<p>My intended major is electrical engineering. I am having a very hard time deciding.</p>
<p>Without question UCSD, 10X better school.</p>
<p>Mind explaining your answer a bit? I would really appreciate it! :D</p>
<p>Perhaps “user:blackmamba2410” was referring to the fact that California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona) is a university where you will become progressively dumb. He or she is suggesting that for undergraduate studies you will probably be better-off getting lectured by “award-breaking” Teacher Assistants (TA) such as those that seem to be ubiquitous at 200+ lecture rooms across the University of California (UC) system. Perhaps “user:blackmamba2410” was also referring to the fact that at University of California, San Diego (UCSD) you will probably have absolutely no time to talk face-to-face with your professor because he or she will is too busy conducting research, this in turn will make you work even harder on your own to survive tests that are notorious for having an average of less than 50% with no curve, that never happens at the California State University (CSU) system, in fact by law everyone is entitled to at least a C. I’m a minority, so when my test gets graded I get 10 extra points courtesy of affirmative action! At Cal Poly Pomona you will receive a toilet degree and there are absolutely no research opportunities at nearby peer-technical institutions such as Harvey-Mudd or Caltech. As a matter of fact Cal Poly Pomona students are shot on-sight if attempted to enter such places. Indeed, UCSD will make you 10 times a greater person. Yet, for some strange reason you don’t earn 10 times as much upon graduation from UCSD. I still wonder why?</p>
<p>UCSD was my son’s dream school and he was rejected and will be attending Cal Poly Pomona. To be honest, I used to consider CPP as his “fall back” school and thought it wasn’t that good. We’ve been to the campus several times now and I have really come to love CPP. It’s a nice campus, has a small close-knit feel to it and they do have a good reputation for engineering (he will be majoring in Mechanical Eng.). The biggest benefit is the cost of the education. CPP costs WAY less. Now, I have nothing against UCSD…we visited there also and it is awesome! And they have a great reputation for engineering also. Plus since they are a larger school they have more amenities that they can offer their students (more food places, things to do on campus, etc). Bottom line is that you are the only one that can decide which school is a better fit for you. Go to both schools, talk to people who go to school there, decide what you can afford, and then make your decision.</p>
<p>Good luck and congrats on your admission to both! :)</p>
<p>Which one you like best? there’s your answer.</p>
<p>UCSD - nationally recognized & ranked tier 1 university. </p>
<p>CPP - everyone’s backup school. Most won’t admit it publicly out of respect and not wanting to appear snooty, but you sure as heck know they’re thinking it. (no offense to any CPP’ers)</p>
<p>if you also take external factors such as social scene, campus activities, climate, etc. into account; UCSD pretty much has runs away with it. However, CPP will be slightly cheaper in the tuition and cost-of-living categories.</p>
<p>@calpolyengineer lol you are hilarious and awesome</p>
<p>@SBSAYS I’m still waiting to hear back from UCSD and UCSB (transfer student) but have already been accepted to CPP for Electrical Engineering. I’m most likely going to go to CPP, but if I get into either of those schools I’ll be in the same situation. They are all great schools, but CPP is much cheaper and is ranked really high for engineering just like the other schools. The thing I like better about UCSD and UCSB is the weather, because I don’t like the heat in the summer the Pomona area haha. But that isn’t a very good reason to choose one school over another</p>
<p>“CPP - everyone’s backup school. Most won’t admit it publicly out of respect and not wanting to appear snooty, but you sure as heck know they’re thinking it.”</p>
<p>Everyone?? Really? Surely there must be kids in California who don’t aspire to UC’s, even if they don’t hang out on CC. My son, for example, doesn’t hang out here, but is looking for a school where he might play soccer, and might study engineering. SAT’s in the 75 percentile or better for most CSU’s. , but “ADHD”, no honors classes, no AP’s, no stellar “UC GPA”. He’ll take the subject tests because he’s an '11 HS grad, and doesn’t want to rule out UC’s, but wouldn’t Cal Poly Pomona be a better option for kids like him than say, Riverside or Merced?</p>
<p>BTW, he is “urm”… how does he sign up for the “10 extra points courtesy of affirmative action”?</p>
