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I actually live in California and want to know how well the Cal States compare to the UC's. A list of the good ones would also be helpful.

By Luvvlise (Luvvlise) on Thursday, January 08, 2004 - 10:30 pm: Edit

Cal Poly SLO (although I don't know too much about it) I hear is a great school, and is actually harder to get into than most UC's.

By Melbel219 (Melbel219) on Friday, January 09, 2004 - 11:52 am: Edit

it depends on what you want to do in life..

UC's generally prepare the students for grad school and such. They have an emphasis on research and theory.

CSU's prepare their students for a job as soon as they get their bachelor's with more technical/practical emphasis in their classes.

Poly SLO is a good one if you want to major in Engineering or Business or Architecture.. it's hard to get into if you apply under these majors.. since the curriculum is sort of "upside down" (Gen Ed is taken the last 2 years instead of the first 2..) students applying have to declare a major.. so, if you're undecided then, this probably isn't the place for you.. plus, it's extremely difficult to change your major once you get there.. (but it's an absolutely beautiful campus.. though, it's not really ideal for someone who thrives in large cities)

San Jose State is good for music among other things (I wanted to be a music major for a long time.. i don't have too much info on the other programs..)

CSU Stanislaus has a great criminology/ forensics lab for budding Administration of Justice Majors as well as a growing music program

San Diego State would be good for journalism and public relation majors as well as education majors

San Francisco State is a pretty good school.. it's got some pretty respectable programs in a lot of different areas of study.. it also helps you make connections within San Fran.. However, it's also a bit of a commuter campus.. so, if you want a "normal" college experience, it probably isn't for you...

By Carolyn (Carolyn) on Friday, January 09, 2004 - 02:31 pm: Edit

It's very possible to go to graduate school or professional school after doing your undergraduate work at a cal state. Some cal states have strong pre-professional programs for law and medical/dental, for example.

One important thing to do when researching cal state schools is to take into consideration any programs the school lists as impacted. This can often mean difficulty in getting classes in these majors and graduating in 4 years. The cal state home page: www.calstate.edu lists which programs are impacted at each school. Not all schools have impacted programs - but some, like SDSU, have many. So, while it's true that SDSU has an excellent journalism program, it is an impacted program and can be very difficult to get into and graduate from. The same with business at SDSU.

One newer cal state that has some interesting and kind of untraditional programs is Cal State Monterey. It also has one of the largest percentage of students living on campus, something like 60%

Here's a list from Rugg's Recommendations of the Colleges on strongest programs at each school:

Humboldt State University - anthropology, art, botany, forestry, geology, geography and zoology

San Diego State: Art, Astronomy, Business, Communications, Education, English, HJistory, Sociology

Bakersfield Business, Education, English, geology, nursing, psychology


Channel Islands - anthropology, art, biology, biochem, business, chem, econ, education, pre-med/pre-dental

Chico - bio, chem, comp sci, geography, geology, nursing, psych, religious studies

Dominguez Hills - business, nursing, philosophy, psychology

Fresno, Agriculture, art, business, chemistry, education, engineering, hom ec, music, nursing, philosophy, sociology

Fullerton - anthropology, business, communications, history, music, nursing, pre-med, sociology

Hayward - art, business, computer science, geology, music

Long beach, art, commmunications (film), economics, political science, pre-law, psychology

Monterey Bay - art, biology, comp. sci, education, english, math, pre-law, pre-med

Northridge - communications, economics, english, geography, music, philosophy, physics, political science, pre-law, psych, sociology

Sacramento - anthropology, business, communications, education, english, geology, music, political science, psychology, cociology

San Bernadino, art business, communications, psychology, socilogy

San Jose, art chemistry, computer science, math, music, nursing, physics, pre-med, zoology

San Marcos, business, computers sci, education, psychology

Stanislaus, business, computer science, education, psychology

California Maritime Academy - engineering

Cal Poly Pomona - agriculture, architecture, business, computer science, engineering, zoology

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo - agriculture, graphic design, computer science, architecture, communications, engineering, english

Sonoma State - anthropology, business, chemistry, geography, nursing, physics, psychology

By Carolyn (Carolyn) on Friday, January 09, 2004 - 02:33 pm: Edit

Whoops, left out San Francisco State - anthropology, astronomy, communications, film, drama, english, hisotry, pre-law, sociology

By Lynn (Lynn) on Friday, January 09, 2004 - 06:43 pm: Edit

Cal Poly is only difficult to get into if you want to major in engineering, architecture, computer science or agriculture. My niece goes there, as does several of my daughter's friends who graduated in '02. Except for the majors mentioned, I would not say it is harder to get into Cal Poly than most of the UC's. I also question the info about general education classes being taken at the end. Both my niece and daughter's friends are sophomores and have been taking general ed classes since they got there. It is true that you have to declare a major when you apply, but it is possible to change your major once you are there. My niece just changed her major towards the end of her last quarter. You should be aware that many of the gen ed classes are quite large. My niece will be taking a psychology class this quarter which has over 600 students enrolled in it. She said many of her classes have been this large, but this really isn't any different than it is at the UC's or several of the state universities.

You didn't mention your desired major. I think the state universities have a stigma of being of lesser quality when, in fact, many of them are just as good and maybe in some cases better than some of the UC's. It just depends on the schools you are comparing and the majors. Keep in mind that state schools have more commuters and more older students. Older students are often very focused and work hard. State schools also attract those who want to save money for grad school.

I would add to the list of strong programs at the state schools:

Chico and Fresno have strong English departments.
Long Beach and San Francisco have strong dance majors (especially L.B.)
San Diego and Fullerton have excellent Theatre Arts majors.

By Tsdad (Tsdad) on Friday, January 09, 2004 - 07:40 pm: Edit

Film at SF State, SDSU, CSU-Northridge