<p>I find myself in the (enviable, maybe) but difficult situation of choosing between the $200,000 “dream school” - UIUC, and the $80,000 “hidden gem” state school.</p>
<p>My family can afford (just barely, and by jumping through a lot of hoops) the $200k tuition without taking out loans, but I obviously don’t think draining the family savings account should be my first achievement as an adult.</p>
<p>I’m looking for somewhere that will get me into a top grad school (UIUC/CMU/Berkeley), and failing that, a great job at a SV company. It’s no secret that UIUC is one of the recruitment hotspots for CS majors (Bill Gates himself said that MS hires more people from there than any other college in the world.)</p>
<p>I’m not sure about Cal Poly – to be honest, it was a “safety school” all this while at the bottom of my list until I actually went to do my research and discovered it outclasses even most of the UC system at engineering… But how are the job prospects? How are class sizes? The environment? The maternal unit is concerned that it has a “party school” reputation and that I will drop out in anger and spite at the institution. The paternal is more receptive to the idea because hes hired and been hired by SLO grads who love the place.</p>
<p>I am a very very high achiever – run my own software company, work as CTO for another, and have 3 years of commercial experience in software engineering. I can hold my liquor, and would actually enjoy the occasional party, but my academics come first, always. I also enjoy outdoor exercise so the frigid illinois winter isn’t exactly super appealing to me 
How good a fit would SLO be? And what are my prospects like post-graduation?</p>
<p>First, you are looking at two different types of state schools: a very large research institution in IL and a medium-large teaching institution in CA. A very nice discussion comparing Cal Poly with California’s big research institutions is at
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/cal-poly-san-luis-obispo/1307776-another-cal-poly-slo-vs-ucs-thread.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/cal-poly-san-luis-obispo/1307776-another-cal-poly-slo-vs-ucs-thread.html</a></p>
<p>The posts in that thread get at your questions. Good luck.</p>
<p>Just putting this out-- despite whether or not you SIR’d already to a specific college:</p>
<p>I am currently a first year at Cal Poly studying Computer Science. I was accepted into one of the Claremont Colleges for CS but decided not to attend due to the 150k I would have to pay out of pocket. The school you attend should never determine your odds for getting that job or getting into a top-tier grad school. Afterall, in the end what they are really looking at is your academic background. You claim you are a high-achiever and wherever you decide to attend, you should be able to demonstrate that the college you attend does not define your aptitude for performance. Cal Poly is a great engineering school-- not the best, especially for Computer Science which in reality, is more theoretical than applicable. Just because someone knows how to program or is <em>good</em> at programming does not mean they fully understand what is happening when they compile a program and what happens during runtime. Employers do not look for people who are good coders-- they look for people whom UNDERSTAND what they are doing.</p>
<p>With that being said, the job prospects at Cal Poly for CS is great-- we have a career fair every quarter and during Fall Quarter we had numerous tech/engineering companies come here looking to recruit (Apple, Microsoft, Raytheon, Stryker, Cisco, etc) and often, we have representatives from various companies (every other week or so) sponsored by the Association of Computing Machinery here at Poly come and do a talk and then students are able to talk to the recruiters personally (a couple weeks ago we had Facebook, Zynga, and Google). </p>
<p>The classes sizes are relatively small with respect to a UC/ or any other research institution. My first quarter class had about 30 students while my second quarter had 60 students (this is abnormal for a CS course, but then again it was introductory). You will see, usually starting your second year that the classes will cap at 35 or so. </p>
<p>The environment is very chill to say the least. I would say it is relatively not competitive. Students are willing to help their peers and I don’t know of any CS professor here that curves their grades. I can’t say for a fact, but I would only assume that you will see very competitive people in a research institution where you have classes that are 200 people in size. </p>
<p>The party scene is superficial (not surprising). Most guys are unable to get into a party unless they are with a fraternity or know someone personally. Girls can get into almost any. I am not a party person to say the least and there are plenty of other ways to enjoy SLO. You will definitely enjoy the environment if you love hiking/exercising/the outdoors.</p>