Hi!
I am still waiting for other college decisions, but I am not sure how I should compare these colleges.
Here is what I got in for:
Cal Poly SLO - Aerospace Engineering
UCI - Applied Physics (switch to Aerospace Eng)
UCSB - Physics (switch to Electrical Eng)
I know that it may be difficult to change majors since engineering is restricted, but I would be ok with the listed majors if I am unable to switch.
Other info:
I am interested in SLO for its learn by doing motto and its appeal to employers. However, my mother is unsure about it since it is part of the CSU system rather than the UCs. Also, I am not sure if I would want to go to grad or med school afterwards, and I heard that UCs would have a better chance to do so.
I know about the criteria for changing majors…I am not sure if you’re understanding my question.
How do the schools’ engineering programs compare to each other?
CPSLO does include an introduction to engineering design course (AERO 215) in the second year, perhaps indicating a bit more emphasis on “learn by doing”. However, all engineering degree programs will include engineering design courses somewhere in the curriculum, as required by ABET accreditation standards.
All are respectable schools for engineering majors from an employment perspective. The UCs may be more favorable for research activity for pre-PhD students. However, a few CPSLO students do go on to PhD programs: https://careers.calpoly.edu/search.php
@ucbalumnus
Thanks! This is really helpful.
If you had to choose without considering financial circumstances, is there any one college you would choose out of personal preference?
I would choose SLO if your goal was to have a great engineering experience, internships, and career. I guess there is a cost savings and convenience of being able to walk to UCI from your home but from a growth perspective it would be good to go away and get the full college experience.
Even if you choose UCI, you may want to consider living on campus the first year if cost is not a huge problem (UCI financial aid may also adjust depending on living on campus versus commuting from parents). First year living on campus at a mainly residential school probably helps you better connect to other students and the school. For later years, you can then still have the option of living with your parents for cost or other reasons.
Putting aside the bias I have as the father who has a son that chose to go to Cal Poly for ME from out of state, I would still choose Cal Poly. Why? You were accepted to the major you want. There’s no risk of being locked out of a change of major.
Cal Poly is a CSU, but that in no way will hurt you. Their Aerospace program is very well respected. Aerospace at UCI is a combo department with ME and doesn’t offer concentration. AE started there in 1990. Cal Poly has a stand alone Aerospace department with a concentration in aeronautics or astronautics. It was founded in 1927 and has been ABET accredited since 1969.
There potentially is a difference in the “Learn by Doing” environment that can’t be easily sussed out by simply comparing curricula. This isn’t to say it can’t be this way at other schools, but every engineering course at Cal Poly has a lab. There are more than 80 dedicated labs in the department of engineering alone. These labs are not for PhD research, since CP does not offer doctoral degrees, but rather for undergraduate instruction.
There’s also a vibrant aerospace club scene at Poly. They list 11. CubeSat was founded at Cal Poly. Not only do they have a pico sat club, like UCI, but every academic and commercial CubeSat launched is loaded, tested and sent to the launch facility by CubeSat at Cal Poly.
If you haven’t visited them, I would.
As for medical school, I’d question your choice of UG major. It will only hinder your ability to get into medical school. Whether you choose AE or EE, there will be LOTS of prerequisites you won’t fulfill without taking extra classes. There won’t be much spare room in your curriculum. You’ll thus need to go more than 4 years. Worse yet, medical school admission is all about GPA and engineering is difficult even for the sharpest students.
The OP sounds like a kid that hasn’t really made any decisions about his future. “Maybe I want to be a doctor. Or an engineer, of some kind. Or these other majors would be ok too.” I completely emphasize with a HS kid that hasn’t figured it all out, but unfortunately its going to cause problems. If you haven’t decided by the end of 11th grade that you really want to be an engineer then the chances of making it, from what I’ve seen, is slim. The workload is high, and kids see their friends just as happy about their future but working a lot less in other majors. That’s why the engineering dropout rate nationally is 50% or more.
As for pre-med there is more leeway in doing this. It is compatible with any major (although easier with some since you’d be taking the dozen or so required classes anyway).
