My son applied to Cal poly for the aerospace engineering program. He is interested in rocket propulsion.
He has applied to a handful of schools and one of the schools said for this focus he would want to major in mechanical engineering. Other schools have said aerospace.
We haven’t been able to speak with anyone at Cal Poly to direct us on what the appropriate emphasis would be and I understand he has until January 15 to change his major.
I understand on his application he put aerospace engineering as his first choice and mechanical as his second.
I’ve also heard aerospace engineering is more competitive at Cal poly and they take less people than mechanical each year. Not sure if that is correct or not?
Wondering if anyone on this site knows what the appropriate engineering emphasis would be at Cal Poly for rocket propulsion interest?
My son has a 4.5 weighted GPA, he is captain of his sports team, recipient of the presidential volunteer award, has a job, mock trial participant, student body member, and is working on a senior project involving a CubeSat at a local university.
He did his application on his own and I didn’t get to see it, so I’m hoping he was able to mention all of these things. I don’t believe he was able to include his essay with his application which I think he mentioned a number of these things in, hoping his college counselor did in her Recommendation letter.
Also curious what you think his chances might be to get accepted into their aerospace program? On his transcripts he has 10 AP classes and 5 honors classes. It looks like they only take 4% of the aerospace students that apply?
Doing so gives a guess of Aerospace admission rate being about 12% and MechE being about 20%. The catch, though, is neither of these rates actually apply to him Read up on the “ecological fallacy” about applying group statistics to individual predictions and you’ll know why.
As for which is better for rocket propulsion, my guess (as one not in the field) is either is fine. For one thing your son may not understand the full scope of what engineers working in that area do. Some work on the actual fuels, some work on the plumbing delivering the fuel (when liquid), some on the structures inside the rocket holding the fuel and other elements, some on the hardware making up the valves controlling fuel flow, some on the control systems adjusting fuel flow and burn rate, some on guidance so the darn thing goes where you want, some on vibration analysis so it doesn’t shake itself apart, some on aerodynamics so the atmosphere doesn’t pull it apart, and so on. The odds that he’s informed about all of these and has made a careful choice about fit and career prospects may be low. It may be that aerospace or MechE is a better fit for some of these than others but perhaps it’s too early for him to know.
I was just talking to my friend’s son who is a aero major at CalPoly. If your son is interested in rocket propulsion, aero is the way to go. There will be more classes of interest to him. MechE is more general and he’ll definitely do well and learn to build and work with engines with a MechE degree. Admission stats can be pretty disheartening for aero majors at CalPoly; it’s a much smaller major than MechE and is experiencing somewhat of a revival. So I don’t know what to counsel in terms of admission chances. I’m wishing him all the best! CalPoly has great engineering programs and he can’t go wrong whatever way he goes!
The other important piece of the Cal Poly SLO admissions puzzle is the HS math and language courses taken in middle school, such as Algebra, Geometry and/or Spanish 1 (or higher) for example.
Additional MCA points are given for these type of classes at Cal Poly SLO, as long as the next class in sequence is taken in HS, not repeated. Over the years, applicants often miss receiving these valuable additional points.
Since SLO does not post their yield by major, estimating the acceptance rate with 3 times admits than target spots gives you some idea of the competitiveness of each major.
SLO does not accept essays or LOR’s so 9-11th Capped weighted GPA (maximum 4.4) and HS course rigor are very important. That said, most of the Engineering majors should be considered tough admits since the campus is heavily impacted. Also alternate majors are occasionally considered but it is usually outside the College of Engineering. If he wants Aerospace then he should apply to his first choice major.
He has five years of math on his transcripts starting with algebra and going up to AP calculus (currently taking a math capstone which will be 6th math on transcripts- history of math), and four years of Spanish, highest is AP Spanish. Currently taking a Spanish capstone class.
Not sure what MCA is?
All candidates are objectively evaluated by the cognitive and non-cognitive variables under our faculty-mandated Multi-Criteria Admission (MCA) process.
