<p>The fact of the matter is, if you have to choose between UCSD and UCSB, you probably didn’t get into a “brand name” school. And if you have to go to a non “brand name” school, the school itself that you go to shouldn’t be based on rankings when the rankings are so similar. When you put your resume out there many of your future bosses will be from different states and will have never even heard of these schools. All that matters is that you have a degree from an accredited institution. Go somewhere where you feel at home.</p>
<p>@lexapower I don’t completely agree. For specific departments that excel in their fields, certain schools will have more name recognition in that job market even outside of the state (for example, UCSD when applying for a job relating to political science).</p>
<p>Sorry to burst your bubbles here, but if you ask someone from the east coast if they know of UC San Diego or UC Santa Barbara, not one single person will have any idea what the heck you’re talking about. (For the record, I’m in NC right now, and I have done this)</p>
<p>UCLA and Berkeley, yes, those are known (inter)nationally. Beyond that, you’re deluding yourself into thinking one is going to get you that job over the other. Okay, if you want to get a job in San Diego, UCSD is the best choice. Santa Barbara? Choose UCSB. Otherwise, no one cares. You guys probably don’t have any clue how UNC Charlotte compares to UNC Greensboro, because outside the general region, no one cares.</p>
<p>Moreover, the vast majority of Californians probably have no idea what UNC Chapel Hill is, and that one IS a brand name here. Prestige is relative to area, unless we’re talking about the BEST of the best of the best, it’s not going to matter much.</p>
<p>@barnaby Are you telling me that a biomedical engineering company will have never heard of UCSD? If you are applying for a job in a field where a non-“brand name” college excels, people in that job market will still recognize the name.</p>
<p>Whoever is speaking such remarkably brainless comments needs to stop…</p>
<p>Albeit UCLA and UCB are more prominently known nationally and internationally… how can you say that UCSD or even UCSB for that matter doesn’t carry national and international reputability. All four of these institutions carry international reputability and receive applications for several international students. </p>
<p>For those who are unaware of UCSD and UCSB, I feel sorry for them as that is just an indicator of being poorly educated of the US university system. Just as I would feel sorry for a Californian who wasn’t aware of UNC Chapel Hill.</p>
<p>My aunt and uncle are aged foreigners who only know about UCLA and UC Berk. As for people who were born in this country, it is just being poorly educated to be unaware of these schools. </p>
<p>Not to say that they are in par with UCLA or UCB, as these are larger, Division I schools. They are however right behind them</p>
<p>You all need to get over it. No one outside of California knows about UCSB or UCSD. My uncle was an engineer and never even talked about UCSD. My cousin is a 4.0 bio student and just go into med-school (she’s only 21 too). If you wanna go to school for the “name” go to Harvard, Yale, Oxford, etc. otherwise…</p>
<p>You did not get into Berekley or UCLA, get over it and get off your high horse.</p>
<p>I say only morons are unaware of UNC chapel hill, and you got to be a moron to be unaware of Ucsb, ucsd, or any other uc school. These schools are the top public schools in the nation (if not the world). In other words, people who don’t know these schools are morons anyways, so who cares?</p>
<p>Or maybe they’re just people who don’t spend their lives on collegeconfidential.com.</p>
<p>@munaluna What do those brand name schools all have in common?</p>
<p>Biomedical Rankings:</p>
<p>1.Johns Hopkins University
2. Duke University
3. Georgia Institute of Technology
4. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
5. University of California, San Diego
6. Rice University
6. University of Pennsylvania
6. University of Washington
9. Case Western Reserve University
10. Boston University </p>
<p>Oh! They are remarkably absent from this list.</p>
<p>Also, all biomedical engineers are engineers, but not all engineers are biomedical engineers. In the same vein, medicine and biomedical engineering are not interchangable subjects.</p>
<p>My whole point was that just because UCSB and UCSD aren’t brand name schools that doesn’t mean they aren’t good schools. A lot of people pick one or the other just because they perceive it as “more well known” when both of them are unknown to many people. If your major is good at UCSD you should go to UCSD. If your major is good at UCSB you should go there. Obviously different schools are known for different majors. CSUN is obviously not anyone’s academic top choice but they have an excellent and locally recognized film production program. However CSUN is also not well known and many people who I’ve met who are even California natives are unaware of where Northridge is (esp. NorCal or transplants who’ve only lived here a few years). But the UCs are all great schools. Even if they aren’t “brand name.” But you should not pick UCSD just to impress people with it’s “brand name” because most AVERAGE (again, AVERAGE, not people in very specific fields) will have never heard of the school.</p>
<p>Gawd, you two are so daft. I hope you realize employers care more about your experience than where you went to school (unless it was a BRAND NAME, which UCSB and UCSD is NOT). My friend’s brother went to UCSD as an engineer and he still hasn’t been hired and he graduated last year. It’s the initial shock that every naive college graduate goes through when they think they’ll be able to find a job.</p>
<p>A good friend of mine graduated from Berkley with honors and she’s working through those temp. agencies and she graduated two years ago. Yes, it’s nice to go to a good school, but your experience and connections are the most important–and for those things you need to be SOCIAL and actually connect with the people that you lilve/work with. She was a bit awkward, socially and not very charismatic which I think is her main problem and you HAVE to be willing to move out of California where most people do not know the UCs. I visited SDSU to check it out and I already had connected with two faulty members in a field that I wanted to work in–and they both wanted me to return in the summer to work with them. </p>
<p>Adding on, most people end up doing something completely different from their degree. This is when reality sets in.</p>
<p>I met a new anchor woman, Kimberly Hunt and three others when I was sixteen and bored. I went up to her and talked to her a bit. She wanted me to intern for her and I only spoke to the woman for two minutes.</p>
<p>The art of schmoozing, try to learn that in college instead.</p>
<p>A lot of haters in this thread.</p>
<p>The best way is to just go and visit both schools, and make your decision.</p>
<p>I got into both and will probably end up going to SD, as their economics program is ranked pretty high. Obviously there are more factors than that which I am considering, but I’m just naming one.</p>
<p>As for social life, I’ll find something. If not, I know a few people at SDSU, haha.</p>
<p>Same dilemma here… But I’ve decided to go to UCSD because of its 14th econ department in the nation :D</p>
<p>Since everybody’s pitching in about brand names, do medical schools care about that? Would going to Stanford be a big plus over going to UCSD, assuming that performances at the universities were equivalent? Or are they far more knowledgeable about the details?</p>
<p>Or maybe they’re just people who don’t spend their lives on collegeconfidential.com.</p>
<p>I was thinking the exact same thing lol</p>