<p>Have been accepted at both schools and am planning on majoring in aeronautical/aerospace engineering. After scholarships, cost is about the same.
Love the Cal location but am concerned about comparative program reputation.
Can someone provide some insight?
I have done a fair amount of research and grad salaries appear comparable, as do the companies that interview on both campuses, and general rankings. One related concern is the comparative academic reputation of both schools, the admittee standardized (ACT/SAT) test scores and rank within high-school graduation class appears. Rensselaer appears to be more selective. (It is somewhat difficult to determine due to limited info availability for engineering-only/aernautical engineering programs. One article sited that 90% of Rensselaer engineering student admittees graduated in the to 10% of their highschool class.)
Thanks much</p>
<p>For what it’s worth, the only two RPI grads I know are living in SLO and have picked up the Cal Poly dual masters in engineering and managment.</p>
<p>If I were to guess where Cal Poly Aero Engineers stand in class rank I would say top 5% or better. Many are Valedictorian/Salutatorian or close behind.</p>
<p>These four pages provide a lot of information about the two schools;</p>
<p>RPI</p>
<p>[RPI</a> Profile - Rensselaer - SAT Scores and Admissions Data for RPI](<a href=“http://collegeapps.about.com/od/collegeprofiles/p/rpi-rensselaer.htm]RPI”>RPI: Acceptance Rate, SAT/ACT Scores, GPA)
[Admissions</a> Information - Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) - Cappex](<a href=“http://www.■■■■■■■■■■/colleges/Rensselaer-Polytechnic-Institute/admissions]Admissions”>Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Admissions and Acceptance Rate - Troy, NY | Cappex)</p>
<p>SLO</p>
<p>[Cal</a> Poly San Luis Obispo Admissions: SAT Scores, Financial Aid and Other Admissions Data](<a href=“http://collegeapps.about.com/od/collegeprofiles/p/Cal_Poly_SLO.htm]Cal”>Cal Poly San Luis Obispo: Acceptance Rate, SAT/ACT Scores, GPA)
[Admissions</a> Information - Cal Poly - Cappex](<a href=“California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo - San Luis Obispo, CA | Cappex”>California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo Admissions and Acceptance Rate - San Luis Obispo, CA | Cappex)</p>
<p>The Fall 2013 incoming Cal Poly freshman class percent of applicants admitted may dip below 30%.</p>
<p>RPI Percent of Applicants Admitted: 44%</p>
<p>Very different schools, likely very similar Areo Eng programs.
Personal preference plays a large role here.</p>
<p>I’m not sure how class ranking in high school plays out in college…
the over whelming majority of CP students graduated from CA public high schools. While RPI students come from all states and many different countries. Not sure how you can compare…</p>
<p>Some stats do tell a story…</p>
<p>4 year grad rate:
CP less than 30%
RPI more than 60%</p>
<p>Number of students per class:
RPI 45.1 percent of its classes with fewer than 20 students
CP 15.1 percent of its classes with fewer than 20 students.</p>
<p>SLO is much prettier than Troy! But are you paying for “town” or “education”?</p>
<p>@Mom I’m sure the education from either school is a good one. I would ask how important is the “expierience”? Either way, it’s a once in a lifetime choice.</p>
<p>[Cal</a> Poly Named a Top University for Recruitment of Aerospace and Defense Workers](<a href=“http://calpolynews.calpoly.edu/news_releases/2012/August/Aerospace.html]Cal”>http://calpolynews.calpoly.edu/news_releases/2012/August/Aerospace.html)</p>
<p>This is from Aug 2012 and might be helpful.</p>
<p>This is the direct link;</p>
<p>[url=<a href=“http://www.aviationweek.com/topicsevents/workforce.aspx]Workforce[/url”>Aviation Week Events]Workforce[/url</a>]</p>
<p>I am a strong believer in what employers say when it comes to who they like to hire. All the other stuff is noteworthy but tends to end up being background noise. The links above by ralf4 and slolearner are very important. RPI great school. For Aero? Cal Poly all the way buddy.</p>
<p>thank you for the information
Rensselaer appears to be more selective, Cal Poly appears to have an edge in the defense industry</p>
<p>@SEDwrds It is worth noting that although the SAT scores are higher for incoming RPI students, the school has an undergraduate enrollment of 5,321, which are primarily STEM students. Cal Poly has an undergraduate enrollment of 17,725 of which only 5,411 are in the School of Engineering. If it were possible to extract the SAT scores from incoming engineers I would guess the scores would compare favorably.</p>
<p>CP’s 2012 freshman profile shows that these are the averages for the College of Engineering incoming freshman:</p>
<p>SAT CR+M 1346
ACT 30 </p>
<p><a href=“Cal Poly Admissions”>Cal Poly Admissions;
<p>Also, something you may want to consider, Rensselaer is overwhelmingly male (71%).</p>
<p>RPI reports the interquartile values, SLO reports the average, RPI seems to have the edge.</p>
<p>RPI
Test Scores 25th / 75th Percentile
Critical Reading: 610 / 700
Math: 660 / 760</p>
<p>SLO Engineering Fall 2012
Avg SAT Reading 618
Avg SAT Math 681</p>
<p>SLO Engineering Fall 2012
Men (4,079) 81.5%
Women (928) 18.5%</p>
<p>@slolearner, those SAT scores for CP CENG are from 2011 when CR+M average was 1299. In 2013 the average SAT CR+M for CENG jumped almost 50 points to 1346. With the current budget constraints in CA, and the soaring cost of UC’s, and the stellar reputation of CP Engineering, I suspect the 2013 numbers will be still higher. The stats of many being rejected from Engineering majors last month were VERY high.</p>
<p>And, it is true the CP CENG is 81% male, but the campus is still made up of more than 45% females, unlike RPI. Campus-wide, there is a reasonable M-F balance.</p>
<p>Oops… I meant to say that the CENG SAT CR+M jumped to 1346 in 2012, not 2013.</p>
<p>Both are excellent engineering schools. Which is better would boil down to personal preference for the kind of environment you want for 4+ years of your life.</p>
<p>^ @slolearners #s for Cal Poly Engineering are confirmed by the Cal Poly Fact Book for Fall 2012:</p>
<p>Avg SAT Reading 618
Avg SAT Math 681</p>
<p>See <a href=“http://ipa.calpoly.edu/sites/ir.wcms.calpoly.edu/files/publications_reports/factbook/fbfall12.pdf[/url]”>IR Home - Institutional Research - Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo; p.38</p>
<p>Where did you get your #s?</p>
<p>I was getting the numbers from the Cal Poly Student Profile for 2012.</p>
<p>[Student</a> Profile - Admissions - Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo](<a href=“Cal Poly Admissions”>Cal Poly Admissions)</p>
<p>Oh, I see the difference. The profile is from admissions and shows the averages for SELECTED students, while the Factbook is showing averages for those who actually ENROLLED. This does make sense because many of the top SELECTED students would have enrolled at the likes of Berkeley, UCLA, Stanford, etc.</p>
<p>My bad. Sorry.</p>
<p>Again, thank you all for sharing your knowledge.
Am currently leaning toward RPI, they also appear to have a lower student/teacher ratio.
Am visiting SLO next week and suspect I will love the campus.</p>
<p>You will love the campus…very hard to find flaw with SLO in April.</p>
<p>Love the campus. Primary concern at this time is being able to finish CalPoly aeronautical program in 4 years. Aeronautical engineering class availability/scheduling options appear limited. Any input regarding 4 and 5 year graduation rate for aeronautical engineering students or comments on one’s experience in this program?</p>