Pros and Cons for SLO vs. UCI vs. UCD for Business with an Accounting Focus [later admitted to UCB and USC, chose UCB]

College Search & Lists
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I was in a similar situation and chose USC (even over UCLA) but that’s because USC gave me 75k university grants and I don’t have to pay tuition, all universities are basically free.

In term of opportunities for business majors, It’s USC > Cal Poly > Davis/Irvine.

In terms of name recognition USC > Davis/Irvine > Cal Poly.

Don’t get fooled by the lack of National recognition of Cal poly, it’s a very low-profile, and yet, a very respected school regionally in California it’s underrated. According to Gradesport, Cal Poly students tend to outperform UCLA students in terms of salaries and job placements if you compare students from the same majors at both schools.

USC has the best business school (especially accounting) but it’s not much better than Cal poly, they are pretty close, for the best bang of your buck, go to Cal Poly, USC isn’t worth the price.

UC Davis has terrible economics major and my mentor, who majored in Econ there, regretted it. And my accounting professors were strongly against me going to UC Davis for business/accounting.

UC Irvine’s economics department is just as mediocre as UC Davis, and their Business school (Merage) is also not as good as USC LeventhL/Marshall nor Cal Poly.

USC should be thrown away because of their cost.

Accounting is a very non-competitive major, and you can work in accounting as long as you have the relevant coursework, your school doesn’t matter usually, most schools are good enough if they are big four target, but I don’t think UC Davis nor Irvine is as big of a target as Cal Poly.

But, even when I mention the pros of Cal poly, it isn’t all rainbow and sunshine, Cal poly has significantly less racial and economic diversity than UC Davis and UCI, Cal Poly has more WASP, upper-middle class kids. I have unfortunately heard of racial discrimination at this school, but just take it as a grain of salt.

Not sure about the party scene, but UCI is more studious.

UCDavis and Cal Poly are both isolated and in a more rural area, Davis is surrounded by cows and farms, and Cal Poly is near the beach. Irvine is more suburban, and has more Asians.

22

So are they both terrible, or both mediocre? Or does mediocre=terrible?

I’m sure the Econ majors/grads at these schools will love reading these expert comments over the coming years. :grimacing:

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23

Economics is often a backup major for students who really want business, but did not get into the business major or attend a school without a business major. If the economics department does not accommodate students who really want business with more business-focused courses, then it may be seen as less desirable by those economics majors who really want business.

Economics majors at both UCD and UCI are typical moderate math (single variable calculus) based majors with intermediate micro and macro economics, econometrics, and upper level economics electives. UCI also has a quantitative economics major (more math, more math intensive intermediate micro and macro economics and econometrics) and a business economics major, along with more business-type courses like business forecasting, managerial economics, corporate finance, corporate governance, and business decisions.

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24

If you are fairly certain that accounting is going to be the career path I would go for the lowest cost option. USC is of course the most highly reputed BUT at the end of the day all Big 4 accounting firms (Deloitte, KPMG, PwC etc.) recruit from all local universities and offer the SAME compensation to all entry level accounting grads who are headed towards a CPA qualification. Amogst all of these I would pick SLO, they are focused on job outcomes and the cost is likely the lowest. Also, for accounting, a Tier 2 accounting firm (RSM, BDO, Moss Adams) also provide a terrific platform in the form of training and experience.

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25

Throw in another option. D24 accepted into the the Berkeley Spieker Undergraduate program. She’s weighing between USC or UCB.

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26

Maybe I missed it up thread. Did she receive any financial help at USC?

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No, she did not. Seems like there’s no question that USB should be the choice, but the competitive nature of Haas Is a concern.

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28

Didn’t you say there is a $200k DIFFERENCE?!?

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29

:tada: :tada: :tada:
Wow! I think you were being either very humble or very successful at keeping expectation low… :laughing:

I understand that you described upthread your D as an “introverted Asian girl”. Because she got into this first cohort of the 4-year program at Haas, the pressure of getting into the second admission is gone. Hopefully she can be more herself at Cal, and care less about the competition. Maybe she’ll surprise you by joining the competition for the IB and consulting jobs at Haas, given that she is obviously very talented. Who knows?

In reality, my guess would be she will be happier at Marshall. These two schools have very different vibes and many people talk on CC or reddit about how USC offers a better overall college experience being a private school. But only you and your family can decide whether that is worth the price difference.

Best of luck to your daughter wherever she decides. She has had amazing achievements!

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30

$200000 in 5 years at 5% interest will be worth about $260,000. Instead of giving that money to USC, she could use that money to self-fund a small business and be off to the the races!!

UCB is amazing - beautiful campus, incredible city, amazing food, HAAS is top-notch and she will make connections that will last a lifetime. For an in-state student who doesn’t want a small LAC, UCB is ideal. CONGRATS!

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31

A bit more information on UC Davis’ new Business major, for those interested:

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32

Son28 is economics major and considering SLO, UCI and UCD. We toured the Business College at Cal Poly SLO and our tour guide said that job placement for accounting students is extremely high (98%). The only higher placement on campus is architectural engineering students (100% placement). There is also a lot of mentorship from professors and resources in the community at SLO. It seems like a great program. We live in SLO and our son wants to move away to experience a different environment so decided on UCI.

I can weigh in on the party scene since we live two blocks from a campus and there is no fraternity row on campus so Greek life is located in our neighborhood. We raised our family here and it wasn’t like this when we bought our house but has become pretty crazy on weekends and we are planning to move to a quieter part of town. St. Frattys was a nightmare, as you can imagine with 7000 intoxicated students taking over our neighborhood. But from the perspective on campus, the dorms were completely trashed and there was significant expensive damage and it happened in “the business dorm” which is going to be paid for by the residents who live there, even if they weren’t involved. The housing agreement holds everyone responsible. So that’s unfortunate. And it happens every year even though this year was worse than usual, so that’s something to consider. Cal Poly does not have security cameras or staff monitoring the dorms and that worried me a lot. At UCI, there are actual adults living in houses next to the dorms and the RAs report to them so that sort of shenanigans doesn’t happen there.

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33

The unusual aspect of the UCD business major is that an econometrics course is required, in addition to intermediate micro and macro economics courses.

34

Not specific to the programs, but when you visited Cal Poly SLO did you eat in the “dining hall”? It was so terrible that our kiddo likely won’t even apply. Truly bad - and expensive!

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35

The are other places to eat on campus. There are at least a couple of very good food trucks that my D21 eats at all the time.

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36

And…

Just opened.

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So many places to eat. I was just there for open house and had a very good and very fresh salad wrap at the dining hall. And I’m a PICKY eater. Haha

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And I should add that it was packed with students who all seemed super happy!!

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We ate at both food halls and a food truck when on campus for the revisit weekend and my daughter thought the options were good! I’m sure some kids exist on Chic Fil A, but there are many options.

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40

For under $30K, tuition, off-campus housing, food, etc., SLO is a killer of an in-state deal.

And D21 met with her advisor this past week and she will not only easily graduate on time, with a minor, she’ll not break a sweat, in terms of having to load up with classes, to graduate.

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