Another Cal Poly SLO vs UC's thread

Colleges and Universities A-Z Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
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<p>Hi guys, I’m a high student from the graduating class of 2012. I have read many threads on this forum regarding the prestige of Cal Poly SLO and the UC’s. Now I have a few concerns about SLO although I am really leaning towards it.</p>

<p>At the moment, I am admitted to Cal Poly SLO, UCSB, UCD, UCI and got rejected to UCSD for Computer Science. I am waiting for UCLA and UCB but I highly doubt that I’m going to get in. Many of my friends are convincing me that the UC reputation is overwhelming and beats Cal Poly SLO by a landslide. Money is not really a problem given that my parents can afford my eduation.</p>

<p>I have read about the “hands on” portion of Cal Poly SLO and the “research” portion of the UC’s. I have also read about the two different rankings that these schools are ranked in. (Cal Poly not being a “non Ph.D school” while UC’s are) Something that worries me are the budget cuts this year on the CSU’s. Will this affect my college experience and will this postpone my college graduation date, on top of the low graduation rate of Cal Poly SLO within 4 years?</p>

<p>I was wondering where I should go and can you guys give me some advice regarding prestige, grad school, amount of time to graduation, and etc.</p>

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<p>Oh my god, this pretty much summed up my dilemma. I’m deciding between UCD and SLO right now. I stayed at UCD for a month over the summer and fell in love with the vibe and campus. When I visited SLO, I felt the same way. The only thing that’s stopping me from 100% committing to SLO is that I got in as a GenEng major when my first choice is ChemE, which I got into UCD as. I don’t know what to do either… We’re in the same boat. Hahaha.
Btw, like kind people such as OsakaDad have told me, don’t fall into the Asian trap of thinking that the UCs are better than SLO. They’re totally different types of schools and one isn’t better than the other.</p>

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<p>You will see stark differences when it comes to the academic aspects of the UC and CSU, particularly Cal Poly, systems. Cal Poly will ensure that you will be getting more personalized attention and will be taught the material by actual professors not TAs since it does not have a Graduate School to focus on. Some of the main disadvantages to going to a UC (at the undergrad level) is that you will be taking classes with 200+ people in one auditorium (at least for the first 2 years; GEs) and that you will encounter professors who care more about their research that the students (although not the case 100%). </p>

<p>Personally, I feel Cal Poly is a much better school (for the undergraduate student) in that you will be taking classes mostly under 50 students and will have professors that actually care about teaching the material to you. I do agree that the UCs are a great route for those pursuing pre-professional degrees that require more schooling since they focus moreso on the theoretical aspects of the world. That is what I have found and I believe I will be turning down whatever UCs I have been or will be accepted to (UCSD, SB, LA, probably not Berkeley aha) for Cal Poly’s renowned engineering dept.</p>

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<p>Take it from someone who has been raised in the greater sacramento area. This city sucks. The people suck, the nightlife sucks, the one professional sports team that it has blows harder than anything. If you’re strictly looking for a good education, then Davis will provide that for you. Otherwise, going to school here is a terrible idea, sorry.</p>

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<p>rkdizzle, when you say “This city sucks…etc.” are you talking about Davis or San Luis Obispo?</p>

<p>I personally am going with Cal Poly over the UCs. I hadn’t even heard of Cal Poly until was recommended to me by the engineers at Aerojet Fine Chemicals. Cal Poly might not be as publicly prestigious as many of the UCs, but it is extremely prestigious in the eyes of the industries of California. Both of my parents are UC Davis grads and I have no doubt that it is an amazing school, but Cal Poly does more than educate you, it teaches you how to apply that knowledge you gain. </p>

<p>If it’s the major you were accepted in that’s bothering you about Cal Poly, I’ve read that it’s relatively easy to change to a major within the same college, especially if you are changing from a major like General Engineering, which shares many classes with the more specialized engineering majors. </p>

<p>I’ve been accepted to UCI, UCD, and UCSD and haven’t heard from UCB, but I will be attending Cal Poly this fall.</p>

<p>The cuts to the CSUs do make me a little nervous though…</p>

<p>I hope this helped, good luck!</p>

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<p>I think you can debate about the schools all you want, but in the end it’s a personal decision. I got into SLO (for general engineering )and UCSD (for CS)and have already declined SLO - but it’s not about the education. I think you’d get a good education either way, because the UC’s and SLO are great engineering schools. I picked the UC’s mainly because I dislike the isolation of San Luis Obispo and don’t know if I’d fit in on the campus. </p>

