<p>I got accepted into both universities and truly love the opportunities at both colleges. I like UCSC because of the campus, location (redwoods and beach), sports and campus life, but I like how SJSU is right in silicon valley, has a good reputation in engineering, is very cheap, and right next to my Dad's house. </p>
<p>My plan is to graduate with a major in computer engineering and get right into the field in silicon valley, a place I grew up in. I can really see myself designing and/or testing/building for companies like Apple, Nvidia, Microsoft, AMD, Google, etc. I am not sure which university offers the better or more reputable computer engineering course. </p>
<p>In the end I would be happy either way, but the bottom line is, which university has a higher chance of giving me a good jump start for my career in silicon valley?</p>
<p>San Jose. My parents work for big IT companies (CISCO and IBM) and they say that most of the new graduates they hire are from San Jose State with a Computer Engineering/Science background.</p>
<p>We do get a lot of visitors from the Silicon Valley. In fact, we have had Nvidia, Microsoft, and Google recruit here. Usually they have a quarterly visit and recruiting talk/interviews.</p>
<p>I can’t speak as much about the program because I’m in CS, but I’ve heard great things from the CE students. They say their professors are very challenging, but they have the utmost respect for them because of how much is learned.</p>
<p>I would just like to point out that San Jose State is struggling BADLY right now in terms of class availability and over-crowding, making it really difficult to graduate within 4 years. If you think UCs are suffering from budget cuts, it’s exponentially worse at CSUs.
So although it may be cheaper (being from San Jose, I totally understand the appeal haha), most people end up staying longer than 4 years and it ends up being a ton of money anyway.</p>
<p>Just some food for thought.</p>
<p>And also, the entire school of engineering at UCSC is amazing. And since the student population is a lot smaller at UCSC compared to SJSU, you’d probably get more opportunities to get close to faculty and grad students, which could be of great value when you’re looking for a job or internship in the future. Making connections is what will ultimately get you ahead, especially at tech companies. So knowing who to talk to is key. I’m not saying you couldn’t get that experience at SJSU, but I wouldn’t really know since I don’t go there.</p>
<p>If money is an issue, I’d seriously think about going to SJSU. While SJSU isn’t ranked as high as UCSC, their career services are pretty amazing for internships. The biggest reason for this is due to SJSU being situated directly in Silicon Valley (you can even intern during the school year which is a HUGE plus). If you can get a few internships under your belt, working at any large IT company is pretty easy.</p>
<p>The only fault I see with UCSC when it comes to career placement is that there aren’t many large companies in the direct/immediate area. Plantronics is basically the only one unless you count Seagate, but they moved their world headquaters to Cupertino because Scotts Valley (near Santa Cruz) is in the middle of nowhere and not a strategic place for a tech company.</p>
<p>Is there a problem with UCSC not being as close to tech companies? I could move to San Jose or Santa Clara afterwards if it has to do with my location and getting to work.</p>
<p>I think the importance of it is that you will be competing for jobs and internships, so being in an area with more opportunity, San Jose, would probably be the better idea. Then again it’s what you make of it, so perhaps you can snatch one of those internships or projects to work on in UCSC. More than anything, using your knowledge to acquire job skills will automatically make you more marketable than someone just going for a degree.</p>