<p>My daughter is planning on majoring in civil engineering and has been accepted into a number of schools. She has narrowed down her choice to Cal Poly SLO or CU Boulder. She likes the idea of Cal Poly’s learn by doing approach and loved the campus when we visited last summer. CU Boulder is the flagship university for Colorado and has a very good engineering program. We live in Colorado, so at CU Boulder she would pay in-state tuition. Thoughts anyone?</p>
<p>FWIW - I’m a Colorado mom with a Cal Poly student. My son is in a major that isn’t offered in Colorado, so our decision was much easier. I think the two schools are very different in feel. I think Cal Poly is much more like Colorado State than CU. CU has a great civil engineering program and so does Cal Poly. My son loves Cal Poly. My younger son is just starting the process, but he’s leaning towards going to go to CU in 2012, so he’ll have the extra money for graduate school. Tough decision; but your daughter is lucky to have such good choices - she really can’t go wrong. The COA figures from Cal Poly are good, but travel has been a much bigger expense than we figured.</p>
<p>One key thing is what your daughter likes about Cal Poly SLO – the Polytechnic or “hands on” approach to education. I do not know CU or how engineering is taught there. What I can do is compare it with the UC system in California which is first and foremost a system of research universities. My kid was accepted into the top tier UC’s (UCLA, UC San Diego, etc.) but chose Cal Poly SLO for the same reason your D like the school. What you will get at Cal Poly is a “theory in action” teaching style. That means you learn theory and then go to the lab to test it out and “learn by doing”. All classes are taught by actual professors never TA’s, classes are small (Classes in your major are no more than 30 and often 20 or less. General electives which can be up to 50-150 max with smaller break out sessions). Most classes have required labs and those are smaller than the classes.</p>
<p>At the UC’s what we get is much larger classes. Often taught primarily by TA’s. Far fewer labs and those have been cut in recent years even further. And basically a research and theory based education. Not that there is anything wrong with that situation but if the kid specifically wants to get his or her hands dirty like mine than Cal Poly is a far better choice. Additionally, Cal Poly has amazing opportunities for internships and jobs. Cal Poly has the highest average starting salaries of all California public universities including UCLA, UCSD and Berkeley. Keep in mind that most kids end up in California. It may be a bit more if a challenge to get your D back to Colorado if internships and jobs are here.</p>
<p>Living in Colorado should account for atleast part of the decision, unless money is not a factor. </p>
<p>I live in socal and have visited cu but never been to slo. My understanding is that slo is a lot like Colorado state an is quite different than cu. If your daughter is seriously considering and she’s not sure about the small(ish) town style I would definitely recommend visiting. </p>
<p>Paying out of state tuition would be a hefty price. Especially since California is so financially strapped. I’m currently transferring and will probably NOT attend a public California school because of this. I expect tuition to go up and the amount of classes to go down. I have friends at other cal states that are having difficulties getting classes and I do t want to deal with that. On the other hand slo is quite difficult to get into. I have a friend that had a 3.85 and got waitlisted to transfer. He ultimately chose to go to a private school in California. </p>
<p>If it were my decision I would go to boulder. I’m more of a city kid and I think boulder is beautiful. I was amazed at the campus when I visited and was planning on applying. I didn’t apply because I had already need admitted to a school that I thought I would be happier attending.</p>