<p>Also, I’ve heard Cal Poly is great for really preparing you for the field you want to go into. I know I want to study engineering, but I don’t know that I want to work strictly as an engineer, so I’m more focused on the education than practical training. But if you want to make a lot of money and have training for whatever your major is, Cal Poly is probs a good choice (from what I’ve heard anyway.) It depends on you either way.</p>

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<p>“Many of my friends are convincing me that the UC reputation is overwhelming and beats Cal Poly SLO by a landslide.”</p>

<p>^ When I was in high school, my friends said that to me too. You should not discredit Cal Poly SLO at all. They’re different types of schools. After being here for 4 years, I 100% think I made the right choice with Cal Poly because it met my needs (hands on, small classes, professors helpful and willing to help get job interviews, etc.) I would decide base on what fits best for you environmentally and academically. “Prestige” or “reputation” shouldn’t be a deciding factor. There are successful people that come out from Cal Poly and UC’s.</p>

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<p>As a parent of a 2011 HS grad that is currently going to SLO and as an employer that hires here is my two cents.</p>

<p>First, my son did not want to go out of state nor did he want to go to school farther than a half day’s drive from LA. So, the farthest North he was willing to consider was Cal Poly SLO. UCB, UCD and Stanford we not considered. He applied and was accepted to UCLA, UCSD, UCI (Honors), UCSB and Cal Poly Pomona (Honors). He was uninterested in Cal Tech and we did apply to Harvey Mudd. For most schools he applied for Computer Engineering. For Cal Poly SLO he applied for General Engineering.</p>

<p>The most important thing that you can do now is throw away the rankings, disregard the opinions of your friends and colleagues and experience the programs yourself. These are all worthy and prestigious schools. But they are very different from each other and must be experienced firsthand. Cal Poly SLO was not on the top of our list until we attended the Open House last April. After that it shot to the top and we never looked back. Go to each school’s admitted student’s day. You must attend the Cal Poly Open House next month and stay for all three days if you can. Milk the program for every drop of information, see the labs, tour the dorms, experience the student projects, check out the monster robot competition and go to the rodeo.</p>

<p>As an employer, I have no time or funding in this crazy economy to give someone a year or two of on the job training. I want a work ready plug and play professional from day one. Cal Poly grads are such people. This explains why Cal Poly grads get the highest starting salaries of any public school in CA including UCB.</p>

<p>With regards to budget cuts and 4 year graduation rates, the UC’s are just as bad off if not worse. The schools will survive.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

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<p>@ OsakaDad
I can’t go for three days to Calpoly open house. I have important game on Friday, where I am a Captain.
So I am planning to be there only - Saturday. Is it worthy for me to drive 4-5 hours one way. Would I be able to visit Aerospace Eng. Department on Saturday?
Or just forget, and don’t go?</p>

<p>I was admited to: UCB (maybe Regents), UCSD (Chall. Scholar), UCD, UCI</p>

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<p>With so many choices of great schools in CA, I’m sure there are others facing the same dilemma. I was also confused about how to compare the rankings of schools whose highest degree is a bachelor’s or master’s, vs those whose highest degree is a doctorate (i.e. US News and World Report Best Colleges). I recently reviewed those rankings and see that under Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs whose highest degree is a bachelor’s or master’s, Cal Poly is ranked 5th (with a peer assessment score of 4.0) below Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Harvey Mudd, Cooper Union, and the United States Military Academy. I’m not as familiar with some of the schools in this category, but I do know for a fact that Rose-Hulman is a top engineering school since my husband is an alumni with a masters in EE and one of the smartest and most successful engineers I know! In comparison, the top 5 engineering schools whose highest degree is a doctorate are MIT, Stanford, UCB, Cal Tech and Georgia Tech, with UCLA at 19 (peer assessment 3.7), UCSD at 22 (peer assessment 3.6), UCD at 32 (peer assessment 3.4), UCSB at 36 (peer assessment 3.3) and UCI at 45 (peer assessment 3.1). I believe the top engineering programs in my state of CO are CU Boulder (ranked 32, peer assessment 3.4) and Colorado School of Mines (ranked 52, peer assessment 3.0). I find it interesting that CU Boulder is ranked equally with UCD. </p>

