My son is a very smart kid. He has a 4.35 weighted GPA and (not that the UCs care) he scored 1520 on the SAT (770 Math - 750 “Verbal” (I don’t think they call it that anymore)). Unfortunately, I don’t think he will be accepted at any of the six UCs that he applied to. SDSU might be the best school that he gets into. He has been accepted there. I think he is a little disappointed about not getting into any of the UCs he applied to, and I hope that he will be challenged academically at SDSU. I am sure he will be. I would like to hear from anyone who has experience with SDSU. Are the academics at the school high quality and challenging?
Well the UCs or CSUs don’t look at SAT. And I don’t know how you got to a 4.35. What is the unweighted. And if he applied to schools - I’m assuming not Riverside, Santa Cruz or Merced - well those are the “easier” but not easy entries.
To give you a simple answer to a question in the subject line - yes, and I would add - very to that - not just good but very good.
Last year a good got rejected to SDSU but in at UC Berkeley. I’m sure there are others but that one was posted here.
It’s all unpredictable.
Best of luck to your student.
PS - it’s not where he goes but what he does with the opportunity when there that will matter.
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What will your son be studying at SDSU? Does he have any inclination about what he wants to do in the future?
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What major was your son accepted to?
SDSU is a good school. But of course it’s understandable that you would want to get a sense of the academic strength of the program your son will attend. It would help to know what program that is 
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My younger son (CS major) and niece (Biology/Pre-PA major) both found the school academically challenging but manageable. He will find like minded students that are hard working at SDSU.
The focus of CSU faculty is on teaching and not research, although many campuses have world class researchers such as SDSU or Cal Poly SLO. Because of that, the classroom experience at a CSU is generally going to better since most CSU’s have less TA’s teaching courses and more Professors in the classroom. The tradeoff is majors and research opportunities concentrated in fewer disciplines at the CSU’s vs. UC’s.
SDSU, in particular, is also a bit of a ‘best of both worlds’ situation. It’s a big school that feels like a state flagship/UC campus, but retains the teaching and undergraduate focus of the other CSUs. It has one of the best locations of any university in California, great undergraduate student life (social scene and sports).
Intended major and future career goals can make a difference on what would be the best “fit” for your son.
If you have not visited, I would definitely consider attending the SDSU admitted students day. Explore SDSU Admitted Student Day | SDSU
Both my son and niece loved their time at SDSU and for my niece it was not a top option in the beginning. She also was a high achieving student and was not happy with her school options (1 UC admit) but SDSU became a place where she thrived and is currently applying to PA school.
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Have you or your son visited the campus??
Do this, visit UCSD then visit SDSU. You will notice that the students at both campuses are busy, but you will also notice that the students at SDSU look happier. The social environment is strong and everyone finds their tribe. The school is united.
It is very tough to get into SDSU and a number of their programs are impacted.
My niece and nephews attended SDSU. They received a great education and loved their experiences there. There is something for everyone there. Currently, they are at March Madness in Las Vegas, cheering on the Aztec basketball team.
Also, a number of programs are shared with both UCSD and SDSU, especially in the research areas. Some professors teach at both schools.
My husband prefers to hire SDSU grads for his engineering and CS job openings. He likes that the State students have strong intern experiences with great letters of reference from professors and colleagues. Although SDSU is very large, the professors KNOW their students.
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At UCs few TAs teach courses. Typically a professor teaches the class (often uncomfortably large in lower-division or popular majors) and then there are smaller weekly discussion sections with a TA. Exceptions do exist; for example at most UCs the English Comp class everyone must take has 25 or so students; in order to staff it the class is commonly taught by TAs.
CSU to its credit offers most of its classes in a smaller format of 30-45 students. But the way they do this is by hiring loads of temporary faculty. If you look at the SDSU page Faculty by Category – Analytic Studies & Institutional Research It shows that in Spring 2023 there were 1,330 temporary faculty members and 890 faculty members either tenured or tenure-track. So almost 2/3rds of the instructors were temps. They may be PhDs or have a MA.
If you look up “jitney faculty” you’ll see that nationwide temps can struggle to earn a living and their usage is unfortunately growing at many publics. In a metropolitan area like San Diego it wouldn’t be uncommon for someone to teach a class or two at a CC as well as at SDSU to try to piece together a living. UCs use temp faculty too and every now and then a protest hits the paper when a particularly well-liked instructor is let go since the UCs cap years of employment. An example is https://dailybruin.com/2024/03/01/we-really-really-love-him-students-petition-to-keep-math-professor-at-ucla
To circle back to your question, whether he goes to UC or CSU he’s going to get the large-public experience which means the burden is going to be on him to take advantage of opportunities. If he goes to office hours, joins relevant clubs, looks for internships, takes pride in giving his best effort in studying the material then he will have a great experience. Even at Cal or UCLA someone can pass thru while taking little initiative and end up with an inferior experience.
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Thank you. I think my son’s un-weighted GPA is 3.86. I only mentioned his SAT score to make a point that he is a very intelligent kid, I do know that UCs no longer use the SAT in their decision making. Your response was very helpful. I appreciate it.
Thank you. Computer Science is his major. It looks like the school has a cool gaming club, Aztec Game Lab. I think the school is a good fit.
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