<p>To Osaka Dad - Thanks for your helpful advice. My daughter wants to study engr. - she has been accepted to CPP & WPI so far. Still waiting to hear from Cal Poly SLO & USC Viterbi. Since engr. is a predominantly male program wondering if your rankings of engr. schools would be the same if you were looking for schools for a daughter? Opinions of WPI & USC Viterbi would be greatly appreciated with gender as a factor.</p>
<p>I just toured Colorado School of Mines with my daughter last Fri. She has been accepted there 3.7 ACT = 28. Amazing school!! ALOT of support mechanisms in place to support women to be successful there. We LOVED Mines! Waiting to hear from Cal Poly</p>
<p>Yes, waiting to hear from Cal Poly also! Views on USC Viterbi - Engr. Undergraduate Program?</p>
<p>What you gain in flexibility (ability to double major, study abroad, etc.) over Poly, you’ll lose in depth. Compare the two curricula. They’re both good. You just have to decide what you want.</p>
<p>USC Viterbi if money is not an issue. It has phenomenal alumni connections and job prospects are also very good.</p>
<p>Agree on USC if $ isn’t an issue.</p>
<p>Money wasn’t an issue and my son chose CP SLO over USC. Look at the curriculum, programs, location, etc. And decide for yourself. Good luck.</p>
<p>WPI is a great choice too. They are actively trying to balance the M:F ratio. Everyone there looked happy.</p>
<p>S1 is 3rd year Mech E at Viterbi. I can’t really comment on the curriculum- but he has netted powerful experiences based on networking/location. Did paid summer research at Texas A&M after sophomore year. By late October he was offered a summer internship with a large Fortune 500 company on east coast for this summer- good pay, housing, etc. and will graduate in 4 years. Has been accepted into 5th year progressive degree program if he chooses to stay for masters. Expensive? yes, but with university grants, work study (10 hours per week), Stafford Loans only, and well paid summer research/internships it has been doable. Plus he will start earning a full time salary after 4 years, versus spending a 5th year at school to get his BS. (I am not saying that all engineering students take 5 years to graduate from SLO, but many do. I have heard that they are encouraged to slow it down.) S2 has applied to Cal Poly and we think it is a wonderful school, but Viterbi was an excellent choice for S1.</p>
<p>That’s the important thing, weigh each school for fit. My reply was mainly a push back to the comment that USC is better than Cal Poly SLO. They are very different and both good programs. One will choose Poly when another might choose Viterbi. Both will be well served if they picked their school on deeper criteria than what someone has to say on CC.</p>
<p>If it helps, I was accepted to WPI EA, and Cal Poly SLO RD both in engineering CS/CE. Between the two I would choose Cal Poly SLO.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the opinions - appreciate all the input. My daughter is a city girl, she likes all the stuff that comes with being in a bustling city area. Cal Poly SLO may be to be isolated seems to have a serene ambience in and around the area. It is also to my understanding that changing the major you declared if you decide it’s not for you is not a simple thing to do - may be a potential stresser if one is not 100% sure.</p>
<p>Cal Poly is an OUTSTANDING school for engineering. I have a son at CP and a son at USC. Key differences in schools is CalPoly focus on getting out and getting a job. Their reputation is top notch. A good friend runs an engineering firm (civil, mech, environmental) and ONLY hires CP grads. Gave up on UC Berkeley, Stanford, etc. CP grads were ready to work from day one. USC is a great school. Very high level of spirit, amazing alumni organization. Is it worth the money is the key question. For a handful of majors, yes. For engineering? Question mark. </p>
<p>Key issue for ANY engineering school is the job placement rate for grads IN THEIR MAJORS within 3 months of graduation. CP is at the top of every list. Most engineering schools now are not preparing their grads. I know a couple of grads from top east coast schools who found themselves in an uphill battle to find work. Not brains or talent, the schools did not help them find jobs, and staff seems to not care once you are gone. </p>
<p>Suggestion is to visit all schools and ask pointed questions about job success. </p>
<p>Son was accepted to CPSLO, UCLA, USC among others. Seriously considered all three and at some point thought he would attend CP (even put down housing deposit), then UCLA, but he chose USC. Best decision ever made, worth every penny. Academically he is part of a family, has complete flexibility to move between majors, and will apply for the 5 yr progressive degree as well. Really knows his professors and already working on business idea with a few other student pals. Prof’s are top notch and impressive, a lot of collaboration on things. Amazing guest speakers. Love that he is in LA and so does he. The vibrancy of an urban area is something to experience - learning how to navigate to Disneyland or LA Live via train, bus, subway, great life lessons. The environment couldn’t be more different. USC reminds me of Times Square, there is always something going on, lots of hustle/bustle. Cal Poly is quiet and serene, and it seems like a lot of fun in it’s own way. Town is cute, but too quiet/dark at night for this one. One is private, one is not, there are obvious differences in that. Just toured CP again with another child so still may have one go there. (Gosh that rec center is sweeet!) In the end for us, we wanted the flexibility to be sure of a major and find a passion without it costing time. Didn’t want to stress over getting classes and deal with rotations. Liked 2 people in a dorm, not three. Thought the LA connections and alum connections were better. Different schools lead to different types of engineering jobs. For everyone that only hires a CP grad there are the same # of firms that only hire UCB or USC or UCLA, grads, etc. so I disregard that point pretty much. If you have any other questions feel free to PM me. Won’t push either way, just provide more info if you want. I still lurk on the CP site cause I may have one go here!</p>
<p>@CADREAMIN your post is really helpful & insightful!</p>
<p>I’m currently an engineering student that’s deciding between USC Viterbi & Cal Poly!
