Ranking the CSUs

<p>So if you guys were to rank the CSUs (doesn't have to be all of them), how would you list them?</p>

<p>That’s a hard question because you aren’t giving the measurement to be ranked. Geography? Beauty? Size? Studious atmosphere? A particular major? </p>

<p>Different CSUs are strong in different areas. For criminal justice, Long Beach or Fresno. For music, Northridge. Each CSU has its own strengths. This is why your question is so difficult. </p>

<p>Can you be more specific about what you are looking for?</p>

<p>Based on academics, CSULA seems like the lowest rated. People say it’s in worse condition then most community colleges. The best academically is Cal Poly SLO. Go to CSUmentor for the GPA’s of all if you want.</p>

<p>As others have noted - the answer varies with your criteria. In general though the top 5 are:
SLO
SDSU
Long Beach
Chico
Fullerton</p>

<p>These are also good and even stand out in certain programs:(listed in the order they popped into my head)
Pomona
SJSU
Sonoma
SFSU
Fresno
Sac
San Marcos
Humboldt
Monterey
Cal-Maritime</p>

<p>Obviously, the others can provide you with a solid education as well.</p>

<p>It depends what you are looking for.</p>

<p>Don’t forget CSU Channel Islands. A gem of a school. Newer, with great teachers and smaller class size. Known for its math program and environmental science.</p>

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<p>What academics would cause CSULA to be the lowest rated?</p>

<p>For students nowadays, I’d say the CSU’s look like:
Cal Poly SLO (people select this over high tier UC’s)
Cal Poly Pomona (people select this over lower a lot (UCSC, UCR, UCM) and sometimes mid-tier UC’s (UCD, UCI, UCSB)…the location is crap, you go here for the good academics but the STEM programs are >> all other programs besides architecture)
San Diego State (location, social life, not academics)
San Jose State University (proximity to silicon valley)
CSU Long Beach (location)
.
.
.
CSUN (at the bottom)</p>

<p>The rest people forget about most of the time. They know Long Beach is a nice location, but it’s got crap academics. Chico is seen as a stoner/party school. The graduates I’ve met are dumb as rocks.</p>

<p>I’d come to Cal Poly SLO for anything, but I’d only come to Cal Poly Pomona if you’re a STEM or architecture major. STEM is strong here.</p>

<p>The least popular (not campus impacted and with few or no majors that are impacted) CSU campuses are:</p>

<p>Bakersfield
Channel Islands
Dominguez Hills
East Bay
Monterey Bay
Stanislaus</p>

<p>This does not, however, necessarily mean that they are “bad” schools.</p>

<p>I’m sorry, should specify I’m planning on majoring in Economics…</p>

<p>Yeah, my two main factors are my major (Economics) and just the quality of education/prestige for those who asked and anybody else who could shed light on the matter. </p>

<p>Would appreciate it.</p>

<p>I would say for economics, your top picks would be CSUF, SDSU, CSULB, and CSUN. The other top CSU’s (Cal Poly SLO, Cal Poly Pomona) are also good choices. Consider other aspects though such as location or which one you like the best after visiting each campus. Going to well-known CSUs like SLO, SDSU, and Pomona definitely have benefits and choosing by ranking if you get into all of them is good, but keep in mind comparing CSU’s isn’t as big a deal as comparing UC’s like you would with UCLA and say UCR.</p>