<p>^^ In CS at a place like UCLA, due to the rigor of the coursework, a lot of students don’t have ‘in-term’ internships and save them for the summers. In addition, there are a ‘lot’ of companies that do on-campus recruiting for internships as well as full time jobs on the UCLA campus. My UCLA CS major kid had multiple opportunites for internsips. I know what you’re saying about the bay area and I know that area quite well but I don’t think this attribute of in-term internships would or should be a deciding factor for most CS students. I’m also not knocking SCU.</p>
<p>pixel, nice to hear from you again. Coincidentally, out youngest is also in the field for 2012. We have two great state schools, but she appears to be brainwashed by the “avoid 13th grade” mafia, and DW and I are facing a similar question.</p>
<p>The thing we liked about SCU (and other schools like it) was that the emphasis was on undergrad students. In addition, the courses were taught by professors, not teaching assistants. SCU doesn’t have any TAs. We also liked the philosophy of the Jesuit community service piece. In addition, the school has a nice number of students…ntt huge.</p>
<p>Our DD was able to graduate in four years without difficulty with two majors…no course selection difficulties. </p>
<p>Is UCLA a better recognized school with perhaps stronger programs? Probably. BUT the overall atmosphere at SCU (and other schools that size) were more to my DD’s liking.</p>
<p>How is the four year graduation rate at Cal Poly and UCLA?</p>
<p>And just FYI…I think many of the schools being suggested here are excellent options…just different ones.</p>
<p>^^ All of my UCLA and UCSD kids’ courses were taught by profs - not TAs. The discussion sections were led by TAs usually but not the actual courses. They were both CS majors so it’s possible this aspect could vary by major.</p>
<p>I don’t know of anyone who wanted to grad in 4 years who wasn’t able to grad in 4 years at UCLA or UCSD but that’s a limited sample size of course. Many of the students could fairly readily graduate in less than 4 years, since most admitted students have a lot of AP courses under their belt, if they had a major which doesn’t require as many courses as an engineering major and if they didn’t switch majors a few times, if they took a full load and were willing to take a morning or Friday course if needed to accomplish that.</p>
<p>Other influences on the time to graduate is the combo of certain minors that either might require a lot of extra courses or the times of the courses present a lot of conflicts and doing the course drop and taking courses over to get a higher grade or a different prof.</p>
<p>There’s also the influence on the stat of the grad rate due to students who attend part time or with a lighter load because they’re either commuting from home or they hold a job that eats up a lot of their time.</p>
<p>Another influence is for in-state students who sometimes spend longer than 4 years ‘because they can’ due to the lower cost for in-state - especially if they have less expensive off-campus housing or live at home. </p>
<p>I don’t know about CalPoly on this aspect.</p>
<p>As far as the overall environment and atmosphere - different students are looking for different things and have different priorities. It’s best for students to visit some of the different types of campuses - large, medium, small, public/private, location, etc. to see what they prefer. It’s not a one size fits all so there’s not a slam dunk answer.</p>
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<p>I completely agree with this statement! What works for one student may simply not work for another. And that’s WHY there are so many different college options out there!</p>
<p>There is a challenging, bracing, no-hand-holding sort of vibe to attending a UC, great life skills along with a wonderful education. Alas, each year the tuition goes up, true, but the professors are amazing and the reputation and academic rigor is wonderful. Some creature comforts may be missing, but students we know have been happy at UCLA (and I teach there) so there are many compelling reasons to attend. The UCs are notably offering more full-pay spots to out-of-state applicants, so while this school may look out of reach, it is certainly worth it to give it a try.</p>
<p>OTOH, depending on the personality type of your S2, a small private like SCU has a very different feel and the services may be much easier for students to access. Add to that the attention to undergrads, great professors (some also teach at Stanford I’ve heard) and great location that makes it a hidden gem to Bay area high tech firms.</p>
<p>For the same price, if your S2 is admitted to both, you may have to decide between the great international rep of UCLA and the private school amenities of SCU.</p>
<p>Best of luck, pixeljig. I recall your search with S1 and hope he is doing great!</p>
<p>Re: Cal Poly SLO costs</p>
<p>[Cal</a> Poly Financial Aid - Cost of Attendance](<a href=“http://www.ess.calpoly.edu/_finaid/coa1011.htm]Cal”>http://www.ess.calpoly.edu/_finaid/coa1011.htm)</p>
