I think you may be combining apples and oranges in the same basket here.

Using the California system as an example:

The are Research Universities, Liberal Arts Colleges, and Community/2-year Colleges. These are three different levels of college. You can get a bachelor’s (4-year degree) at the research and liberal arts colleges but you can also get a PhD at the research universities (if you’re so inclined). A college can be any of these and be either public or private as well.

The other part of your equation is public or private. UC, CSU, etc… are examples of publics – they’re owned by the state. Academy of Art University is an example of a California private. It’s not owned by the state (although the state regulates it).

Because California is a huge state – there are a lot of public universities there. Washington isn’t so big but they have a few choices. U Washington, Eastern/Central/Western Washington U’s, Washington State, etc… are all publics.

Washington has the University of Washington, Washington State, a few regional state universities (Eastern Washington and Western Washington) which are sort of like CSUs and some state colleges, which are smaller and more undergraduate-oriented than even the CSUs. They also have many private schools. It’s a much lower population state, so they don’t have a big two-tiered system like California.

Most states have a University of which is its big research oriented school, a State University, which has the agriculture school and a more heavy emphasis on practical subjects, and some number of other smaller regional state schools, but this rule doesn’t work everywhere.

First the good news — yes — it is possible. Now the bad news — you have to make sure that everything is perfect. Let me tell you what I have seen. I have an MBA from Duke, a PhD in Finance from Berkeley and have taught at three ranked MBA programs (MIT, Wharton and Maryland). Top MBA programs care about your GPA, your GMAT, your work experience, your essays, your letters of recommendation and the quality of your undergraduate university. I’ve seen a lot of people who were weak in one area — but none that were weak in two areas. CSU schools are not very selective — and I saw very few CSU graduates at these schools. There was one Cal Poly grad in my MBA class — but that was it from the CSU system. There were several graduates from UC schools. The students at these schools who went to less selective schools were perfect in nearly everything else. That means you can’t have any other weaknesses beyond going to a less selective school. You will need a higher GPA than typical students, a GMAT score in the 700s, at least four years of good or unusual work experience and a great essay in order to get into a top MBA program. This may not be what you want to hear — but is the truth. Keep working hard & you can make it. Good Luck