UCSB, UCB, UCSD or UCLA?

<p>UCSD>UCB>UCSB>UCLA—computer science student, living in LA!</p>

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<p>Claremont is not even that impressive. Cal and UCLA are much better.</p>

<p>@ocnative</p>

<p>to be fair, claremont is pretty prestigious among liberal arts colleges;it’s ranked the 9th best liberal arts college in the nation. But I agree that the prestige of UCLA and UC Berkeley far surpass that of Claremont.</p>

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<p>Exactly! Haha. I would think Caltech is more equivalent to Stanford and the Ivies than Claremont.</p>

<p>@ocnative</p>

<p>Most definitely, but I don’t think Caltech kids look down on the UCs, not UC Berkeley or UCLA, at least.</p>

<p>And UCSD is becoming more and more prestigious every year.</p>

<p>If Cal had an undergrad population of 7,000, it might surpass Stanford in ratings. Likewise UCLA would be better than any mid-tier Ivy school. But obviously the UCs have massive student populations. It’s nice because it makes it relatively easy to transfer but at the same time it destroys the value of their degrees; Much like issuing too many shares of stock. </p>

<p>Every year almost 20,000 new degrees get printed from USC, Cal, UCLA combined. That is a lot of competition. For this reason I wouldn’t go to a mid-tier UC unless I was an Engineering Major or was possibly looking for grad school.</p>

<p>Might catch some Triton eye if I was to attend UCSD. Berkeley girls though… got nothing on LA girls lol.</p>

<p>IMO, overall college experience > mere prestige of a school. Well, I thrive better in that type of environment. Plus, there are too many should-be Ivy League students at Cal which in turns mean that the competition is ridiculous.</p>

<p>It’d be interesting to see how much prestige Cal and UCLA would acquire if they suddenly stopped being public universities and significantly lowered their acceptance rates to around 12~18%, assuming that the transition to private status wouldn’t harm them financially.</p>

<p>Although I’d love to go to UCLA, I must admit that I doubt it would outrank the mid-tier Ivys. Maybe the lower Ivys, but not the mid-tier ones. Cal is a slightly different story. It could rival Columbia, Cornell, and similar Ivies, as well as Stanford, like you said.</p>

<p>But prestige doesn’t really matter at the end of the day. It sure as hell is interesting to talk about, though.</p>

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<p>What are considered the mid-tier UC’s? Like Santa Barbara?</p>

<p>Prestige matters. I was at UCLA a few months and we were given a presentation by the political science department. This one girl talked about her experience going to DC and interning for a congressman. I am sure she will have good job prospects when she graduates but I can’t say that about the other people in the political science department. One of things we got told, altho not overly, was that UCLA is a big school and you have to go out of your way to really make it work for you. Basically the more you can relay on your degree to help you out, the better.</p>

<p>@bomerr</p>

<p>for about maybe 90~95% of all people, prestige doesn’t matter, really. I’m certain it won’t for me, but then again I’m majoring in philosophy. Not really sure if a degree in philosophy from UCLA will be so much better to anyone than a degree from Podunk University.</p>

<p>That is true. In my accounting class their were some people who were doing really well and others that were doing poor. One of the girls that was doing well didn’t really have any drive in life. her whole reason for taking accounting was to transfer to CSULB. And the reason she wanted to transfer was because a 4yr degree would give her a small bump in pay and reduce her chances of getting laid-off if they ever started cutting jobs. Obviously it all depends on your goals in life but if person is considering going to a UC I would think that the prestige/effects of the degree would matter. Else just get a cheapo degree at your local CSU.</p>

<p>@Cayton yes it will if you plan on grad school which you should be considering since a BA in philosophy leaves you with a plethora of job options in the retail/service industry and not much else, real talk</p>

<p>@art2cs</p>

<p>the job market is terrible for people with Ph.Ds in philosophy and for people with Ph.Ds in general(Which has frightening implications for almost anyone who wants to go to graduate school). Not sure about people with master’s degrees in philosophy.</p>

<p>[Majors</a> That Pay You Back ? PayScale College Salary Report 2012-13](<a href=“http://www.payscale.com/college-salary-report-2013/majors-that-pay-you-back]Majors”>http://www.payscale.com/college-salary-report-2013/majors-that-pay-you-back)</p>

<p>According to payscale.com, the median starting salary for those with only a bachelor’s degree in philosophy is $38,300. It isn’t that great, but it’s only the starting salary, and is comparable to the salaries of those with a bachelor’s in biology, a <em>science.</em> the Mid-career salary of those with philosophy degrees is $72,600, which is slightly better than biology, surprisingly, and isn’t bad if I say so myself.</p>

<p>Before the recession, these salaries were higher, so earning a degree in philosophy isn’t as unwise an academic and business decision as many people would have you believe.</p>

<p>Sorry, I meant grad school as in law or medical or business</p>

<p>@art2CS</p>

<p>Although philosophy majors do very well in the types of professional schools you mentioned, I have no plans to enroll in postgraduate studies. I appreciate your concern but I think I’ll be fine.</p>

<p>I wouldn’t want to study anything else and studying what you want to study is what college is all about, despite what some career-oriented people would have you believe.</p>

<p>Sorry to sound preachy, but yeah, just my thoughts. Feel free to disagree.</p>

<p>I agree with Cayton. </p>

<p>You can get into anything with the exception of engineering regardless of major. You can yourself teach CS, get hired at an investment bank or do marketing.</p>

<p>You should go to school to pursue what you want to learn and make yourself a well rounded person.</p>

<p>I feel the biggest problem with education now is people go to school thinking “oh I’ll just study xx major and I’ll make money” or I need job security. This sets so many people up for failure. It’s not about your major or school, it’s about who you know and how you build your resume. If you can’t make it doing what you enjoy, you sure as hell won’t make it by becoming an engineer or going into finance. I know someone who majored in Bio at UCLA, and is making 150k a year doing marketing 2 years out of school. They told me they went to college to learn and expand their knowledge, not to set them up for a career.</p>

<p>If you want to set up yourself up for a career, might as well become a firefighter, cop, or forgo college all together and start your own business.</p>

<p>@CSB111</p>

<p>I appreciate the kind words, especially given that your academic background is very heavy on math and economics. :)</p>