<p>As of now, there are only two certain schools I want to apply to this coming fall. University of San Diego and Cal Poly SLO. I'm looking for a couple more schools possibly. I'm almost certain I'll get into SLO and I know I'll get into USD but I want to add a school to my list that is a safe bet and is affordable. This school would be worst case scenario, I don't get into SLO and can't afford USD. So I was wondering would Cal Poly Pomona be a good choice for mechanical engineering and fits this criteria?</p>
<p>Cal Poly Pomona is a solid school with a well respected Mech E program</p>
<p>I go there and I have mixed feelings. I guess it depends on what major you are. I am in one of the smaller engineering majors so I have a hard time getting the classes I need. I have had a few classes with some of the MechE professors and they are some of the best classes I have taken in 4 years there.</p>
<p>Cal poly pomona is like a sister school of cal poly SLO, and its programs are almost identical to SLO, but just a bit behind. it’s an excellent safety for those who want a similar education as cal poly SLO.</p>
<p>We looked extensively at Cal Poly Pomona for either Mechanical or Aerospace, but decided against it because of the cost for non-California residents, and because of the uncertainties created by the recent California State budget difficulties. Moreover, like other Cal State campuses, more than a few majors have “impacted” status at Pomona, meaning there’s a high risk that you won’t be allowed to enter that particular major.</p>
<p>Otherwise, we found the program quite solid.</p>
<p>Consider San Diego State if you want a low cost safety. While not as challenging as Cal Poly, it has a decent program and lots of internship opportunities in San Diego county. </p>
<p>USD will take longer to graduate since it is a combined BA/BS program, but they offer great financial aid. </p>
<p>SDSU placed 2nd in the nation with their R/C airplane at competition and are building an 18ft rocket controllable by an android app currently. I am an EE major that will be transferring to SDSU in the fall and the AE students I met are really impressed about whats going on.</p>
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<p>It drives me nuts when people make comments like this… You can’t just use seat-of-the-pants intuition when trying to pass something off as fact.</p>
<p>What actual evidence do you have that their program is less challenging? </p>
<p>I’m not saying you’re wrong here, but the amount of handwaving on this board is ridiculous…</p>
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<p>San Diego State is one of the most popular CSU campuses, so it may not be a good safety choice for someone looking mainly at CSU campuses, as it is likely to be more selective than most.</p>
<p>I have compared both schools myself. Cal Poly program offers more core classes and more specialized electives. While engineering is engineering, I don’t think anyone would NOT say that Cal Poly is more rigorous. It is a school recognized for its focus on engineering. </p>
<p>Here are the course offerings:
<a href=“https://aero.calpoly.edu/media/uploads/2012-2013_DRAFT_6.1.12.pdf[/url]”>https://aero.calpoly.edu/media/uploads/2012-2013_DRAFT_6.1.12.pdf</a>
<a href=“http://www.csupomona.edu/~aro/current/documents/AROcatalog.pdf[/url]”>http://www.csupomona.edu/~aro/current/documents/AROcatalog.pdf</a></p>
<p><a href=“San Diego State University - Acalog ACMS™”>San Diego State University - Acalog ACMS™;
<p>As for selectivity, I don’t think there is a way to know apps by major. SDSU has a smaller engineering college and I would assume less applications for engineering majors compared to other schools. Still worth an app as costs will be about the same. Same to CSU Long Beach as it also has a good Aerospace degree. </p>
<p>But yea…75k apps, less than 10% selected. Out of that, only 3000 total transfer spots.
Long Beach is 2nd most selective Cal State I believe with similar stats.</p>
<p>Just realized I was reading Lake’s post and thought the OP was referring to aerospace engineering. Oops. Same rationale though</p>
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<p>Selectivity is really not a viable factor when trying to estimate the quality of a program. Many schools set high exit standards that misalign with their entrance criteria. These same schools often have lower graduation rates as a result. There is the argument that more selective schools tend to attract higher quality professors (or researchers rather), but this is irrelevant at the undergraduate level since most of the material taught in the classroom is straight out of a textbook… in which case, you need a professor good at teaching, and research-heavy professors tend to be lousy teachers.</p>
<p>A better way to evaluate the quality of a school is by looking at the facilities/labs/services available to students, curriculum, experience level of the faculty, and reputation as viewed by engineering companies.</p>
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<p>Correct. However, SDSU was being suggested as a safety, which means that, regardless of the quality of the program, its popularity and selectivity may disqualify it from being a safety.</p>
<p>If the OP wants safeties, looking at the [Impaction</a> | Student Academic Support | CSU](<a href=“http://www.calstate.edu/sas/impactioninfo.shtml]Impaction”>http://www.calstate.edu/sas/impactioninfo.shtml) may help in terms of finding one where the impaction / selectivity level does not prevent it from being a safety for the OP. Note the local area preferences that may help.</p>
<p>Good point UCB. Safety generally implies guaranteed acceptance, in which case SDSU probably isn’t the best choice… however, their SAT/ACT score averages are pretty modest, which means if the OP has higher scores may be pretty much guaranteed to get in. Diffficult to say I guess.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies. I am not looking specifically at Cal State Campuses, I started this thread about Pomona specifically because I really liked SLO and was wondering if Pomona would be a good choice if I didn’t get into SLO. Also, I’m a Cal resident and am looking hard at California schools, state or private. Unfortunately, I’m not a big fan of any of the UC’s, except UCLA which is a reach. I don’t like the idea of doing a lot of theoretical work and would prefer a much more hands on approach that will help me get a job rather than focusing on grad school. I just drove by there today and it looks pretty similar to SLO as far as looks but I would imagine SLO is much more ideal for the major I want, mechanical engineering. Although I know someone who’s boyfriend went to Pomona because he didn’t get into SLO’s MechE program and he just secured a good job locally, paying like around 55K-60K. So I assume I’ll get a good job if I work hard in college and get good grades.</p>
<p>And someone mentioned USD and their great financial aid. I started a thread asking about what kind of money they give and people made it sound like they don’t give much, maybe like 5K. They said it all depends on test scores and that my 30 on the ACT won’t do much.</p>
<p>Also, forgive me if I sound like I know everything about the schools. I’m going off of what I hear a lot of people say on these forums. And please correct me if I’m wrong with any of my opinions. I would like to hear any insight from students in California schools.</p>
<p>U of San Diego, the Catholic school, does have a reputation generous financial aid. Isn’t engineering at USD a five-year program?</p>
<p>No California is a safe bet anymore after the budget cuts. And there are more students enrolling trying to get into better careers. It’s more difficult now then it ever has been. </p>
<p>I attended a meeting with a USD rep for the engineering program and believe me they are very generous. But it also depends on your stats and how much your parents make. But as a private school they have more funds to give out. You wont know until you get an award letter, but it can equal the same cost of a public school. </p>
<p>But to answer your original question, I would pick a few other schools that you want to apply to in case you don’t get in. Look at the Ca transfer thread. There are people with high stats that don’t get into their first or second choice school for all kinds of different majors. You shouldn’t limit yourself to applying to just 3</p>
<p>Cal Poly is good as a school, but do not, I repeat, do not live on campus unless you enjoy living in a police state. </p>