My son has already changed his Cal Poly major once after submitting his application, so I am familiar with how these second thoughts can arise!
My feeling is that your son should not worry about which major is more competitive. He should pick the major that he wants most, since these majors are direct admit. If he later chooses to change majors, my understanding is that Cal Poly will evaluate whether he would have been offered admission in the new desired major, and he will only be able to change if he would have met the cutoff for that major (and if he has the required Cal Poly GPA, etc.). So it’s best to simply apply to the one he really wants.
Cal Poly has very detailed information on their web site about the exact curriculum for each major. My son ended up putting all that information in a spreadsheet. Given the credit he expects for his APs, he thought about what his 4 years would look like in each major. Then he had a better idea of which curriculum he was more excited about, and the choice was clear.
Got it!
So I’m guessing if they only look at transcripts and not letters of recommendation or essays, it would be hard for the school to know he is doing a senior project, working on a CubeSat with a group at a university.
It seems that may be a unique hands on experience that perhaps may benefit him when applying to schools that allow him a way to provide that info.
Again- maybe he was able to mention that. I haven’t seen any of his applications
IIRC, around our local area, the following math path is common for applicants to majors, like the various Engineering disciplines:
7th Grade: Algebra I
8th Grade: Geometry
Freshman: Algebra II
Sophomore: Pre-Calc
Junior: Calc AB/BC
Senior: Calc BC or Multivariable Calc
So, if the math courses taken in middle school are not entered into the Cal Poly SLO app, then those MCA points are missed. The same would apply for foreign languages.
I realize the math path above is advanced, but I was using it for illustrative purposes only to demonstrate my point.
There is no where to mention a Senior project unless it is an actual Senior class designated on his HS transcript. Also courses and grades are self reported so final HS transcripts are only needed after accepting and enrolling in the school.
It depends on what he specifically wants to do. Someone his age probably doesn’t know. AE is more systems focused whereas ME goes deep into fluids if he chooses those electives. Either could be applicable to rocket propulsion.
We have differing views on this topic: MechE vs Aero. The OP’s son can look at a four year course plan in MechE and Aero and decide which looks more appealing to them. There is no need to rehash the pros/cons of those majors. I am impartial to the degrees themselves but know some hard-core aerospace engineers (particularly the rocket/space ones) that would not study anything other than aerospace engineering. Of course there are mechanical engineers in the aerospace industry (electrical, computer, materials, systems, chemical engineers also). Some students just love space and rockets and studying aerospace engineering is their path.
I’m speaking as the parent of a BS/MS Cal Poly ME grad who knows exactly what his job offers were, and what his ME friends are doing.
I’m not claiming ME is better. I’m saying ME is different at Cal Poly. At some schools that’s not the case. Indeed, one professor I ran into while traveling literally said “ they’re the same.” At his institution, they apparently were.
EDIT: I spoke with my son tonight and asked him what the difference was. He said for propulsion at Cal Poly, it doesn’t matter. Each angle has advantages and disadvantages. What matters are class choice senior year, which can be AE courses if you’re a ME, or ME courses if you’re and AE, involvement with the appropriate club(s), senior project and internships.
As an upper level ME student (3rd year through MS), my son took courses in the EE, CS, and Math departments, not just ME.
As for ease of entry, it was the opposite the year he applied. ME was 14% and AE was 20%. What that doesn’t show though is the strength of the pool.
Hi, Cal Poly aerospace engineering applicant here too. Cal State portal is very limited for out of state applicants, so the only information we have to include is academical. No extracurriculars, no awards (i believe, it has been a minute since i applied), no recognitions… academic history only and test scores
SLO considers hours of EC’s, leadership and job hours related to major. Questions for EC’s are in the Program materials section which you would have filled out on the application. Test scores such as ACT/SAT are not considered for admission. The application is the same for all applicants regardless of residency.
Read up on the “ecological fallacy” about applying group statistics to individual predictions and you’ll know why.