I am sooooo torn apart between the 2 because I know id be happy in both schools. I still don’t know where I’m gonna end up but your post helps me understand some of the differences between the 2 schools.</p>
<p>This is very valuable info. Thanks! I just have a basic question that maybe one of you who are living with this because your child is going to USC Viterbi can answer. Perhaps it is not right to compare USC to Cal Poly as a whole - one is private with all the bells & whistles,prestige etc. and the other is public with very few bells & whistles. The question is: Is a price tag of $240,000 dollars for a 4 yr degree at USC Viterbi that you or your parents are spending feel right?</p>
<p>@wish888</p>
<p>USC is really generous with financial aid so based on my parents’ earnings i hope to get a decent amount of help (assuming i get in)</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.usc.edu/admission/fa/faqsFastFactsUGA.html”>http://www.usc.edu/admission/fa/faqsFastFactsUGA.html</a></p>
<p>I’m not sure how much help i’d get from Cal Poly but i don’t expect much since it’s a public state school & it’s already pretty cheap for most middle class families.</p>
<p>CP & USC: As a parent, one of my important factors in deciding where S would attend involved the area around any university. I’d heard from LA relatives about how unsafe the USC area was, and, when those USC grad students died, that was enough for me to say no to applying there. In the first quarter of the freshman year, S had a night class, getting out after 9 pm, and that is when I was glad he went to Cal Poly. I’m more comfortable with S wandering around at night in SLO than the USC residential area, where he would have had to live for several years.</p>
<p>Initially, I wondered about the area around USC, but when I went and saw it for myself, it really changed my mind, and I realized my friends that feared it had never been there. I can see your perspective, but on the other side of the coin, one of the problems I have at Cal Poly is it is like the suburban neighborhood we live in - very vanilla with not much room for growth. I get that some kids or parents like Pleasantville, (and I mean that in a good way). But eventually they are 20+ years old, and some are ready for more color and that is what concerns me about CP, even for my daughter. When she takes her first business trip I want her to know how to handle the world, not be scared of it. I think USC gives kids a chance to experience an urban area in a safe student friendly environment. Again I think it is like Times Square, lots going on and overall really safe, you just need to learn how to get around in it. In the last 20 years, thousands and thousands have attended USC without incident. Tens of thousands of young girls go there without being attacked. Very famous people send their kids there. The neighborhood surrounding USC is working class and yes, that can scare people that are use to the bubble of suburbia or whatever. The incident that happened a couple years ago was well out of the USC area at 2am. Having said that, some parents and kids like a quieter/softer environment and that is ok too. There is a reason thousands from all over the world want to go to USC, it’s really cool and the alumni network is so powerful. And many choose CP because of it’s own unique environment. But go wherever the student is comfortable (and the family can afford!) and hopefully wherever that is, they grow. </p>
<p>Choosing a college is not unlike dating. Parents may think one college (date) is so much more appropriate than another, only to find the child gravitates toward something completely unexpected.</p>
<p>I was certain my first daughter who was accepted into Berkeley, UCLA, etc. for neuroscience would pick UCLA. In the end neither UCLA nor Berkeley were even in her running for those same unexplainable reasons that who we think would be a fine young man for our daughter to date, and she wouldn’t… it’s subconscious, cultural. She chose Baylor. </p>
<p>My second daughter chose between UCD, UCSB and UCI as compared to CPSLO, for Business/Accounting. Chose CPSLO. Why? Better looking date in her opinion.</p>
<p>As regards Cal Poly SLO, I can comment, but not wrt Engineering. I had always wondered why almost everyone I knew, from one relative to a few friends of my daughters, LOVED Cal Poly. Was it the water? It there some strange cult there? In the end I decided it was the mix of a very attractive, not too crowded campus along with an attractive medium sized town (SLO), which Oprah Winfrey for some reasoned dubbed “the happiest city in America”. It doesn’t hurt that the dorms are nicely located, there is a vibrant Greek community, and the physical beauty of the area from Pismo Beach up through Cambria is stunning.</p>
<p>With regard to Engineering, I do understand the different focii. Both schools hook the students up to paid internships. Both schools have 90% plus employment rates out of school. The curricula are different, though. Some employers do in fact prefer the method employed by Cal Poly. I’m sure there are others that would favor USC.</p>
<p>In the end, like dating, it will be about which school is a better date… that is, cultural match for your son. It will be the school he feels most comfortable attending.</p>
<p>One comment as a mom of a Cal Poly Student, class sizes are small not like UC’s, my son has had one class, a GE over 100, average about 30. He knows all of his professors by first name, the Dean of the college, as well as the Chairman of his major know him by first name. It is a very personable school. Many students have research or internships even after freshman year. There are no PhD students to compete with to do research or participate on fun projects such as solar cars or cement canoes, Cal Poly undergrads consistently beat UCs and Ivy’s and yes sometimes even USC. The big differences for tech majors at least are Cal Poly does prepare for work, they do also have 4+1 major programs, but it is a small town, public school. Not suited for everyone. Pick where you feel at home, that is what mine did. (oh he will graduate with a master’s in 4 years, if you work hard you can graduate early, although in engineering it usually takes a quarter or two more because they require a lot more units, thus the deeper curriculum. It does come with a slight cost.)</p>
<p>@DunninLA I’m not convinced they don’t put something in the air or water! </p>