Cal Poly SLO & Pomona, Cal, UCSD, UCSB or UCLA?

College Search & Selection
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<p>Speaking as a person who currently works as senior level management at a technology multi-national corporation, I have worked as an electrical engineering design architect in the past and as division level manager. I have to beg to differ with what was related to the OP by the chair of CPP Engr. tech department that Engr. tech is a full fledged engineering degree.</p>

<p>My firm routinely hires (when the global economy is not melting down) hundreds (to even thousands) of engineers (mostly EE, CS, CPE, ME, IE) all over the US and globe annually. And I have been directly involved with numerous of these hirings. Of all these hirings, I don’t think my firm has ever purposely recruited an engineering technology graduate or have I ever explicitly requested an engineering tech graduate to a position. Our initial screening process for entry level engineering posts usually involves looking at candidates’ majors (BS/MS/Phd engineering degrees), GPAs, school they come from, and level of industry experience like internships, co-ops, and research papers (if Phds). </p>

<p>The reason for us is simple, we want engineering degree graduates when hiring for engineering positions, and nothing else. For the CPP chair to misrepresent engineering tech degree as an engineering degree is simply misleading and even disingenuous. I have came across engineering technology graduates’ CVs from time to time, but we never seriously pursued them because we have plenty of graduates with engineering degrees to recruit.</p>

<p>Also, one needs to ask simply, why most of the top engineering schools have no engineering tech degrees? Even Cal Poly SLO, which once had engineering tech. major phased it out, and is now pure engineering focused. I suspect it is because of industry feedback to Cal Poly SLO on their hiring needs.</p>

<p>Lastly, I understand university tuition is outrageously expensive and can be a huge drain on parents. I think going to a school Cal Poly SLO is a very prudent choice. It is an outstanding engineering education at a substantially superior price. And its graduates’ salary is on par with the top 3 public universities in the US (I think Cal Poly is number 3 or something). </p>

<p>But it also needs to be said that going to a school such as Harvey Mudd affords its graduates highly selective professional opportunities that are not open to CPSLO graduates. HM’s graduates also have one of highest starting/mid-career salary of ALL US universities (HM is up there with Dartmouth, Princeton, and Harvard). So you do get what you paid for in terms of professional development value and opportunities (to a limit).</p>

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<p>Cal Poly Pomona’s engineering is certainly superior that that of bottom University of California campuses (Merced, Santa Cruz and Riverside). Some departments are at-par with Davis, Irvine and Santa Barbara. Specifically mechanical and civil are highly ranked on US News, et al. However, engineering technology is commonly seen as “lesser” than engineering, despite being ABET accredited. This is because engineering technology leads to jobs that are for technicians and NOT engineers. There is no EIT for engineering technology. If your son want to do cool stuff upon graduation, I would encourage him to switch to a typical engineering field (Aerospace, Mechanical, Civil, etc…)</p>

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<p>Thanks for all your thoughtful comments. Please keep them coming. I have learned so much and it is very much appreciated.</p>

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<p>I’m a competitive student. I love math, science, computers, programing, have a machine dual booting Gentoo and Windows 7 on an Alienware that I got dirt cheap on Craigslist.</p>

<p>I also want to go to Cal Poly Pomona for civil engineering.</p>

<p>First, my mom and dad work their butts off and struggle making house payments, my brothers, etc. I could get into the UCs as well, but I don’t want to worry them with money matters.</p>

<p>If I go to Cal Poly Pomona, I could live on campus and it’s exactly the same price as paying only for tuition at a UC school. Cal Poly SLO is another CSU that has an excellent reputation, but the remote (and expensive) location are no of my liking.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

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<p>CEinCali – great comment. I am very proud that there are young folks like you that really care about their families and acknowledge their parents hard work to make ends meet. My son did express that cost was a factor in choosing CPP. He wants to be as little of a burden on us as possible. Your reasons to want to go to CPP are admirable and I wish you the best of luck too. After all CPP is rated 11th in the nation of all public and private undergrad engineering schools that do not offer a PhD and it is ranked 5th nationally among the public schools. CPP is absolutely no slouch and we should be grateful that he was already accepted so early in the game. I just don’t want him to be too concerned with cost even though it is part of a good fit. There are also personal reasons why he wants CPP over SLO. Like you he feels SLO is very remote. He also wants to be close to family and importantly his longtime girlfriend who is going to college locally. I should feel honored that he wants to stay close to home. I just don’t want him held back because of us.</p>

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<p>My kid just got into Cal Poly SLO for General Engineering. Seems like a good major as they allow you to build your own curricula.</p>

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<p>

I’m not sure it is a limit issue as much as one of category. Harvey Mudd students enter HM with ave. 1485 CR+M SAT scores, identical to H/Y/P and second in the country only to Caltech. Is HM <em>creating</em> great engineers, or simply safe harboring them while they create themselves?</p>

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<p>Congrats to your son on his Cal Poly SLO acceptance, OsakaDad.</p>

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<p>Thanks vballmom! I was surprised to hear from them so soon. They said that results would not be posted until late March or April. He got in on Feb 17th. Now it is up to him to choose… I hope that I can keep my mouth shut and allow him to make his own decision. I prefer SLO over all the schools he applied to.</p>

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<p>My son has been accepted at Cal Poly Pomona in the E&CET program. He is a hands on guy. We built a small workshop in our garage after I bought a Nerd Kit for him. He has done some C programming and controlled motors and sensors. We visited CPP and talked with the professors who welcomed us and described the program.</p>

<p>That being said we also visited UC Irvine and were brushed off by a haughty EE professor. My son was turned off.</p>

<p>I think CPP is under rated by the UC academia. Granted Pomona is no Santa Barbara but CPP provides a place for practical learning. </p>

<p>Thanks OsakaDad…how is your son doing since 2011?</p>