lay a solid foundation of knowledge, develop a sense of what is a good fit career wise (CS is a very wide field) and then decide on next steps. Good luck 
I do not have an answer specific to CS However, a family member of mine did her undergrad in Chemistry at CP SLO and is now in a MS/PHD program at Carnegie Mellon. She is about 2 years out from her PHD now and is teaching in the labs. She found that Cal Poly had a great reputation at other schools. Cal Poly isn’t your typical state school. Good luck to your kid in making a decision. I know it is hard as I am a senior trying to pick which college I want to go to next year. It can be stressful… painful.