So my advice is to start figuring out what you want for your future now ather than waiting for it to come in the by and by. Start by figuring out health care careers this summer. The mention of “maybe med school” is a giveaway to limited thought about this, of “keeping my options open” at best. There are dozens of medical careers outside of being an M.D. Figure it out by getting a volunteer job in a hospital this summer. Experience in the field is an unofficial requirement for med school anyway, and a summer working with patients will tell you if it is right or not (as well as expose you to other healthcare careers other than M.D.)
Second, pick the school you’d want if you aren’t an engineering major. Maybe you’ll make it thru but given your ambivalence about engineering I’m thinking you’re more likely than not to be in the cohort that switches out. Sure, start college if it isn’t SLO with the intention of engineering, you have nothing to lose, but understand the odds are against it.
However, pre-med tends to require a much higher level of college academic achievement. An engineering graduate with a 3.1 GPA will probably be employable as an engineer (subject to varying economic and industry conditions, of course). But a pre-med student with a 3.1 GPA is very unlikely to get into any medical school.
^^^ agree. That’s why I suggested finding out before college starts if medicine is the direction the OP wants to go. However it is something amenable to deciding sophomore or junior year that you want to do, unlike engineering.
Its also why I didn’t push SLO. A 3.1 first year and you’re not changing majors into engineering at a UC. A 3.1 in engineering over 4 years or just the first, you’ll get a good job. For a kid that really wants to be an engineer there is one best choice here.
Thanks to all for your advice & reality check! Hopefully, I’ll have a firm decision by May 1st about my future…
@ucbalumnus I will definitely take into consideration your insight about UCI & med school. I would want to be in the dorms if that was financially possible for my first year. I want to do engineering undergrad because I would likely be more employable than a pre-med student if I did not want to go to grad/med school. (That is, of course, if I make sure my grades are up).
@eyemgh I was talking to my counselor and an interviewer about possibly going to med school after getting an engineering degree and they said it was very possible, though difficult. If I were to choose that path, I would really have to talk to my academic counselor in college and be sure to take the med school prereqs. I would be ok with taking more than 4 years to graduate, but I hope that I will know exactly what I want during my freshman-sophomore year of college.
How does your son enjoy Cal Poly? Is he still in school or did he graduate? Is he able to find time for internships or work? Is there an obvious lack of females in the engineering classes? (I’m a girl)
@badgolfer Yes, I am a kid who hasn’t made a firm decision yet. I really believe that I want to become an engineer, but my mom is uneasy about it since most of my engineering relatives are having a bit instability in the workforce. She would support me if I chose to become an engineer, but she feels being a doctor or pharmacist would have better job security. I always wanted to become an engineer and rejected the idea of going to med school, but recently (the past 1-2 years) I have become increasingly more open-minded towards the medical field due to my mom’s concerns and media influence.
I know that only I can decide what I want for the future, so I will definitely make the most of out the summer before college to figure out what exactly is for me.
@WiseSeaweed, he likes it quite a bit. He’s had an internship every summer since he started, albeit at a firm close to home doing something he won’t likely be doing for a career. He’s on the hunt for a “real” internship this summer. He is a third year, but pretty far ahead in his curriculum. He’s staying on to do the 4+1 graduate program and is taking his first graduate level class this spring.
As for M:F ratio, it’s about 3:1 in the CENG, but Engineers only make up about 25% of the whole school population. It isn’t like going to some place like Rose Hulman or Colorado School of Mines where the ratio for the whole school is 3:1.
If you decide engineering isn’t for you, Cal Poly is still a good option. Switching majors is difficult primarily because students are evaluated to see how they would have fared relative to the group accepted in the new major they want. In short, if you want Economics, would you have been admitted to Econ as a first time freshman? As an Aero, you’ll likely stack up very well relative to the cohort of any new major you choose. Admission to Aero is very selective.
Now, on to medical school. Below is the curriculum for Aerospace with an Aeronautics concentration. As you’ll see, and this is the case for most engineering degrees at Cal Poly, there are zero free electives. Every school requires a different set of prerequisites, but Chemistry, Biology, Biochemistry, Cell Bio, A&P, Statistics, etc. are frequently on the list. You will have to add a LOT of classes to meet that criterion.
I’m currently deciding between SDSU and UCI. Im having trouble deciding which one to choose. I have seen your comments based on UCI and i believe its totally correct. What would you say about SDSU though. SDSU offers a stand alone Aerospace program and also has a graduate program.
