<p>Hey everyone,</p>
<p>So I’ll try and make this quick and easy, i just got into UCSB off of the waitlist and now i’m in a huge predicament. I already committed to Cal Poly, and had my mind set on it.</p>
<p>Now, i need to make the decision between going to UCSB or Cal Poly and it’s stressing me out like crazy.</p>
<p>I loved the cal poly campus and area when i visited, and from people i’ve talked to it seems like it really is a respected school. But UCSB is UCSB and has that “uc” name attached to it. Also Isla Vista is a huuuge plus for me. I am really leaning towards cal poly, but i dont want to make the wrong choice and choose a state school over a uc. I know, those stupid labels are affecting my decision…but status is a huge part about what school you go to unfortunately.</p>
<p>I am in business at cal poly, but i think im going to switch into econ because i want to get an mba after college. I also got into pre-econ at ucsb. So here comes the first question: Which econ degree do you think would be better? help me get a job out of college? more money? get into a respected mba program? etc</p>
<p>My second question is: Which should i choose?? I’m in such a dilemma and i dont wanna make the wrong choice. I was looking at us news ranking and didn’t even see cal poly on the list, but did see ucsb (which worries me even more).</p>
<p>I’m just trying to get some opinions, so anything will be greatly appreciated. I’ll be posting this in the UCSB forum also. Any info on the comparisons between party life, academics, ranking, town, etc is also appreciated.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Don’t let the UC in front of SB make it seem better then Cal Poly! : )
they’re both good schools, just depends on wether you prefer SLO or SB really…</p>
<p>First off, UCSB is classified as national/research institution while Cal Poly is clssifed as master’s institution since it either only offer a few or none of PhD degree. You should be able to find Cal Poly under master university/west region in the US news week ranking.</p>
<p>Secondly, most of the MBA program, especially the top ones require sounding work experience like 3-5 years. So, it’s not the econ degree would help you, but whatever lands you a good placement.</p>
<p>Cal Poly SLO has a very high ranking for a Master’s University. Check it out in US News Report under West. Also check out the thread I started here asking students what schools they passed up for Cal Poly. You’d be surprised at all of the UCs. That includes Berkeley. We know a gal who gave up UCB for Industrial Engineering at CP. </p>
<p>I know what you mean about that UC-prestige-thing. I wondered if my daughter should choose UC Davis over Poly. But in the end, she felt CP was a better fit for her. I wouldn’t even consider Merced or Riverside as more prestigious than Cal Poly even with the UC in front. And my daughter had no interest in UCSB. Myself, I think of more serious, but fun loving students at Cal Poly over SB. Good luck!</p>
<p>I’ll go in order haha:</p>
<p>nutellaella- after visiting open house at slo and spending a day at sb, i really feel like I like the small town feel of slo more. But of course the beach in sb is nice also. Like i said before, i really like the campus for cal poly and even found ucsb to be rather ugly :-/</p>
<p>watermark- Thanks for clearing that up, and yea i know, i ment after my work experience. I have just been reading that undergrad business isnt good for an mba because good mba programs want diversity, not to just reteach you what another school already did. </p>
<p>2leashes- i checked out that thread, pretty crazy stuff actually haha. The problem is, for me, that im not gonna be part of the engineering program or architecture so the people passing up cal and ucla etc prob got into engineering or arch. I’m probably gonna go business or econ. I do appreciate the input though :)</p>
<p>Ahhh, such a hard choice for me. Any more opinions on ucsb vs cal poly would be awesome!</p>
<p>ahah for sure!
