<p>As in education level, happiness, income, reputation, social, and ect..</p>
<p>Better future for who? You? California? Teachers? Jobs? Innovation?</p>
<p>Education…A CSU education has levels that are one grade lower than a UC in simple but complex terms. CSUs were created for teacher certification and credentials and to prepare people for the workforce with a well rounded education. UC’s were land grants for research that have ties to corporate research facilities and publish journals.</p>
<p>Happiness/Social…Do you want to live and dorm on campus? off campus but close by? If that is your goal then UC’s have the advantage and better locations. CSU’s tend to be based on district wide locations meeting a greater need of serving students and serving the job market. That means they are more commuter schools in less desirable locations with less amneties, although may offer overpriced dorms and apartments</p>
<p>Income…Depends on your field, knowledge, skills motivation, and long term goal. For example, a garbageman turned wastewater guy that studied at state would make way more money straight out of college than nearly any UC academic with only a bachelors. </p>
<p>Reputation…based on tradition, awareness, perceptions, location, marketing, departments, stats etc. Do you have a more specific question?</p>
<p>OP = PWNED, lolz</p>
<p>I was wondering why UCLA was your choice? How is it different from CAL? Which school is better suited for the needs of California? I can’t afford private schools because my family makes 100K right on the dot. (Before Tax) Where will I get the most rewarding experience that will further prepare me for life’s challenges?</p>
<p>I would say in rigor of education they are about equal since they use the same textbooks, teach the same material and exams are of about equal difficulty. UC students are on average more capable than CSU students and do a better job of learning the same material. UCBAlumnus posted a graphic a while ago that showed that the GPA of the average UC Berkeley student was 3.25 while it was only about 2.75 for the average student at Sacramento State. Also, UC Berkeley has a 6 year graduation rate of nearly 90% while it is only 42% at Sacramento State.</p>
<p>It depends on what you want. If you want to do research in an academic field, go to a UC. </p>
<p>If you just want to graduate and get a job, just save your money and go to a Cal State. You will be less in debt and still have a degree. You can always go to grad school at a UC if you want. </p>
<p>There is a reason for different school systems, they service different needs of students. </p>
<p>My dad was an assistant director at a hospital making over 6 figures and he got his bachelors and masters at Cal State Dominguez Hills. True Story. </p>
<p>I know I want to go to a UC because I want to do actual research.</p>
<p>Cal Poly SLO’s graduate rate is more like 74% ([Cal</a> Poly Graduation Rates Reach All-Time High](<a href=“Press Releases | University Communications and Marketing”>Press Releases | University Communications and Marketing)), higher than UCSC (73%) and UCR (65%). CSULB is around 54%, I think.</p>
<p>I think rigor depends quite a bit on the school you attend - academic life at Berkeley is going to be far more rigorous than at UCR, despite similarities in curricula. This is mostly due to competition between students. Berkeley students are probably more likely to have been at the top of their classes than UCR students. Both schools offer excellent research opportunities, however. UCR might even be a better choice than Cal if you really want to get involved ASAP, because it’s super easy to get into a lab there. </p>
<p>Similarly, I think the environment at Cal Poly SLO is going to be quite different from that at CSULA or CSUDH. </p>
<p>It’s difficult to compare institutions that are obviously on different levels wrt to research/graduation rates/academic rigor/student experience/etc…</p>
<p>Try and pick the schools that you can maximize your interests at, and one that suits your tastes/study habits/‘playstyle’, and then narrow your choices down further. At some point, you’ll start to nitpick over little things (like the size of the gym, or the architecture), and that’s when you know that you’ll probably be happy at either.</p>
<p>good post 'sphyx. </p>
<p>Too often it’s overlooked that the the individual makes the school. Get involved in stuff, clubs, volunteer, take classes outside your comfort zone.</p>
<p>Ya, you got to train yourself as a college student to beg others for money towards some feel good cause. It will come in handy when you get to graduate school or the real world on knowing how to manipulate others emotions to fund your broke college ass. If people won’t give you money, all you have to do is blame any of the current worlds problems on the white man, and maybe the school will give you $$$. Don’t forget to blame the white man for extra credit!</p>
<p>If you think that all students in all majors at all UC campuses share one set of futures, and those at CSU’s share a common one too, that your only decision is to choose which system – well, lets just say that’s a view unlikely to be true.</p>