<p>In-state cost of attendance for 2011 is $22,004. Out-of-state adds $248 per unit. Assuming 45 (quarter) units per year, that adds $11,160, for a total of $33,164. This is about at much as UC in-state, and much less than UC out-of-state or many privates.</p>
<p>Of the original list, if the interest is CS, USC and SCU are worth applying to; USC has a good reputation in CS and is among the schools that traveling recruiters will go to, while SCU is local to Silicon Valley. LMU and Miami do not seem to be targeted by recruiters looking for CS graduates and interns (though local employers will likely recruit there).</p>
<p>Compared to UCLA, USC is likely to be similar in recruiting for CS graduates – both attract traveling recruiters, and are local to the same metro area. SCU is less well known to traveling recruiters (worse than UCLA or USC), but is local to Silicon Valley (better than UCLA or USC).</p>
<p>Some other privates that have a good reputation for CS include MIT, CMU, Stanford, Caltech, Cornell, Princeton, Rice, Duke. But they may be too much of an admissions reach for many students.</p>
<p>The cheaper good publics like Minnesota, Virginia Tech, Cal Poly SLO (and possibly other CSUs like San Jose and Pomona if less selective schools are needed) are worth adding. If applying to the less selective UCs, Santa Cruz is near Silicon Valley.</p>
<p>Some things to consider about Cal Poly SLO…beautiful school, reasonably priced, strong in CS and engineering. My son got in a few years ago with lower stats than your son, I believe. They are giving a strong admissions advantage to OOS. But—should he decide to change his major, I have read that it is extremely difficult to do so, and if he is able to do so, it may take extra semesters. I’d follow that one up if he’s considering it.</p>
<p>For CS or engineering, I don’t think LMU is remotely in the same category of the other schools you’d listed. Though it is a phenomenally beautiful location, and a safety for your son. I don’t mean to knock the school, but not noted for those fields, as the others on your list are.</p>
<p>Just my opinion having recently switched from a large public in Texas and now at a small private. It seems to me that the difference is like shopping for a car. If you go to a public school it is kind of like the Chevy dealer you can get a nice truck and good value for your money, the people there are civil and overall it is about the same shopping experience as going to Wal Mart.</p>
<p>On the other hand going to a small private might cost more, but it is like going to the Cadillac dealership. You are treated respectfully and people value your business, they might even remember your name.</p>
<p>If you have a problem, let me guarantee that you want to be at a Cadillac school instead of one where they treat you like a number.</p>
<p>Hi All!! 
I remember so many of you from my S1 college research time here at CC!! You all were awesome and thats why I am back again!</p>
<p>Again, thanks so much for all the responses. I will try and answer/add a bit more…</p>
<p>We visited UCLA, USC, LMU, Oxy, Pitzer, SCU, Cal Poly Slo, UC Santa Cruz this summer.
2 years ago we had visited UCSD and USD when we went to drop S1 to USC. Been to SCU and USC a few times.</p>
<p>Overall, S2 really likes UCLA, USC and SCU if he had to put them in top 3. Then its UCSD,Cal Poly Slo and LMU. </p>
<p>Having being through one process of putting S1 in college (he attended one semester and now on Leave of absence 2nd term in a row) we realized that location and $$ do make sense. Had he been in the bay area he might not have taken the said LOA perhaps? I am not entirely sure about him per se as he loves USC and if anything would only go back there, he says.</p>
<p>The amount of stress I put myself through was really not worth it in his case as he did what he had set his mind to. He was completely out of the box kid, very mature, very bright but not a classroom learner. </p>
<p>S2 however is a dedicated student and enjoys learning in the classroom. He will approach the profs but not push to be in front of the line. I dont know how else to describe him. He is caring and sensitive. Hence my question about the privates.</p>
<p>We are not wealthy, but we have worked hard and saved up for their education, knowing that they will not get in-state tuition anywhere and we do not qualify for fin aid.</p>
<p>Another reason I feel that S1 stopped college for the time being upon realizing how expensive college education was! He was aghast at the semester costs which added up to 30k for him just for that one semester!! He is now working and living in the bay area and doing really well.</p>
<p>Money now is in the equation only as a tie breaker for S2! For e.g. If he gets into UCLA and SCU and it costs the same then perhaps he will choose UCLA but if SCU gives him some merit aid (like they did to S1) then I would want him to choose SCU. </p>
<p>However if the costs of SCU after merit aid is the same as Cal Poly SLo then we are back to square one!</p>
<p>people tend to lump cal poly engineering in with usc, ucla, ucb, and ucsd as another “great” engineering school. there’s a significant difference between the schools. for instance cal poly students test considerably lower in SAT math…if you have the choice i think the large research universities stated above offer significantly better engineering educations, it’s worth the extra 100k or so.</p>
