<p>l Poly: I got into the architectural engineering program, which is highly rated. The campus is in a pretty area only ten minutes from the ocean and I like SLO, but I am nervous that it is so inaccessible (as far as coming home to the Seattle area for holidays, etc.) Also, the size (18,000 undergrads) makes me nervous because I thought I wanted a small school.</p>
<p>Santa Clara: The school of engineering offers a civil engineering degree, which means I wouldn’t be taking quite as specific and interesting classes as at Cal Poly. However, SCU seemed to have an atmosphere of community service and using your education to benefit others, which I found really nice. The campus was beautiful, but San Jose was not a super great town (it seemed to be mostly Indian restaurants and strip malls) but it would be easy to fly home, and being in the middle of Silicon Valley would give me internship opportunities. Also, it is quite expensive.</p>
<p>University of Portland: I would get a civil engineering degree from here, so I would have to take classes in the areas of civil that I am less interested in. Portland is a great city and very accessible. Price-wise, UP and Cal Poly are pretty comparable, with UP being slightly less expensive because of scholarships.</p>
<p>What do you think?</p>
<p>Congrats on having 3 excellent choices.</p>
<p>Is money your primary concern? If so, UP being the least expensive might might be your best bet. It’s closer to home for you and you’d be likely to finish in 4 years.</p>
<p>It seems like you’ve visited all 3 schools. You’re right that Cal Poly isn’t very accessible from the Pacific Northwest. You could possibly fly into SLO (expensive) or fly to SJC and take the Amtrak bus (4 hours). You said you were concerned about the size. You’ll find that once you’re taking architecture classes, it’s going to feel a lot smaller because the College of Architecture and Env Design is one of the smaller colleges on campus. There are also many opportunities for internships as companies from all over California (and beyond) recruit heavily there. If your goal is an internship in Silicon Valley, you can easily find one as a Cal Poly student as long as your grades are good. One possible downside is taking longer than 4 years to graduate, which will increase the cost. The fees will probably continue to go up every year, but if you live off campus you can save quite a bit of money relative to the published COA.</p>
<p>Santa Clara U is very expensive and has limited merit aid. Did you really tour San Jose, or just the area along El Camino in Santa Clara? San Jose is a fairly vibrant city with concerts & Sharks games at the Arena, interesting restaurants, and some nightlife around the SJSU area. SCU is pretty close to the airport so easy to get to/from. If money is no object and your goal is to work in Silicon Valley, then SCU has a better reputation in the Bay Area than Univ of Portland, which is pretty much unknown here.</p>
<p>Univ of Portland - all I really know about it was that it seemed to have more religious study requirements than SCU and Seattle University (did you consider Seattle U?) so it came off my son’s list for that reason only.</p>
<p>Best of luck in your decision.</p>
<p>For architecture engineering it is going to be hard to beat a Cal Poly degree. </p>
<p>My daughter attends CP and we are also from the Seattle area. You may be placing too much emphasis on the travel logistics to Cal Poly. It does take a bit longer to fly home from SLO than San Jose. However, there are plenty of flights to Seattle on United via Los Angeles or San Francisco. It does add another 2 hours to the flight time. However, how often are you going to be doing this? In her first year my daughter came home for Thanksgiving, Christmas and Spring Break (and it will probably be less next year). Consider whether a few extra hours of flying should have much impact on your college decision. From a cost standpoint, a RT ticked from San Jose is going to run around $250. A RT from SLO to Seattle will run closer to $500. So, your extra travel costs are going to be less than $1000 for a year.</p>
<p>I agree with Mariner116. You just can’t beat a Cal Poly degree for engineering. My daughter is there and we are from out of state. I would not say it is easy to get her home, but it is SO worth it. Good luck in your decision.</p>
<p>Have you checked out the US News rankings? </p>
<p>[Best</a> Undergraduate Engineering Programs | Rankings | US News](<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/engineering-no-doctorate]Best”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/engineering-no-doctorate)</p>
<p>Mom to mom, could you please tell me your child’s admission stats fro ARCE? My son appled this year and I’ve got bit of knot in my stomach hoping he’ll get in! Thanks so much.</p>
<p>Cal Poly all the way. Yes, it will be harder to get home to Seattle, but you can get home when you need to. The program you got into is one of the best and among the hardest to get accepted at. Internships will be plentiful if you apply yourself as Cal Poly is well known in industry. My kid was concerned with 18,000 students, but all his concerns were laid to rest once he started school. The campus is easy to handle and it never feels overwhelming. There is a real “small community” feel to it.</p>