<p>My daughter has applied to both, and we believe will be accepted by both. We've visited both campuses, and liked both schools. Having lived in SLO I am partial to the city, and as she tends to be hands on and good with projects, Poly seems like a great choice. She'd major in business and plans on an MBA, hopefully from USC.</p>
<p>But, it's not a UC school. UCSB isn't the top tier UC, but it's not bad in the pecking order. The faculty seems excellent, the students we saw looked fine. Isla Vista to me is a huge drawback.</p>
<p>How would you compare the two in terms of reputation, career placement, and general academics and living?</p>
<p>SB has a great econ department, which, IMO, is a better undergrad major and prep for B-school (as opposed to majoring in biz undergrad). In general, a SB degree would slightly trump a Cal Poly degree with employers; but, of course, not all degrees are equal. Cal Poly has top notch engineering, architecture and ag programs, for example. An Econ major is considered more broad and liberal arts in comparison to undergrad biz.</p>
<p>SLO is a great college town -- many kids create ways to hang around for a fifth year of fun, telling their parents that they can't get classes to graduate on time. Isla Vista is party central USA, no getting around it. A better college community than SB, again, IMO, is Davis - same academics without the STDs. :)</p>
<p>Many moons ago, when I went to UCD, Davis and SLO were considered similiar universities in terms of campus feel. Both have the Ag tradition. You picked Davis if you wanted to ski in your spare time, SLO if you prefered the beach. So if you want SLO with a UC name attached, Davis may indeed be what you are looking for.</p>
<p>I would wait and see what kind of financial aid awards both schools provide your daughter. Once the awards are laid out, the decision will likely become more clear. </p>
<p>IMO, you won't go wrong with either school. UCSB does have a great econ department, which, as bluebayou says, will slightly trump a Cal Poly econ degree.</p>
<p>Keep in mind, if going for an MBA from a top program, your daughter will need strong undergrad college grades, strong GMAT scores, and at least 2 years of significant work experience.</p>
<p>UCD isn't an option, she hates the campus feel and did not apply. I've learned not to argue with a strong gut intuition. I agree with all the comments so far. If she goes to Poly she would definitely major in business, and you're totally correct, econ is better for an MBA but she's so practicum oriented that I can understand how she might come out better with a hands on approach. GPA 4.2 SAT 1950 so she's marginal for the top schools, probably OK for these two.</p>
<p>I have a friend that goes to Cal Poly and absolutly loves everything about it. My sister went to UCSB and while the campus is beautiful, the social scene was a little intense. UCSB is high-strung and puts a lot of emphasis on looks, you can't beat some of their programs though. Also, Cal Poly is probably the top CSU and very, very difficult to get accepted to.</p>
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I should have added, however, that I think a UC degree will more than slightly trump a SLO degree in grad school eyes...
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I disagree. I don't think it matters that much.
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<p>I think you will get conflicting answers, depending on the type and location of the graduate program. </p>
<p>In the California area, Cal Poly degrees in traditional "polytechnic" fields like engineering, architecture, or agriculture are very well regarded. They would likely be considered more or less comparable to degrees from schools like UCI, UCD, or UCSB by employers and grad schools. </p>
<p>In other fields, like business or liberal arts, Cal Poly's reputation is still respectable, but not as strong. UCSB would likely have the edge for a business or economics degree. </p>
<p>This would matter most if you were considering MBA programs outside of the California area. In other parts of the country/world, the "University of California" name is much more widely recognized than the "Cal Poly" name. If you plan to stay in-state for grad school, then this matters less.</p>
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I have a friend that goes to Cal Poly and absolutly loves everything about it.
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It's a matter of taste, but I personally would prefer the Cal Poly environment as well.</p>
<p>If your daughter were interested in, say, architecture or agriculture, SLO would be > than UCSB. On the other hand, if she were into, say, optics or physics, UCSB would win out.</p>
<p>In terms of econ --> business, UC is perhaps slightly better than SLO, but I can't imagine that the difference is so significant. Because the UC/SLO difference is so limited in econ, I'd go where I felt most comfortable, if I were in your D's situation.</p>
<p>In terms of recruiting for jobs, cal poly slo trumps ucsb simply because they have an actual business school that attracts more companies. UCSB biz econ will give you a broader knowledge base and will probably be slightly more challenging due to the quarter system and the funky way some teachers decide to teach price theory and other econ classes. I see econ as more challenging for a hands on person if you get a teacher that teaches it from a strictly theoretical standpoint, which many do.</p>
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Having lived there when it was even seedier and the shops more run-down than today, I have to disagree with you here. IMHO Isla Vista is part of what makes the school great. I'm horrified when I look around now, but when I was a student living in a student slum was a blast! All your friends are a short walk away so the school has a real college-town atmosphere. And being right on the water -- how many people ever get a chance to live like that in their life? You need to look at it not thru your adult eyes with standards of appearance and decorum, but thru the eyes of a college student who can fit all their worldly possessions in the back seat of a car. You don't need much, you don't have much, its loads of fun!</p>
<p>I really don't think there is enough of a difference between a degree from UCSB and one from Cal Poly SLO to make a difference in the eyes of graduate programs. The benefit of Cal Poly is that a degree from there tells future employers and grad schools that she has had experience. Oh and though I agree with mikemac that Isla Vista is part of the fun and that my distaste for it makes me stodgy, I agree with the OP living in SLO would be way nicer than living in Isla Vista. But it clearly should be the DD's choice.</p>
<p>They're both solid solid schools. I doubt you could go wrong with either. I'd personally choose UCSB since she is not an Engineering major and because of location.</p>
<p>mikemac said it well and the only thing that truly needs to be fixed would be the fact that landlords take advantage of students - or at least try to - and the fact that hey plan to build even more low income housing, in which low income housing means dense, not cheap or government subsidized = even crappier parking situation.</p>
<p>Cal Poly is cheaper than UCSB - both tuition and local cost of living. (What - you want to live on the beach in California and have it be cheap, too? Dream on.) As the dad of an Isla-Vista dwelling UCSB econ student I'll chime in with the observation that SLO may be more of a "parent's college town" and IV more of a "student's college town." That is - IV is grungy, tacky, and reportedly has more people (and parties) per square mile than anywhere else in America west of the Mississippi. And from a college student's point of view the problem with that is---what? SLO is a lot neater, but I haven't detected as much of a student "vibe" in the town so much as the feel that it is a rather quaint adult-dominated community with college students around for local color. I would love to live in SLO, and would cringe at the thought of walking barefoot through IV (eeeyuu) but I understand that my son loves the place - that's what makes him a student and me an old fart.</p>
<p>First year a UCSB student should live in the dorms on campus anyway. After that, dealing with the vagaries of people is part of the education from my perspective - and you'll get plenty of that in IV.</p>
<p>This is only my gut feeling... UCSB wins on general reputation, but Cal Poly wins on technical preparation. It's a draw. Test scores of entering students are almost identical.</p>
<p>I graduated from SLO and have many friends who went to UCSB. I loved Cal Poly and thought I recieved an excellent education that has helped me a great deal in life. That said, all my friends who went to UCSB are very intelligent and very successful in their careers. I'd just go with your gut feeling on which you think "fits" best.</p>