<p>I'm a transfer student majoring in Mechanical Engineering and these are my main two schools that I got accepted to for this upcoming Fall: Cal Poly SLO or UC Berkeley</p>
<p>I've visited both campuses many times and they both have a decent environment so I'm not too worried about the "college atmosphere" I'm mostly focusing on which one will better prepare me career-wise. </p>
<p>I've heard mixed results in terms of which one is a better Engineering school for various majors and career choices. For me, I plan on developing a career in industry working for an actual company since academia research is not really my thing. This has caused me to lean towards Cal Poly as the better choice since UC Berkeley is mostly a research school. Also, after speaking with undergrad students from each school, I've been told from students at Berkeley that the undergrad program at Berkeley really sucks. It appears that they focus all of their attention on their grad students leaving the undergrads behind on their own. Cal Poly on the other hand has a decent undergrad program with good professors.</p>
<p>So in conclusion, I have came up with the idea of getting my BS in ME from Cal Poly and later go to Grad school at Berkeley to get a Masters. Does this sound like a smart idea? Is there really any benefit in going to Berkeley as an undergrad if I plan on getting a Masters there anyways? I don't know if it'll necessarily be easier to get into Berkeley's Grad school with a BS from Berkeley either. Any comments?</p>
<p>Does Cal Poly prepare you for a masters program? That is what I would want to know, and I don’t. I know between Cal Poly and UCSB I’d choose UCSB but I do understand the emphasis on the grad student issue which UC Berkeley seems to have and which UCSB doesn’t have. (I note TAs can actually teach courses, not just run sections, at UCBerkeley. On the other hand UCB is unlikely to hold that against you when you apply to UCB for a masters.) I would look into that aspect. UCSB prepares people for grad programs, as I understand it, better than Cal Poly does. That is just from what I have consistently read, not from personal experience. But before you write UCB off, I would make sure the University you want to attend for grad school will think you are sufficiently prepared by your undergraduate program. Perhaps you could ask the people at Cal Poly how many are accepted to grad programs and where they go, or something. Both are good schools, obviously.</p>
<p>I’d be inclined to say Berkeley. It’s got the strong reputation, stronger even than Cal Poly’s. Berkeley’s engineering is generally considered to be one of the world’s strongest.</p>
<p>@collegevetting: Thanks for the insight. I’m sure UC’s do a better job of preparing students for Grad School than the CSUs in general since they emphasis on research. I checked online to see the percentage of ME students from Cal Poly who have gone to Grad School in comparison with Berkeley and Berkeley’s is slightly higher, but not by much. I have personally met a couple engineers from Cal Poly who have gone to top-notch Grad Schools like Berkeley and Stanford. Either way I’ll do a bit more research on it.</p>
<p>@CultClassic: I thought the same thing too since people make a big deal about Berkeley’s reputation, but after talking with some of their undergrad students, they told me it’s really not that big of a deal as people portray it to be, specifically their undergrad program. Their Grad program is good, but due to budget cuts in the California School system, I heard their undergrad program has token a huge toll to the point where it just sucks. I’m sure all schools are affected by this, not just UCB, by it looks like UCB is the one who is greatly being impacted by it.</p>
<p>To put it in simple terms, I would be interested in going to UCB, but after talking with actual students who are currently attending each school and students who have just recently graduated from each school, it appears that Cal Poly is the safer option for undergrad. UCB seems like a sink or swim school. Cal Poly I know for sure I can get a good job right after graduation, even though my Grad school options may not be as great.</p>
<p>I still have a few days to decide so hopefully I can get some more insight from people on this thread.</p>
<p>For monetary reasons Id say go to Poly first then UCB. If you’re a good student, you’ll do well regardless where you go (neither are bad schools). For ranking, in terms of engineering, both are great schools and appropriately ranked very high. And they are both ABET accredited, doesn’t give either school an edge. Cal Poly is known for their hands on program, but I’ve heard those skills are taught within the first few weeks upon employment in the industry. Alternatively, UCB is a research school, but how many undergrads actually get to do research. I asked my cousin who attends UCB (graduated undergrad and 2nd year post grad) and a low percentage of undergrads actually do research.</p>
