<p>I’m thinking about transferring to either UCSC or SJSU from a CA Community College (may start CC in Fall 2012). I am wanting to major in Accounting, but neither university offers accounting for transfers - only Business Administration w/ emphasis in accounting or Business Administration and Economic. . . that’s still ok in my book b/c I don’t need an actual accounting degree for what I want to do, just a certain amount of accounting and related credits. UCSC has a TAG program with my CC, but SJSU does not.</p>
<p>So my question is, if I were to choose the CC –> transfer route, which university would be better for the business degree and which would be better to attend overall? I actually went on a UCSC tour a few months ago - thought it was an amazing campus and much different thatn Downtown San Jose. My biggest weary with SJSU is the horror stories I have been hearing about registering for classes. If I transfer there I want to be able to finish my degree in 2 years or less and not get stuck there for another year because I couldn’t get into a class I needed. The budget cuts aren’t helping either. I’m a veteran and I found on SJSU’s website that I get priority registration (Group 1). Would this guarantee me to always be able to get in the classes I need, or will I expect to still be scrambling?</p>
<p>No, I graduated from the University of Maryland College Park. I did visit SJSU with my sons when they were looking at colleges. SJSU has a good reputation but unless you are applying from their service area admission is extremely difficult.</p>
<p>I am currently a Santa Clara County resident (even registered to vote here now )</p>
<p>So does that mean SJSU would be the better business degree? I have gotten some advice about different types of schools and I wouldn’t want to go somewhere that ends up just being a degree mill. Thanks to everyone for the advice.</p>
<p>The Cal States tend to be more practical, while the UCs tend to be more theoretical. If you are leaning toward going for a Ph.D., then the UC route might give you a slight edge. If you would be content with a Bachelor’s or a Master’s degree, then SJSU might be better, as they have strong ties with Silicon Valley employers.</p>
<p>The business admin w/ acct concentration is comparable to acct major for meeting the current CPA education requirement, though the requirement will change in 2014. PhD in accounting is super competitive. A UCSC degree won’t help, a degree from a reputed accounting program is needed.</p>
<p>Other than the private Silicon Valley companies, SJSU also has strong connections with local government agencies where your veteran status would help a lot.</p>
<p>Thanks, a_mom. I don’t really see myself getting a PhD in any subject. Or becoming a CPA for that matter. My main interest with accounting is that my most serious career track right now is to go into Criminal Investigations for the IRS or even Forensic Accounting for the FBI. While a PhD or Master’s may help for employment prospects and/or job performance, it is not at all required. Neither really is a degree in accounting, just a certain amount of accounting credits. I spent my military exp chasing the bad guys and I kind of enjoyed it, but I don’t want to be a cop . . . leaning more towards an investigator of sorts in white collar crime.</p>
<p>That’s why I want to know which has the more prestigious business program - so that I know all facets of business and can get the required accounting credits. The consensus here seems to be SJSU. I have heard some good and some bad about SJSU though.</p>
<p>Good: Some of their classes, especially accounting, are taught by retired IRS employees with current employees as guest speakers sometimes too. They have a variety of classes and business major options and have great exposure to being closer to Santa Clara, Mountain View, Cupertino, and Palo Alto . . . than say UCSC. Bad: Classes are crowded (I think I’ve heard sometimes 50-60 students in some cases!), poor administration (both the university as a whole and the business program side), most instructors don’t seem to care about their students or their success, and it’s harder to transfer and get out in decent time b/c they have offer less credits to transfer from a CC and therefore require taking repeated classes. The bad is why I would be considering UCSC instead. It seems things would be flipped - UCSC would have the better administration, small classes, etc and would be far away from the bigger job market and have less connected staff.</p>
<p>So, have you attended SJSU, a_mom, or someone you know of? If you could shed some light on any of that then it would be much appreciated.</p>
<p>For forensic accounting, an accounting major/concentration is beneficial if not required. I believe SJSU offer that course since it has a full accounting curriculum. It’s a specialized accounting course, so I’m not sure UCSC even offer it.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t say SUSU’s business program is prestigious, but it’s decent. I don’t think UCSC have a traditional business program, at least its program is not AACSB accredited.</p>
<p>Regarding to the class size, I think all public schools have large classes. I’m not familiar with UCSC, but in UCI, the upper division business classes have the size of 70~80. It’s swim or sink in most of UC/CSU. It’s really up to you to reach out, make connection with your professors, or even the guest speakers, and make good use of the resources available.</p>
<p>Wow, I didn’t even really think to look at school “career fair”-type sites to make comparisons. Thanks for taking the time to show the great research.</p>
<p>I can’t really find anything contrary to what you are stating here, so it’s safe to say that if/when I do go from CC to transfer it will be to SJSU instead of UCSC.</p>
<p>I guess the class sizes are one of those suck it up buttercup sort of things. Thanks again a_mom for providing your wisdom.</p>
<p>Business at SJSU is amazing! The professors are great, the facilties are great, and there’s always and I mean always employers on campus recruiting.</p>
<p>Bosslady360, Have you attended SJSU? If so, how recent and do you think the business curriculum prepared students well? Was there any difficulty getting the required classes?</p>
<p>So I was looking into that recently and what does that mean? It’s accredited as Business but not Accounting. In fact the list of Accounting accredited institutions is much shorter than the Business one. Would that still mean that SJSU is accredited for accounting?</p>
<p>^ SJSU’s accounting program, which under the umbrella of its business program, has the business accreditation, but it doesn’t have the extra accounting accreditation. </p>
<p>The accounting accreditation holds extra standard to the accounting program in the area of the faculty credential, faculty intellectual contributions and students placement in the job market it serves.</p>
<p>I go to UCSC but I’m fron San Jose and considered the SJSU business program. For Accounting I’d say both programs are good choices. The major most relevant to your interests here at UCSC would be Business Management Economics with an emphasis on Accounting. Naturally, the major is Economics based so if you want a more Business oriented education you might want to consider sticking with SJSU.</p>
<p>If you want to have the label of coming form a research based university and aspire to take your education further through a masters/doctorate degree I would reccomend UCSC. Since you’re a vet and don’t have to worry too much about the differene in cost between the two you should consider the atmosphere/culture of the two places because I can assure you, they are vastly different.</p>
<p>I loved the UCSC campus from the tour I went on, but I’m not really interested in the research label. I only really aspire to obtain a CPA licensure and not any masters. At least not anytime soon after my bachelors. I’m wanting to get a business degree in accounting, not one economics based.</p>
)</p>