<p>I am recently admitted to UCI - Biological Science, Cal Poly SLO - Biological Science and Cal Poly Pomona - Biotech.</p>
<p>What do you think about these schools? I want to go to a school where I can attend Ivy League after 4 years.</p>
<p>Which one is more sort party school? which one is less?</p>
<p>None of these schools are party schools. Pomona is more of a commuter school as is UCI. SLO has far more folks living on campus and a strong Greek life from what I hear but have no direct knowledge. SLO is the strongest of all three in academics and reputation in Bio Med Engineering. Biological Science? Not exactly sure. However, you can’t go wrong with SLO for immediate work straight out of school or to go on to grad school. What do the Ivy League schools think? Well, SLO had a very low acceptance rate this year. If they look at selectivity, SLO is the hardest to get in of all three.</p>
<p>As to what they Ivys will think, they’ll want to see students that are following their passion rather than calculating every single step of their lives to get to a certain point. That’s why they don’t just look at test scores and GPAs but look more heavily on essays, written proposals and interviews. I would say look at the three programs, learn what they are about, how they are different and which fits your academic interests better. I am not sure Biotechnology is the same as Biological Sciences.</p>
<p>I agree with both OsakaDad’s and mrselonore’s comments. </p>
<p>Firstly, all of the schools you mentioned are solid. For pure life sciences, UCI is probably the strongest out of the 3, followed by SLO, then Pomona. </p>
<p>In terms of which school you might choose, given all 3 are solid schools, it is hard to answer you directly. You should visit all 3 in order to have a gut feel of which one suits you the best. Cal Poly SLO will be best at preparing your for immediate employment post undergraduate, and will offer the highest starting salary for all of CA public university systems (both UC and CSU). But it is infinitely more important that you are happy at the university you choose. </p>
<p>As for Ivy, you need to be more specific with your question. I majored in electrical engineering and physics in Cal Poly SLO undergraduate program. And subsequently went onto Harvard for my graduate work. So if you want to know if Cal Poly is viewed at least as favorably as UCs at Harvard? Yes.</p>
<p>ickglue - Very cool background. I am quite impressed that you went to Cal Poly SLO and then Harvard. What did you major in at those schools? My kid has been accepted at Cal Poly SLO for General Engineering this Fall 2011. I’ve already put down the housing deposit and we’ve accepted their offer. He has also been accepted at UCLA, UCI and Cal Poly Pomona. We expect acceptances to UC Berkeley, UCSD and a couple of other UC’s too. They have been pretty aggressive in recruiting him. Having said that, Cal Poly SLO is clearly his first choice. What other schools did you apply to and reject in favor of Cal Poly SLO? I’d love to know how you came to your conclusion to choose SLO. </p>
<p>My kid is already buying camping and rock climbing equipment in anticipation of being able to spend a lot of time outdoors once on campus at SLO. He and his buddies are off to the mountains every weekend these days and plan a four-day bouldering/camping trip to Joshua Tree in early April. All for the sake of being good enough to hang with other outdoorsy types at SLO.</p>
<p>@OsakaDad</p>
<p>Thank you for the kind words. I did my MBA at Harvard Business School. </p>
<p>And congratulation to you and your son, I am sure you are very proud of his accomplishments. I am sure he will do brilliantly at Cal Poly. I loved my experience at CP, it was one of the best time in my life.</p>
<p>@ickglue</p>
<p>Excellent choice for an MBA. I’ve had the pleasure to work with several Harvard MBA’s and truly enjoyed the collaboration. I got my MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Management ( [Business</a> School Ranking - Thunderbird School of Global Management](<a href=“http://www.thunderbird.edu/about_thunderbird/rankings/index.htm]Business”>http://www.thunderbird.edu/about_thunderbird/rankings/index.htm) ) back in 1992 as my entire focus in business is international. I currently work with international investors and specialize in transnational estate planning. I love my work and it has led to opportunities to teach part time at USC, UCLA and a few other schools. I no longer have time to teach. But, the experience has given me a lot of insight into how to choose a school and I think Cal Poly fits my kid like a glove.</p>
<p>I think that the engineering undergrad degree and MBA is a powerful combination. You must be doing some very interesting work. Congrats!</p>