<p>I got accepted to SDSU and received a Merit Scholarship (full-tuition paid for all four years). I also presume I will be accepted to UCSD as well, but would have to pay for tuition. I am doing Computer Science and I don't know which choice would be the best for me. UCSD has many connections to high-end companies such as Qualcomm and Google, and the quality of education is, at least in my opinion, better there. But should I make the decision to go to SDSU and not worry about tuition costs? Is your alma mater relevant when applying for software engineering careers? </p>
I would definitely take the full ride to SDSU. Think of all the money you are saving and the struggles that most college kids suffer from. If you truly enjoy UCSD, you can always transfer there after your two years at SDSU. And yes, UCSD does have special connections and such but what really matters is you and your grades. Regardless of the school you attend.
Ooooooooo…BIG difference between the two.
Curious - what kind of full-tuition merit scholarship does SDSU have? I didn’t think the state schools had any merit scholarships, other than regents, which aren’t full tuition. Back to your question - so basically it is free tuition at SDSU vs approx. 13.5K each year at UCSD. My two cents - if your parents are paying - go to UCSD. If you are taking out student loans and will be in a lot of debt - go to SDSU. Keep in mind that the CSUs are more ‘job and skills focused’ and the UCs are more general concepts and knowledge focused. Those are of course my words, but I
think you will get some different education between the two. I would suggest looking at their course catalogs and reading the descriptions of the required courses for your major and see if you can tell which one fits you better. for example, MANY years ago, I wanted to be a ‘computer programmer’ and was going to apply to Cal. Once I looked at
their catalog, I saw that they didn’t even offer that, but had ‘computer engineering’. I ended going to community college for 2 years, Sac State for 2 years, and got a great job doing what I enjoyed. (and saved TONS of money on college costs). At that time, the company I worked for only recruited for IT at the CSUs because those students were ‘job ready’. Time have probably changed 
The Merit Scholarship I received is only available to San Diego residents, which is probably why you didn’t know they existed. Thank you for answering my question.
It is a tough question. If you want to maintain a network, set up a small business system, keep up-to-date on the latest, SDSU would be a great choice. If you are more into developing a new operating system, designing a system architecture for controlling a new device (self-driving car, medical device), etc. you may want to consider UCSD.
Both are great schools, depending on what you are after. They are very different schools with very different missions.
UCSD is a very good school. For CA residents it’s a pretty good deal @ about $14k/yr. - and rising @ 5% per year. Call it $60k for 4 years. Books, parking, etc will be close to a wash at both schools. Unless you come from a wealthy family - that’s a big check to write and probably difficult to rationalize. Is UCSD an Escalade better than SDSU… probably not.
I’d say Go Aztecs!