<p>My daughter has been accepted to Colorado School of Mines, CU Boulder, Cal Poly, and UCSD, and is waiting to hear from UCLA. Cal Poly is definitely the frontrunner for her. Of course there are many factors in choosing the right college and you have to choose the one that fits you best. But just thought I’d throw out some numbers and rankings to dispell the “UC reputation is overwhelming and beats Cal Poly by a landslide” misperception. For engineering, the only UC school ranked higher than Cal Poly is Berkeley.</p>

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<p>OP: I’d suggest you look at the courses offered at both schools and see what is offered at the undergraduate level. Cal Poly computer science program has many specialties, with several courses within each specialty. As an example, take computer graphics. There are such undergraduate classes as Intro to Comp Graphics, Rendering, Comp Animation, 3D, and Current Topics in CG. Or if you were in Networks (or any other specialty) but wanted to take the Android App Devt. class (software engineering), you could. You may not be interested in these areas, but I’m giving you some examples of the extent of upper level undergraduate courses. So compare the undergraduate specialty classes within (whatever is) your major at both universities or any other university.</p>

<p>Also, if you start in computer science but decide to switch majors, there’s computer engineering, software engineering, as well as other engineering majors at Cal Poly.</p>

<p>It is interesting that several UCD Ph.D’s are faculty members at Cal Poly’s CPE & CSC departments, which I think speaks highly of Cal Poly.</p>

<p>I’m not as familiar with UCD’s engineering program but think highly of UCD as a university. Davis, like SLO, is a great small college town.</p>

<p>Attending Cal Poly’s Open House for admitted students (same for UCD’s) will help you experience the department in person, which may help you decide.</p>

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<p>seniorsfo: At Friday’s Open House, you’d hear about your major and meet with other admitted students. Saturday’s Open House is for anyone interested in Cal Poly and is more general. If you plan on going only Saturday, may I suggest you contact someone in Aero and explain your situation? As an admitted but undecided student, perhaps an Aero faculty member or student might be willing to meet with you to discuss the department?</p>

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<p>This is a major misconception of which people are becoming more and more aware. Cal Poly’s programs are better than many of the UC programs, especially in its Colleges of Engineering, Architecture, and Business. </p>

<p>Major businesses and engineering firms recognize Cal Poly as a program equal to, or better than that of the UC schools. While the UC schools make you research, Cal Poly teaches you hands-on. If you choose Cal Poly, you will be 100% ready to go straight into your field of choice and you will be more qualified than most other applicants. Major employers in CA KNOW what Cal Poly graduates are capable of.</p>

<p>In short, I think you are overthinking the importance of the UC title. What the UC title really means is that you’re going to pay more for an equal or lesser education (Unless you go to Berkeley or maybe UCLA) than you would receive at Cal Poly. Plus, you get to live in one of the most beautiful areas in CA.</p>

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<p>seniorsfo take eduparent’s advice – go to the Open House and have fun, but make sure you get a personal tour from someone at AERO. Friday it important.</p>

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<p>As someone who work in both tech and finance industry, I can tell you, from an industry vantage point, UCD/UCI/UCSB and perhaps even UCSD’s reputations in no way beat that of Cal Poly’s. And the whole “landslide” thing is just a fantasy of some uninformed high school students.</p>

<p>If a Cal Poly graduate walk into an interview for an engineering, architecture, business, or agricultural firm, he/she will stand toe-to-toe and beyond with the aforementioned UCs. Take the tech industry in Silicon Valley, you will find CP graduates ubiquitous all over the valley in almost every function ranging from engineering, product management, marketing, to finance. Some of the most senior executives in Silicon Valley hailed from Cal Poly (Apple’s CFO, Oracle division president, Brocade CEO, etc) There is a reason why Cal Poly graduates’ salaries are some of the highest in all of the US universities, and beaten only by UCB and UVA for public schools. So bottom-line, if you are measuring CP’s reputation by its industry clout, Cal Poly is a powerhouse, full stop. </p>

<p>Cal Poly is a specialized technical university by definition. Hence, it has a strong emphasis in professionally oriented education. UCs are more academically oriented, it emphasizes on fields that are pure education such as liberal studies, literature, pure science and math. So in those areas, yes, some of the the mid to upper tier UCs will have an edge.</p>

<p>Bottom-line, the only 2 UCs that can claim an indisputable reputational advantage over Cal Poly are probably UCB and UCLA. But even that lead is shrinking year after year.</p>

