Regarding, internship/Job - most are in LA area defense contractor.
If money is not an issue - Cal Poly (that is the decision we made as OOS) otherwise going where it is cheaper is always the best options.
@onedown01, don’t take the lack of money as a negative statement about your daughter. Merit money is always low at CP. They just don’t have much to give particularly for out of state students whose money all CA publics rely on to make up for tax base shortfalls.
She will not likely get “better” job opportunities at CP vs. CU. Employment rate and pay will be fairly similar for all ABET AE programs. What she will get from Cal Poly are different opportunities and a different experience.
You really can’t justify the additional expense if you’re looking at it from a pure financial perspective. If it’s all about dollars, pick CU hands down. If you have the discretionary savings though to pay the difference, you’d be buying experience.
We also have a good flagship for ME, but my son chose to leave OR for CP for the smaller classes, minimal use of TAs, starting in major, better weather and a classic beach school experience. It has worked out well for him, but he won’t likely make any more money than had he stayed at Oregon State. He’s just now finishing his MS there.
TL;DR: don’t go into debt for CP, but if you can afford it, consider the difference in experiences that you’ll be buying. There won’t likely be a pure financial payoff.
@bk1366 - thank you for you input. It is funny how lists work. Here is another us news list for 2019 that ranks CU at #9 but does not list CP SLO. I do know that both schools offer great aero programs.
Thanks for the info on internships. Boulder offers intern opportunities at Lockheed and Ball, they also are heavily funded by NASA. I do like the idea of smaller classes and more hands on work. I know that she would love the whole CA experience, but I am trying to justify the extra $80-100K. I also worry that she may discover that she wants to change majors and that that difficult to do at CP SLO.
Thanks @eyemgh - I have seen your input on several CP CLO threads and you always have sound advice. I am curious if your son was able to finish CP SLO in 4 years. I heard that sometimes it is hard to get classes and stay on track with the program so it takes more time to graduate.
I know she will be succful wherever she goes. I want to give her the best experience while keeping her debt free.
@onedown01 hi, not really in the mix but I was at CU for class of 2017 Env Eng (direct admit) and decided it wasn’t for me and was looking into changing majors (I am a CA resident) and the process is very difficult. There are a lot of prereqs that are required, some that need to be taken at CU and some that are not available until you are a Business student (BCOR classes) but you can take during the summer or online or in the evening (they fill up fast). So long story short, it was going to take me an extra semester or year so I came back to CA. I know you are a resident of CO but my point is please be sure to research first since Engineering is so structured with it’s classes already the first year and if your daughter did change major at CU she still may not be done in 4 years unless she does summers and/or intersessions.
@onedown01, no problem for him graduating in 4 years. In fact, he’s been done with MS classes now for two quarters and just doing his thesis project and writing. He’ll have BS/MS in ME easily in 5 years. Students who have trouble graduating in 4 dodge time and/or professors. Sometimes it’s also because students have to repeat classes.
As for ranking, they aren’t ranked together because CP does not offer doctoral degrees. That’s why they use so few TAs. CP is #2 in Aerospace among schools that do not offer PhD.
All that said, all you’d be buying for $80-$100k is a different experience. If you have the money, I’d be strongly inclined to invest it and give her the money later. The opportunity cost for those funds is high and won’t buy a better career path, just a different one.
@onedown01 The reason you don’t Cal Poly in the list is you are searching for Doctoral School. Cal Poly does not offer Phd. So you need to search by just your major which implies undergraduate focus. @eyemgh has mentioned it correctly.
My son is on the Cal Poly waitlist for Architecture but he just received an email that his application has been redirected to another CSU campus and he should check the Cal State website. However, the Cal State website (https://calstate.liaisoncas.com/applicant-ux/#/login) is not working correctly as it does not show the dashboard page correctly. Also, the Cal Poly status page still says he is on the waitlist.
Does anyone know what this means and what are the next steps?
no acceptance or redirection email for my kid yet. portal still says he’s waitlisted for mechanical. he already submitted the SIR for UC Irvine, though.
@parentinaustin: Redirection is for CSU eligible applicants that have not been accepted into a CSU campus of their choice. The campuses available for redirection are as follows and none offer an Architecture major.
Eligible applicants to the CSU can select a first- and a second-choice campus from the list below:
Bakersfield
Channel Islands
Dominguez Hills
East Bay
Humboldt
Maritime Academy (Business Administration and Global Studies & Maritime Affairs programs ONLY )
San Francisco
Sonoma
Stanislaus
Thanks @Gumbymom. The fact that he was redirected means that he is no longer in the Cal Poly Architecture waitlist? Or can he still be in the Cal Poly waitlist but was given other options?
@parentinaustin Same exact thing happened to my son (also wait-listed for Arch, OOS). Makes no sense, since I believe that redirection is only applicable for in-state applicants.
@barisouth: Actually I thought that only in-state applicants were eligible for redirection but according to the Cal State website, it is not only in-state Freshman but also CSU eligible Freshman applicants (which includes OOS), Upper Division Transfers and ADT Tranfers.
@Gumbymom The redirection notice on the Cal State Apply website states as follows:
“One or more of the California State University campuses to which you have applied for Fall 2019 cannot accept your application due to limited capacity. As a qualified applicant, we have redirected your application to another CSU campus. Your Cal State Apply account shows the redirected campus in the Check Status page. You will be contacted by the redirected campus about the next steps in the process.”
However, the Check Status page stills states that my son’s application to Cal Poly is complete and there is no redirected campus listed.
The My Cal Poly portal still lists him as waitlisted.
Thanks again @Gumbymom. I just spoke with a Cal Poly admissions advisor and he said that there were many redirect emails sent due to a Cal State Apply error today. He checked my son’s specific record and he confirmed he is still in the waitlist for Cal Poly Architecture (i.e. no change in his situation). He told me to ignore the redirect email and just wait for a notification from them.
@bairsouth: It’s likely your son is in the same boat as mine.
@Gumbymom, I have no experience with redirection, but it is interesting that they would offer redirection of an architecture applicant to schools that don’t have the major.
@barisouth: Redirection for Freshman just started this application cycle, so maybe there are glitches in the Cal State Apply program. I cannot tell you how to proceed other than contacting Cal State apply tel:(857) 304-2087 to find out if there is an issue. I do know Cal Poly Pomona had some computer issues with applicant CSU eligibility and redirection but since it is a different campus, most likely an isolated incident??
I would agree with your son at this point by ignoring the redirect email, due to the fact that no redirected campuses offer an Architecture major if that is what he wants to pursue.
