<p>I will be a computer science student this coming fall and can't decide between a lower tier school with scholarships or a more prestigious school.
My goal is to get into a good graduate school after I graduate (hopefully Stanford, UC Berkeley, etc.), but I would also like good hands on experience since I would like to conduct research while in college, as well as start my own business someday.</p>
<p>I have been accepted so far to:
UCLA
UCSD (<$2500 scholarship)
Cal Poly (partial)
Fresno State (full ride with priority registration)
San Diego State (full ride)</p>
<p>Which is the best option?</p>
<p>Can you post the net cost per year or total? Are your parents willing to pay either way or is there debt involved? Which Cal Poly? </p>
<p>Undergraduate research and faculty recommendations from such are significant in PhD program admissions.</p>
<p>You may want to browse the CS department web pages of each school and look for faculty members’ research interests and perhaps ask them directly about undergraduate research opportunities.</p>
<p>Of the CSUs, which Cal Poly, and why not SJSU for CS?</p>
<p>Besides the full rides, Cal Poly SLO and the UCs total costs would be around $15,000 and $35,000 respectively, and I would also like to stay debt free and save for graduate school if possible. However, my concern is with a lower tier school it may be more difficult to get into prestigious graduate schools. </p>
<p>For Fresno State I was accepted to their Smittcamp Honors program, would that be of any help in being accepted to graduate schools?
I would also like to add that I am very interested in internship opportunities so a school with good job and internship opportunities is one of my priorities. </p>
<p>Some debt is reasonable to take on given your major. But are you saying that those costs you mentioned would be all debt for you? No parent help or college fund? Where do you anticipate borrowing that from?</p>
<p>Cal Poly SLO is said to have particularly good internship opportunities. The UCs are more geared to research but the Cal Polys say they do it too. Read the webpages. I’m sorry I no nothing about Fresno State.</p>
<p>A lot of employers will pay for your master’s degree.</p>
<p>CS is a BRUTAL major - most kids who enter CS programs change. Getting into Cal or Stanford for grad school os going be tough no matter where you get your BS. </p>
<p>Unless your parents are loaded, SDSU for free trump the others IMHO. It is a very good school with a huge variety of majors and lots of internship opportunities. </p>
<p>Congrats and good luck.</p>
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<p>Don’t worry about this. Graduate schools care far more about what you do in college than where you go. It is definitely, definitely possible to go to Fresno State or SDSU and then go to a top graduate school. You just need to keep your grades up and get some internship experience and, if you are interested in an academic master’s or PhD program, get some research experience.</p>
<p>Professors at CSUs do research as well, and you can get research experience there. I agree with the advice to visit the website of Fresno State and SDSU and click on the faculty profiles; see what kind of research the professors there are doing. </p>
<p>And yes, an honors program can help you get into grad school.</p>
<p>go less expensive.</p>
<p>Check this link out CS majors: Best Schools for Computer Science - 2013 - 2014 College Salary …
<a href=“http://www.payscale.com/college-salary-report.../best-schools.../computer-science”>www.payscale.com/college-salary-report…/best-schools…/computer-science</a>
I would go with either Cal Poly SLO or SDSU. My younger S will be going to SDSU this Fall for CS. He would have loved to have gone to SLO but denied. Checked on the SDSU program and although they are a state school, they do a lot of research and many internships posted on their website.</p>