<p>"My question is whether it makes sense to pay same kind of $$ for UCLA (55k) vs Santa Clara where he might get merit aid? or even if no merit aid then same price?? UCLA is a reach for him "</p>
<p>-it make sense to go to place that he likes the best, that fits his personality and wide range of interest the best. Place will not make much difference for Engineering and/ or Comp. Science as most companies are hiring locally anyway. I am talking from my experience, my H. and many firends are engineers and I am a computer programmer. I would not pay too much for either, will not make any difference. I would go to any place that I feel comfortable for as little money as possible (or free).</p>
<p>^^really? who do you think Google hires, the CS grad from Stanford or Cal Poly? Education and where you are educated does matter!</p>
<p>^Oh, yes, most of them going to employed by Google and such!!! If you think so, I am sory to dissaopoint. Nope, most will be absorbed by many various industries, I myself have worked for very different companies in very different industires and had to re-train myself at every new place (9 of them). My list includes local government, major Electric power supplier, couple of Medical Insurance companies, consulting (you can be sent to any company), shop floor amnufacturing software, mahufacturer of industrial floor cleanning equipment, international book retail company, huge international manufacturer of glass suppying whole automotive, building products, solar energy and other specialty glass. I have worked on many platforms and wrote programs in several languages. If your goal is to be employed by Google, you are unrealistically limiting yourself. All my places were in one city in very economically depressed region, you should be able to say yes to any place that will hire you. I have big advantage because of my MBA (did not pay for it), no single place cared where I got it from.</p>
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<p>There are Santa Clara University graduates working at all of the above listed places. We know a Villanova grad who was just hired by Google. </p>
<p>I do think that students choose different schools for different reasons. Our DD didn’t consider any schools the size of UCLA. Just too big for her tastes. </p>
<p>As I said earlier…all of the schools being mentioned on this thread are very good schools…and they appeal to varying students. YMMV.</p>
<p>miami: yes, most of the CS grads coming out of Stanford will start at Google, facebook, apple, some will slum it at cisco. right behind them are the CS kids from ucb, usc and ucla. we’re talking about different “ponds”, some kids from cal poly will end up working in towns like Palo Alto but most will end up in the companies and towns you listed.</p>
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<p>Cal Poly’s career survey indicates that two (out of 55 respondents) 2010 CS graduates went to work at Google.</p>
<p>Stanford’s career survey does not list employers, at least not on the public web site.</p>
<p>Originally Posted by pacheight
who do you think Google hires, the CS grad from Stanford or Cal Poly? Education and where you are educated does matter!</p>
<p>Google recently paid about $10-$15 million dollars to buyout a software company started by several new Cal Poly engineering grads. The company was based on a senior project they worked on while at Cal Poly. These Cal Poly engineering grads now work at Google to continue the development of their newly sold company.</p>
<p>So does Google hire from Cal Poly? Yes. </p>
<p>Does Google pay big dollars to Cal Poly engineering graduates? Well, the proof is in the $10MM pudding.</p>
<p>@pacheight</p>
<p>So did you attend both Cal Poly SLO and the UCs/USC engineering school? </p>
<p>I am curious how you know there is a significant difference in the quality of engineering education between these universities?</p>
<p>ucbalumnis is much more realistic about job prospects of CS major. Also most after ANY UG in a world will not have what is needed at their positions and they will meet some that do not have any college degree and who are doing just fine also. The range is very wide (at the same position), the salary range is very wide from place to place in the same city and many are end up where they did not plan at all…because their spouse is there, for one example. Nobody can plan to work for specific place. And how do you know which one is the best. I can tell that my current place is the best for me after I have been to many others.
The only right way is to try to enjoy your UG years as much as you could. Fo one thing, I was working full time and taking care of family while my various employers were paying for my education all the way thru MBA. It paid off big time because of all experiences that I got while working. Yes, UG will not matter, they are looking for experience. So, grab any job in your field and be thankful, especially in this economy and make sure not to have loans!!</p>