UCSD versus SDSU for Business as a junior/undergraduate (San Diego: 2015, school)

[RosieSD]

Originally Posted by sprez33

So I never meant to suggest that anyone should choose a university to attend based on rankings. Apologies if it came off that way. But posters were questioning UCSD's recognition outside of California and also suggested that UCSD and SDSU were 'interchangeable'. An assertion that, frankly, borders on the ridiculous.

BTW, here are some university rankings not meant to sell magazines:
- 14th by the Academic Ranking of World Universities
- 21st by the Center for World University Rankings.
- 39th in the world by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings
- 44th overall in the world, and 14th in life sciences and biomedicine, by QS World University Rankings
- Centre for Science and Technology Studies at Leiden University named UCSD 16th in the world for scientific impact

SDSU is certainly a good school and is recognized regionally. But UCSD is recognized as a global leader in all things biomedical, engineering, computer sci, economics/business and others I'm sure.

For the person that asked where I found the global rankings, here it is.

Top World University Rankings, p2 | US News Best Global Universities

Got it, and thanks for explaining.

[bloom]

Originally Posted by Sassberto

Both UCSD and SDSU are largely unknown outside of SD and CA. The exception would be if you were a marine biologist perhaps. If pedigree matters, you won't get it.

I would extend UCSD from marine to broadly include (human) biology, medicine,

[oddstray]

Originally Posted by Sassberto

Both UCSD and SDSU are largely unknown outside of SD and CA. The exception would be if you were a marine biologist perhaps. If pedigree matters, you won't get it.

Um, no.

UCSD is world wide known and admired for engineering. At least computer and electrical, and as you point out marine biology.. Possibly more than those.

[spoonman1]

Originally Posted by oddstray

Um, no.

UCSD is world wide known and admired for engineering. At least computer and electrical, and as you point out marine biology.. Possibly more than those.

Agree

[spoonman1]

Originally Posted by monoprice

UCSD is 75% people who were rejected by UCLA/CAL, so keep that in mind.

Not true. My sister was rejected by UCSD and accepted by Berkeley.

[someguy10]

Originally Posted by sprez33

So I never meant to suggest that anyone should choose a university to attend based on rankings. Apologies if it came off that way. But posters were questioning UCSD's recognition outside of California and also suggested that UCSD and SDSU were 'interchangeable'. An assertion that, frankly, borders on the ridiculous.

BTW, here are some university rankings not meant to sell magazines:
- 14th by the Academic Ranking of World Universities
- 21st by the Center for World University Rankings.
- 39th in the world by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings
- 44th overall in the world, and 14th in life sciences and biomedicine, by QS World University Rankings
- Centre for Science and Technology Studies at Leiden University named UCSD 16th in the world for scientific impact

SDSU is certainly a good school and is recognized regionally. But UCSD is recognized as a global leader in all things biomedical, engineering, computer sci, economics/business and others I'm sure.

For the person that asked where I found the global rankings, here it is.

Top World University Rankings, p2 | US News Best Global Universities

Sprez, perhaps I should rephrase. My primary point wasn't that SDSU and UCSD are virtually equal in terms of prestige or more quantifiable measures, simply that neither is in the elite top grouping and, IMO, by and large you're either in that elite grouping or "in with the masses". To give a specific example, Harvard University, Princeton University, Stanford University, and (perhaps to a slightly lesser extent) UC Berkeley will generally be noticed on a resume whereas almost all others, including UCSD and SDSU will not. I concede that UCSD does have that "get noticed" in some niche biology-related areas, but not just in general like the schools I listed as examples.

A bit more fun info....admit rates:
UCSD: 34%
SDSU: 34%
UC Berkeley: 18%
Harvard: 6%
Stanford: 5%
Princeton: 7%

Looking at less uniformly-provided entering freshman class stats, it does appear that UCSD has somewhat stronger students than SDSU (higher avg ACT scores, e.g.). But neither is on par with the big names.


Freshman admission profile | UC Admissions
San Diego State University Admissions Information - CollegeData College Profile
Student Profile | UC Berkeley Office of Undergraduate Admissions
https://college.harvard.edu/admissio...ons-statistics
Stanford’s admission rate drops to 4.69 percent | Stanford Daily
https://admission.princeton.edu/appl...ion-statistics

[The Flying Dutchman]

1 in 7 of those employed in San Diego have degrees from SDSU. If you plan on working in San Diego, SDSU can definitely give you a leg up, since there are so many connections to be had.

Wish I had a source, but I forget where I heard this.

[BRinSM]

OP, keep in mind that there is a pretty good likelihood that your career will have little do with your actual major. I was a finance major in college and have never actually held a job in finance. I'm actually in software and systems now. With that in mind, unless you know specifically what you want to do upon graduating, I would recommend attending the school that would look better on your resume for your first job, which is hands down UCSD.

[aboveordinary]

The most used classification in academia is the Carnegie Classification, which ranks SDSU as RU/H, i.e. Research University with high research activity. The only higher ranking, research-wise, is RU/VH, which only 108 universities have. US News, which is more for people outside academia, ranks SDSU at around 150th nationally, which is consistent with the Carnegie rankings. Internationally, there are various rankings, but they generally have SDSU in the top 500. For example, Shanghai Rankings has SDSU around 350th in the world. You're not going to have the prestige attached to you as you would UCLA or Berkeley, but it will carry a good amount of weight. To tell you the truth, most people outside California don't know the difference between UCSD and SDSU. Poor CSU San Marcos doesn't even get a mention in these debates because it doesn't have "San Diego" in the title.

[Mia775]

Rankings don't mean anything if you don't do the work yourself and build your network.

Another factor that I considered when choosing a university was the availability of classes and how much time it would take me to finish.