But know that the beach is only 15mins away from slo : ) so it’s like you have it all in one!</p>
<p>Zephyr, I don’t think you need to worry about re-learn/re-teach. MBA program is heavily involving case study, that’s the reason they want experiences. IMHO, I don’'t think study of undergrad business would put one in disadvantage when getting into MBA program. You have to realize, many people go to MBA for career change or climbing the corp. ladder. So study what you like.</p>
<p>In addition, I suggest you search for the job placement data for econ in UCSB. CalPoly’s is avaialbe on line. So you have a feel of what the major will lead to from different program since you already know job experience is important for MBA program.</p>
<p>My post is in no way trying to persuade you to choose business over econ, or CalPoly over UCSB since UCSB doesn’t offer business. I just think you shouldn’t choose econ thinking it would give you a better shot at MBA.</p>
<p>Watermark, i will deff look up econ job placement for ucsb, good idea. Honestly one of the biggest pulling factors for me about cal poly is job placement. Everyone i talk to says cal poly has phenomenal job placement, and also the article Adesigner posted, and if that really is more important for an mba than i think thats pretty important. Econ isn’t a for sure anyways, it’s just what i gathered from various sources about what helps you get into top mba programs. and yea, my main goal is to climb the corporate ladder so getting an mba is very important to me.</p>
<p>Also, if anyone would care to compare ucsb and cal poly in terms of partying? I like to have a good time, and obviously ucsb is famous for their parties even if your not in a frat, but what about cal poly? ive heard that cal poly is referred to as ucsb light by some people, and if that’s true than thats awesome 
haha </p>
<p>Keep the opinions coming, ive only got 10 days to make my decision. Stressing like crazzyy</p>
<p>Your undergraduate major will have a minimal impact in getting you selected for a “top” MBA program. </p>
<p>What you need is:
- Solid, relevant work experience (5+ years)
- Good GMAT score (680+)
- Good undergrad GPA (3.40+)</p>
<p>As for partying, Isla Vista makes SLO look like church on Sunday morning.</p>
<p>try cross posting on the UCSB forum too</p>
<p>Alright 08alum thanks for that info. I’ve always been really interested in some sort of business but I’m even more interested in getting an MBA so I am willing to switch my major. </p>
<p>And even though I love partying, I don’t want to make my decision on how fun isla vista would be… I need a little bit more than that</p>
<p>For business students, the UC tenet is research/science and the state schools are more business. </p>
<p>If you really want to go to an undergrad B school, then it is CP. UCSB does not have a B School. My S’ tutor who went to Harvard said that an undergrad degree from CP would definitley put S in the running for an MBA at any Ivy, Stanford, etc if he gets great grades. What is important is to ask about internship opportunities and placement of graduates in jobs.</p>
<p>My husband went to UCSB and has very fond memories of his time there. He loved the school.</p>
<p>Well thats the thing, originally i really did want to go to an undergrad b school. But than i found out about the whole re-teach problem that top mba programs dont want to do, so i considered econ. And now, according to watermark and 08alum, it wouldnt make that big of a difference in if i choose a business major instead of econ. </p>
<p>And if i did decide to do econ i’m not sure which school would be better for it, cp or sb.</p>
<p>Also, if i dont like econ im screwed at sb because im not really into science like biology or heavy math related subjects. But at cp i could prob switch back into the b-school.</p>
<p>For me the most important things are job placement, the area the college is in/campus, and social life. Job placement seems like cal poly has it in the bag (but im not sure?), campus wise i hate sb and loved cp, and social life i feel like comparing ucsb to cal poly isnt fair. </p>
<p>/bump for more help :)</p>
<p>Just go where you want to go. Prestige wise, there really isn’t much difference between the two schools. If you do well, you will get into a top business school, but usually only after you gain some work experience. With that in mind, I would not underestimate the importance of job placement, especially in this economy.</p>
<p>Ok so i am actually a bus admin major and i am planning on double majoring in econ because i’ve taken a lot of community college classes. as far as course options for ECON there are SO many interesting classes to choose from. There are a lot of great ECON professors and a couple “bad apples”, which are actually really smart, like my macro professor went to berkeley and shes a great economist, but not the greatest teacher… on the other hand there are a lot of great econ teachers that have gone to Ivy leagues (or one at least), UCLA, etc.</p>
<p>There are two ECON concentrations if you didn’t know: quantitative & real estate. You can also be a bus admin major and concentrate in econ. although i am super critical of cal poly, job placement, especially in the college of business is by far one of the best reasons to come to cal poly. they do a fantastic job preparing you to go into a career.</p>
<p>I am also planning on going to grad school if my grades are good enough, not necessarily an MBA though. but my econ professor who went to like irvine, ucla, ucsd, for like undergrad/ms/phd/whatever said that ECON is they way to go if you want to go to grad school because the classes are a lot tougher than business. and believe me they are much harder!</p>
<p>that being said, since a lot of grad schools want experience before a student enters an MBA program, cal poly is a great place to be exposed to employers and possibly attain a job to gain experience before a grad program. the one thing i am not really worried about is getting a job after i graduate, and if so there is always other options.</p>
<p>I have no doubt that if one wants to do a Master/PhD in econ, major in econ for under is the best way to go. But MBA program is for “connection”, for doors to the top jobs/advance in the career path. MBA students come from all different background. If history or other less qualitative/quantitative requirement major can survive MBA program, I don’t see how business major have trouble to go thru the program.</p>