Cal Poly Pomona or Cal Poly SLO for Engineering

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I'm a transfer student who has been accepted to both Cal Poly Pomona and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo for the major of Electrical Engineering, with a 3.92 GPA if anyone is reading this for chances.</p>

<p>I've done plenty of research on both schools, but it is quite obvious to begin with that Cal Poly SLO is the better school for engineering. SLO is ranked higher, in a nice location, and after visiting the campus recently I must say the entire community is welcoming as well. Pomona is not a bad campus either when it comes to the engineering program; being a commuter school, however, it seems to have a different culture.</p>

<p>The difficulty in the decision between the two campuses comes with comparing the costs and if the higher expense of SLO is worth it.</p>

<p>I live, without traffic, about 30 minutes from Pomona which could easily be an hour and a half in traffic. Commuting definitely would not be pleasant, but feasible. At SLO I would obviously have to either dorm or live off campus, at a cost of around $650 a month.</p>

<p>My goal is to get my foot in the door of aerospace companies such as Honeywell, Boeing, Raytheon, Lockheed etc. because of my experience with electronics in the military and pilot's license. Most of these companies recruit at both campuses, however it seems they hold SLO graduates much higher.</p>

<p>Assuming I am able to graduate in less than 3 years, I am having to choose between spending between $15,500 - $20,000 at Pomona or $40,000 - $50,000 at SLO. Is the reputation and career prospects that much greater at SLO to be worth taking upon that much more debt?</p>

<p>I'm also worried that it may be much harder to get my classes at SLO than Pomona, unless I get priority registration each term at SLO (From my understanding they limit the terms you can use priority registration).</p>

<p>Would like to hear opinions from those who have been down a similar path or can provide insight from other experiences.</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

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<p>Since you were in the military are there GI Bill benefits available to you? Since you say you were in the military one of the attractions of a residential campus, the chance to make the transition to living away from your parents, is probably a moot point. SLO is a nicer area and would be more fun to attend; you need to weigh that against the extra $20K in cost on one hand and the wonderful starting salaries of aerospace engineers on the other (probably $70K or better). People pay a premium to live in nice places, you have to decide if it is worth it.</p>

<p>I’d add that the commuting is going to be worse than you may have thought. Classes and labs are not scheduled in tidy blocks. You may have a few hours to kill during the day between classes and/or labs and no real place to go. Your profs/TAs may have office hours at inconvenient times. Suppose your labs/classes are done at 11am but office hours are at 4pm. Are you going to hang around 5 hours to ask 1 question? Yet add up questions you didn’t ask and your learning starts to suffer. The same with taking part in engineering clubs. They probably meet in the evening when everyone is done with classes. You will quickly tire of going home and spending another hour driving back and forth for the club.

There should be no “assuming” here. You can see the degree requirements online and use ASSIST to see what credits you have already. Somehow I doubt there are a large number of students clamoring to take upper-division engineering courses, and you’ve already made it thru the courses everyone wants for various majors (the lower division physics, calculus, etc). I’ll admit I’m no expert on either campus, but I would bet that each has provisioned enough upper-division engineering classes so that students get thru on schedule. I could be wrong; if I were in your shoes I’d visit each campus and talk with an advisor in the engineering dept to see if you really could get thru on time taking the normal courseload.</p>

<p>There is one other assumption you are making that I think is wrong. You are assigning a lot of weight to the name on the diploma. IMHO that is really an insignificant factor compared to you. We aren’t talking MIT vs CPP here, we’re talking 2 schools in the same CSU system. The real difference is going to come down to your GPA and experience. Take part in student projects and leverage that into internships, get a good GPA, and the school name is not going to hold you back. Nor, really, is whether they recruit on campus. It isn’t like you can shake any tree and have a few Aeronautical Engineers tumble out the way you get History or Poli Sci majors. It is more convenient to have them come to campus but I’d bet a number of East Coast firms don’t come out (or maybe only to places like Stanford & UCLA) but would still be happy to phone screen people submitting resumes or talk to people attending job fairs. </p>

<p>Lastly I’d add Cal Poly SLO has one huge advantage over CPP. They offer a 5-year BS/MS program. The MS is a real plus for engineers and the chance to get it in just 1 extra year is well worth it. I don’t know if transfers are eligible for the program, though.</p>

