UCSD vs Cal Poly SLO vs UCLA

iulianc
Fri, 02 Jun 2017 20:57:05 +0000

Big companies have the resources and motivation to reach out far across their “home range”, and go after graduates of many schools with big names (such as WUSTL and UCLA). They have a policy of selecting a limited number of students from each, since schools won’t allow them on their campus unless they hire at least a predetermined number each time they visit and they have incentives to be in good terms with these schools. From this perspective, you might have better chances to land an internship/job with a big company from a far away school, since I would guess there is less incentive for local students to have tech internships in California especially if you have a better chance to stand out from your peers at such a school. The flip side is that many smaller companies in California might not have the resources to reach out so far, so those might be harder to connect to. I would encourage you to make sure you try to proactively build your network, reach out to alumni, figure out connections your school might have in CA (Linkedin is a great resource), join clubs, professional fraternities/sororities, connect with professors with industry connections, friends, family, etc. Make a list of companies that seem to have an outsized number of alumni from your school and find ways to target them. Most of them would have job/internship postings on their websites, if you’re willing be flexible it should not be that hard to connect.

Don’t over emphasize internships though. While they are super important, it is more important what you learn, your major and how determined you. A solid education is the single most important factor for a successful long term career, so you chose wise based on fit. Good luck.