CU Denver or SJSU?

[nicolekatrinab]

I appreciate it Idlewile good to know what a professional thinks. Would someone from UC Denver get the same consideration in the Silicon Valley or does first priority go to SV school grads?

[Idlewile]

Originally Posted by nicolekatrinab

I appreciate it Idlewile good to know what a professional thinks. Would someone from UC Denver get the same consideration in the Silicon Valley or does first priority go to SV school grads?

No problem, good for you for being as thoughtful as you are about this decision.

The most direct answer is, if you are a creative and you want to be for the long-term, your portfolio matters a lot more than either school and it matters more than an MBA too, as it should.

[vegaspilgrim]

Originally Posted by nicolekatrinab

idlewile, thanks for your response

I would like to get your opinion based on this: I'm not looking to move to one or the other and settle there permanently after. I'd keep my job scopes open to any area with a position that interests me. Meaning LA, SJ, SF, or even a smaller town if the pay was right at the company.

That being said, does SJ still have the advantage?

Unfortunately, that's not how it works. Geography matters. Especially since the recession started in 2008, campus recruiting and job searching in general have become more locally dependent than they have been in several generations. If you want to have a career in Denver, go to CU Denver (or better yet, CU Boulder). If you want to have a career in the Bay Area, go to SJSU or another school out there (I'm not too familiar with how SJSU stacks up against other Bay Area schools). If you want to have a career in Los Angeles, go to USC or UCLA. If you're not sure or don't really care where you'll end up, then go to the best in-state schools you can get into to keep the costs down. You want to take advantage of the campus recruiting, internship, and networking opportunities that your metro region has to offer. If you attend CU Denver with the intention of getting hired somewhere in CA (or vice versa), you'll be fighting an uphill battle the whole way. Trust me on this, I learned the hard way.

[nicolekatrinab]

Vegaspilgrim, could you elaborate?

[KaaBoom]

Originally Posted by SkyDog77

Not sure about SJSU, but CU Denver is a big time commuter school. There is not real "campus life" to speak of compared to most universities. As a grad student this may be a good thing, but as an undergrad I would not consider CU Denver because of this.

They are both Downtown campuses of comparable size. So I believe they are both equally commuter schools. Thats why I don't really see much of a difference in the two.