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<p>Also - don’t under-estimate your commute costs. With gas at $4+, I’d figure $10+ each day for gas alone. Add that to $125/quarter for parking and you cover close to half of your apartment. </p>

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<p>If you have to borrow the money, then I don’t think it’s a smart investment. Companies aren’t going to pay much (or any) more for a Cal Poly SLO engineer vs. a Cal Poly Pomona engineer.
You’ll get the same job opportunities at Pomona.
Keep in mind, with military budget cuts, employment within the aerospace industry is tough.
You’re doing right by staying with a general electrical engineering degree…that will open doors for more variety of employment.</p>

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<p>Mikemac, thanks for the insightful response.</p>

<p>You are right, I will be receiving a form of the GI Bill however it is the Montgomery Bill for reservists that pays quite a bit less. Considering it pays monthly at a set amount regardless of the cost of tuition, I can expect around $10,000 in aid in TWO academic years.</p>

<p>“Classes and labs are not scheduled in tidy blocks.”</p>

<p>I’ve seen this with my other friends who are currently in upper division courses at a 4-year university and was certain I’d end up with the same predicament. As you said, I’d have to hang around for quite a few hours between classes/labs; while I could study and do homework in that time at the library, it would be much more conducive to studying if I had my own place to go to nearby in the meantime.</p>

<p>“You can see the degree requirements online and use ASSIST to see what credits you have already.”</p>

<p>After reviewing the flow chart for electrical engineering at Pomona, I found that if I don’t miss any classes and average 15-16 units per quarter I will be able to graduate within 2 years. Coming from a semester system I’m not sure if I’ll be able to pull a 16 unit course load consistently however. Pomona seems to be more military friendly and offers priority registration each term for veterans, so I would not worry about missing any classes due to them filling up fast.</p>

<p>“You are assigning a lot of weight to the name on the diploma. IMHO that is really an insignificant factor compared to you.”</p>

<p>And this is the confirmation that I’ve been looking for. After being accepted into some nice colleges I could’ve never imagined going to straight out of high school, I got caught up in the “brand name.” With my current position as an electronics technician in the military, I believe I have experience that will land me an internship which will hopefully lead to a career after graduation. I just did not have anyone to turn to in my family to ask, “Is the ‘better’ name really worth it?” as no family members have been through a university.</p>

<p>I think it will be financially smarter to choose Pomona which will put me in a position where I may even be able to commute and save a load of money. Also, I will be more “comfortable” in an area that is familiar to me, allowing me to concentrate on my studies without the stress of being displaced in an unfamiliar town with no friends or family; although yes, I have certainly done that through the military.</p>

<p>As UCBChemEGrad mentioned, I would certainly have to borrow a significant amount of money to go to SLO. From your opinions, and others, it seems that it may not be the best investment.</p>

<p>Again thank you for such helpful replies so far.</p>

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<p>CPP does have a two year graduation pledge program for transfers: <a href=“https://www.csupomona.edu/~academic/programs/grad_pledge/2year.shtml”>https://www.csupomona.edu/~academic/programs/grad_pledge/2year.shtml&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>However, long commutes (particularly by car) can be quite annoying.</p>

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<p>CPP in particular has ties with Jet Propulsion Laboratory for internships and job opportunities.</p>

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<p>Update:
I am pretty much set on Cal Poly Pomona at this point. After some further research on the colleges and possible internships I’ve discovered a few things -</p>

<p>1) Cal Poly SLO does not seem to be a good fit for a transfer student who has completed all of his/her general education and support courses. After researching what engineering classes are offered each quarter, I discovered there would be two quarters where I’d only be able to take one class. Until you get past the 200 level EE courses, your selection is very limited and everything else is based upon this.</p>

<p>2) Contrast this with Pomona - they offer ALL of their engineering courses, EVERY quarter. Yes they appear to fill up fast, but it’s no different at SLO.</p>

<p>3) Should I have to end up renting a place out in Pomona, I will be in a prime location for any internships. Many companies such as Honeywell, Boeing and Raytheon would be within an hour drive radius around Pomona. No relocation needed for summer internships - I would stay put and commute to the internship location. </p>

<p>Cal Poly SLO would be an awesome school to attend and personally I’d rather go there, but it just doesn’t seem to be the “right” choice regardless of what I may want.</p>