Best university near santa clara [UCSC vs San Jose]

[M10TheMist]

Hi,

My fiancee will be working in intel at Santa clara from next year and I thought if I could get into a university close by, it would be great.

As far as I know, UC santa Cruz and San jose universities appear to be good. However, San jose is unranked in th US News Ranking and UCSC does not have researches going on in Networks, my area of interest.

So, i am confused.

Which one between these two would be preferred by someone like me?


Thanks,
--- Mist ---

[InternetAdmiral]

I strongly suggest attending UCSC over SJSU if you can. The UC system is much more respected than the CSU system. The classes will be more challenging, your classmates will be better and you'll likely come out of there with a superior education and more opportunities. Your classmates will be better connected at UCSC which will help you out too. If you're planning on applying to PhD programs later, UCSC also has much more prestige than SJSU which will help.

It's unfortunate that UCSC doesn't have networking research going on as you say and I don't know if SJSU does, so you'll have to decide what is right for you.

[vishgoel]

UCSC - Santa Clara or Santa Cruz?

[InternetAdmiral]

Santa Cruz

[vishgoel]

How do you compare these

San Jose State University
Santa Clara State University
California State University, East Bay, Hayward

[InternetAdmiral]

Santa Clara will probably give you a better education than either SJSU or CSU East Bay, but it's private so it'll cost you. It's unranked so even though it offers PhDs, it's probably not a place you want to get a PhD from unless it's really convenient or your research interests line up perfectly. Since it's unranked, I assume their MS program isn't as good as any UC program.

People go to schools in the CSU system, like SJSU and CSU East Bay, because it's convenient or because they couldn't get into a UC. If I had to compare them, I'd give a slight advantage to SJSU. Keep in mind that these schools are really for average Joes and if you move here just to go to one of these schools you will be disappointed. It would be much better to go to one of the least prestigious UCs, which would still be impressive, such as UC Merced or UC Riverside over a CSU.

[vishgoel]

Thanks for so much insight. I have posted a question on this forum about potential universities for a GRE of about 1200. Can you please take the time to and review my list.

Approx. 1200 GRE | 750 / 450 | Which Schools

[vishgoel]

Actually, my point of going to SJ/ SC was to be in the middle of all the jobs. I have seen people seeking local candidates... blah blah...

[InternetAdmiral]

Regarding going to school around San Jose to be in the middle of the jobs, that's an idea. It'll be possible to do an internship in the area with a few companies, but competition will be intense. It's possible that you won't see any advantage from going to school in the area but the opportunity will be there and if you want to turn it into a reality it'll take real effort and a lot of luck.

IMHO, your best bet is to go to the best school you can get into and then make as many friends in CS as you can. The vast majority of jobs that people in this industry get are through personal contacts, not through sending a resume and cover letter to a company on a job board. I was a little surprised to hear it recently reiterated to me by a newly minted PhD. Contacts are everything, even at the PhD level.

As for the other thread with your chances at those schools, I really don't know. You should probably post more information there and add your GPA, your undergrad university or at least how prestigious it is, the expected quality of your LORs, your CS interests and some detail about your work experience. GRE scores are just a small part of the application.