<p>CPP was my actual “match” school. I was probably going to attend until I got into one of my reach. yay!</p>
<p>SF State was my backup.</p>
<p>@soccerSusie</p>
<p>You are absolutely right! This is the end result of my “back-up” education here at “Pomona State University”,</p>
<p>[Cookies</a> Required](<a href=“http://jcp.aip.org/jcpsa6/v132/i7/p074505_s1]Cookies”>http://jcp.aip.org/jcpsa6/v132/i7/p074505_s1)</p>
<p>It depends on your major, what do you want to do later and stuff… </p>
<p>For some, CPP is a backup (people who lives in the area, tier 1) and for some its a match… or even reach (tier 2). It’s like calling UC Davis a backup for all those ELC people and the rest, its for sure a reach or a match.</p>
<p>Anyhow, SBSAYS, the only way to choose the college for you, is to actually visit both school, experience the feel of it, and perhaps try to go into a class to see how it works there. Good luck!</p>
<p>PS: I would choose Cal Poly Pomona over UCSD. I just don’t like the school. Plus, Pomona has the hands on learning which is more appealing to me.</p>
<p>Relax, wasn’t suggesting you’ve failed at life for attending CPP. My older brother graduated from CPP in 2001; enjoyed his time there, eventually went on to grad school at UCSD, and is doing pretty well career-wise. Him and his lab buddies used to always joke, amongst other things, that CPP was the girl you had to take to the prom because everyone else said “no.” [which is where I got the “backup” reference from]. They were pretty good natured about taking jabs at themselves and just laugh it off, no harm - no foul. My apologies for being insensitive.</p>
<p>It all depends on the major. When I went to architecture school at Pomona, UCSD was starting up their program, but the effort failed after 2 years. Running an architecture program is a very complicated and expensive task which is why there are only two public and professional programs in the state. The other one being the other Poly. I chose Pomona over SLO because I felt architecture should be studied in a larger metropolis like Los Angeles. We have practicing professors and great architecture to learn from. Saying one university is better than the other is an over simplification and the quality of the major is the most important factor.</p>
<p>The UCSD architecture program failed, not me!</p>
<p>CPP has specialized programs that are not offered at most UC’s so it’s unfair to compare the quality of education offered in a general way. As with Architecture, CPP has one of only 4 developed animal science programs in the state (the others are Davis, Fresno State, CPSLO), therefore, while many may call CPP a ‘backup’ school for other majors, it’s acceptance rate for animal science last year was at 47%, and will be lower this year due to budget cuts. I call that selective. Things are rapidly changing there as they’ve instituted a new policy for freshman living on campus, and they’re opening up a beautiful new suites housing complex which will change it’s commuter campus feel.</p>
<p>Sorry to necro an old thread, but I’m wondering do people still feel the same way about cpp now over UCSD?</p>
<p>Trying to be as objective as possible (being a CPP student), I still think that “overall” UCSD has better reputation than Cal Poly Pomona. I’d say that Cal Poly Pomona sits somewhere, as far as reputation goes, in a zone between the “mid-tier” UCs (Davis, Irvine, Santa Barbara), and the “low-tier” UCs (Santa Cruz, Riverside, Merced). But just like user gotaplay2 mentioned it really depends on the major. For example architecture at CPP is as competitive to get in as UCLA or Berkeley. Engineering is as competitive as Davis or Santa Barbara.</p>
<p>On the other hand, and to be fair, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s engineering program is comparable to UC San Diego, and maybe UCLA, but not as competitive as Berkeley’s. So if I you want a comprehensive ranking I would say:</p>
<ol>
<li>Berkeley</li>
<li>UCLA</li>
<li>UCSD=Cal Poly SLO</li>
<li>UCD=UCSB</li>
<li>UCI=Cal Poly Pomona</li>
<li>UC Santa Cruz</li>
<li>UC Riverside</li>
<li>UC Merced</li>
</ol>
<p>The real question is what do you want out of your education. Lots of hands on or more theory. UC’s push theory and Cal Poly’s hands on. Also will you thrive in huge classes taught by TA’s or do you want small classes taught by professors? It is like asking is ice cream better than cake.</p>
<p>It also really depends on your major. Even down to what major in engineering. If you are into bio tech stuff the UCSD is fab, but computer engineering not so much.</p>
<p>The Cal Poly Pomona Architecture acceptance rate is 18%, the accept like 200 out of 1500+. In 2006, it was down to 7% 200 out of 2500+. CPP is by no means a “fall-back” school</p>