<p>He continued to say your undergrad isn’t as big as a factor as people say. His gf (who’s 1st year post grad) came from UC merced. Even with grade inflation etc…, a high gpa is a high gpa. Do well in your school, but more importantly learn the material. UCB isn’t going to hold your hand and teach you stuff you are supposed to have learned in undergad. </p>
<p>Also he said grad school for engineers is free (if you do it right) so try to minimize your debt as an undergrad. You learn the same stuff anyway. </p>
<p>@ninjex, thanks for the reply. Surprisingly, Cal Poly is a bit more expensive than UCB for me but it is only by a couple thousand. Also for grad school, I’ve heard many people say it can be completely free. How exactly do you do this? I’ve heard some people say it’s through the school and I’ve heard others say you can work for a company for a couple of years and if they think you are good enough they will pay for most if not all of your grad school.</p>
<p>Scholarships, fellowships and grants mostly. If you apply early enough and/or make connections schools may be offering you fellowships to go to school. Of course there are stipulations. For my cousin, he has to TA between 10-20 hrs a week (total) in lab and discussion, but requirements vary by fellowship. In some cases a company will pay if you work xamount of time for them after graduation. He says its more money, but it can have stricter requirements, so choose carefully. </p>
<p>Thanks for the update you guys. I’ve been considering the option of having a company pay for it since I heard some companies prefer to pay their engineers to go to grad school since it helps both the employer and employee see what degree would be the best fit for the company whether it be Masters or MBA (since some engineers chose to go into the business side of industry). I know it has stricter requirements so I’ll make sure I do it with a company that I can imagine myself working for them for years to come.</p>
<p>Also, I know we got a bit off topic talking about grad school, one question that popped in my mind is: Since I plan on working in industry for a good 2-3 years after getting my BS (regardless of which school I go to for undergrad) will I have a pretty good chance of getting into a top-notch grad school like UCB, Cal-Tech, or Stanford? </p>
<p>I know there’s a lot of factors in Grad School admission, so I don’t expect you guys to magically know exactly what my chances are. I just want to know if having prior work experience will give me a bigger advantage, assuming I maintain at least a 3.5 GPA for undergrad and have decent letters of rec. Note that I don’t plan on getting a PhD in engineering. I only plan on either getting a Masters or MBA, depending on which one I decide later on.</p>
<p>If you think you can get the same gpa (or close) at both schools, I think Cal would carry more weight when applying for grad school. I don’t think Cal Poly is THAT much easier that you’ll have a significantly higher gpa, but I could be wrong. Just another thing to think about …</p>
<p>If you can keep an A average GPA as an engineer, more power to you. You shouldn’t have any problem getting a top school. </p>
<p>In some cases though, the company may want you to enroll in the local university, so you can work for them still while getting your degree. It’s not a large challenge considering more firms are in major cities, but if you work in LA, you may be more likely to get your degree from UCLA (still a top engineering school) rather than school from norcal. </p>
<p>SLO will not hold you back. I think your intuition is correct regarding the atmosphere at Cal, so I would go to SLO if I were you. if you work in SoCal, USC, UCLA, Caltech are possibilities for MS. But if you work in Northern Cal, Stanford is a possibility. There are not that many companies near UCB but that might have changed. If your company pays for it, why go to UCB. Stanford is better alternative.</p>
<p>@DrGoogle, lol, that’s what I was thinking too. I would definitely choose Stanford over UCB for MS. UCB will just be my back up grad school in case I don’t get into Stanford for whatever reason.
Also, judging from your username, do you work for Google? If so, that’s really cool. I’ve always wanted to learn more about the silicon valley area and the various career opportunities available.</p>
<p>No, I don’t work for Google. Funny, a lot of people ask the same question. But you can go on the company’s website and look at all the career options, for example, Google has tons of options.</p>