<p>Beyond reputation, it is equally important to examine which school’s atmosphere is right for you. Are you looking for a 40k+ student campus with the school’s emphasis squarely on graduate research? Or are you looking for a 17k+ student campus with an undergraduate professional education focus? It is sort of like choosing between Harvey Mudd or UCB (one tiny specialized engineering school vs. a giant research oriented general education university).</p>

<p>It all depends on what makes you happy.</p>

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<p>@OP - ickglue above really know his stuff. He is a Cal Poly grad that then went onto grad school at Harvard. </p>

<p>ickglue says, “Bottom-line, the only 2 UCs that can claim an indisputable reputational advantage over Cal Poly are probably UCB and UCLA. But even that lead is shrinking year after year.”</p>

<p>I would say that Cal Poly already surpasses UCLA.</p>

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<p>What was ickglue’s major at Cal Poly? Was it engineering? </p>

<p>My question about UCs vs. Cal Poly is - Will Cal Poly engineering graduates be able to go onto top graduate schools or since Cal Poly’s engineering program is so hands-on will they be at a disadvantage when it comes to graduate school admissions?</p>

<p>Ickglue - If you are out there I’d appreciate your viewpoint. But, I welcome responses from anyone.</p>

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<p>I graduated from Cal Poly-not an engineering major, but accounting. My employer recruits exclusively from Cal Poly because the graduates do come out ready for work. However I can give some insigificant input as to the engineering school. My kids went to Engineering day two years running. We visited each department and they did some fun little projects in each one. While I can’t speak to the quality of the programs, I can say that I left both years wanting both of my D’s to be engineers. What great students and people they are-people you would want to work with. But alas, neither of my D’s are interested.</p>

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<p>@closetobroke – I believe that ickglue was an engineering major.</p>

<p>With regard to your question regarding the ability of Cal Poly grads to go on to top grad schools. The answer is absolutely yes. I know Cal Poly Pomona grads that have gone on to cal Tech and USC for grad school. You can expect Cal Poly SLO grads, due to the reputation of the school, to be looked at very closely by the best. remember, industry deeply respects the school. Grad schools recognize what Cal Poly grads do – keep in kind that there are NASA Astronauts who graduated from Cal Poly. The current CEO of Raytheon is a Cal Poly grad in addition to many, many other captains of prominent tech firms. Also, Cal Poly also offers masters degrees with the 4+1 program. You can get out in 5 years (or 6 more likely) with both your BS and MS.</p>

<p>By the way, I just got back form Cal Poly today. What a beautiful area and an amazing school. We stayed at the Sycamore Inn hot springs and really enjoyed the weekend. My kid was busy with his club getting ready for national competition in Houston and did not come home for spring break as they were still working on their vehicle. good times!</p>

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<p>@osakadad</p>

<p>thank you for your kind comments, as always! I missed SLO and especially the Pismo Beach’s Pacific view during sunset along 101 South. Cal Poly and the adjacent area is really a breathtaking place. </p>

<p>@closetobroke</p>

<p>I double majored in electrical engineering and physics while I was at Cal Poly, then went on to get my MBA at Harvard Business School. I am actually kicking around the idea of going back to MIT, for its Media Lab graduate program since I really enjoyed the classes I took there.</p>

<p>To address your question about getting into grad school after CP, the answer is gaining admission to a top grad school is most definitely a non-issue, provided the student did well of course. But that would be true even if you went to Harvard undergrad. </p>

<p>As an example, Cal Poly engineering actually has a preferential admission program for USC grad engineering program. </p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/cal-poly-san-luis-obispo/1307776-another-cal-poly-slo-vs-ucs-thread-2.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/cal-poly-san-luis-obispo/1307776-another-cal-poly-slo-vs-ucs-thread-2.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>So if USC graduate engineering thinks CP graduates are pretty compelling bunch, I would say you need not worry about what some high brow 12 graders think of CP.</p>

<p>Also, you have to remember CP’s university wide admission standards almost mirror that of the mid-tier UCs for years. If CP really lagged behind those schools by a landslide, CP will have an empty campus. Since either no one will apply or no one will attend. But with 45000 applicants this year, I think we can nicely dispel that rumour. </p>

<p>I can assure you, Cal Poly’s stature will absolutely not hold one back from getting into a top grad school, in fact it might even help.</p>