Both Portland and San Jose are good in their own ways. The admission intake for both the schools takes place in the fall season. Here’s a gist of both:

San Jose State University

The university is good for majors like Engineering, Computer Science and Business. The location of the institute is in Silicon Valley where every semester a job fair is organized. Many big companies participate in this job fair and offer great opportunities which are quite helpful. Apple and Google companies have hired many SJSU students. The weather is very pleasant throughout the year, neither too hot nor too cold.

Portland State University

The institute is located in a cold, lovely and manageable little city. The people there are quite warm and friendly. The institute has been ranked #801 for engineering by Times Higher Education 2021 (international).

On looking at the above information about expenses, location of the city, atmosphere of the city, etc. whichever seems suitable for you, you can choose that.

The difficulty level mainly depends on the majors you want to get into. The acceptance rate of the PSU is 96% which means it is not hard to get into. The admission procedure also changes depending on if you’re applying for an undergraduate or graduate course. Some majors are easy to get into while some are hard to get in, usually the in-demand majors have a larger applicant pool so there is that. Completing the program is more difficult as compared to getting in. The best thing about the institution is that the professors want their students to excel and become successful. If you’re an international student, you’ll have to provide many additional things like TOEFL/IELTS scores and some other exam scores depending on your program.

The admission requirements are different for freshman admits and transfer admits. The only requirement is to meet the eligibility criteria for the major you are interested in. PhD programs are hard to qualify as they are only admitting the best applicants. You also need to meet the course-specific requirement for your majors like CS, School of Music, etc. For admissions in Music major the applicants should clear the audition round and for CS the applicants should gain minimum grades for mathematics and CS classes and meet GPA requirements.

You can apply to this university and expect to be accepted here as the university is not hard to get in if you meet all requirements.

Both of them are equally good and provide comparatively cheaper education in the field of Computer Science. The only difference you will experience is in the living conditions, location, cheaper lifestyle, etc. Some other things you should focus about are the placement opportunities, average salary obtained by the students of that University, living expenses, etc.

Students should also look for the social and political life of the institutions. Which school provides you with an atmosphere that will be suitable for you? Both of these have graduates earning between 61,000- 91,000 USD and good placement rate, so you should consider other factors as well.

The following table provides some information about both the institutions:

Whichever school offers you a better lifestyle in all aspects and better future opportunities, you should choose.