My son has been admitted to all three schools. He wants to major in aerospace or mechanical engineering. (Yes, I know it’s difficult to change majors at Cal Poly. He’s admitted to the aerospace major, hoping if he changed his mind, mechanical will accept him.) Because Cal Poly doesn’t offer a doctorate it’s ranking in U.S. News isn’t in comparison to the other two schools. Wondering if there are engineers out there familiar with these schools programs that would rank them for me, in their opinion. Also what school they would choose to attend if they had those choices all over again.
Are finances an issue?
Cal Poly is a GREAT school for engineering.
I will say…if your son isn’t absolutely sure what type of engineering he wants…he should pick a flexible school in terms of allowing switching. Don’t assume the school will allow a switch…ask that question very specifically before he matriculates
Here are some change major requirements, assuming that he is directly admitted to and engineering major.
http://www.changeofmajor.uci.edu/CoM_Engr.html
https://eadvise.calpoly.edu/majors/changing-majors-within-ceng/
If he is admitted to a division other than engineering, changing to an engineering major may be more difficult (including at USC).
If you have access to median SAT scores, that is one way to rank them on your own.
In my experience:
Cal Poly SLO
USC Eng
UC Irvine
Not that rankings in engineering really matter.
I’m currently in the last week of my stint at Cal Poly and I can answer any specific questions you might.
Quick Briefing on me and about the things that I can answer:
- Mechanical Engineering Super Senior
- Interned at Apple
- Elected twice to student government
- Started a club
- Won an international engineering design competition
- Currently deciding whether to attend Duke or Columbia for graduate school
- Came in on 1st Gen student scholarship and graded for the engineering department
USC is not worth the price, UCI is probably better for graduate school opportunity but weaker for job opportunity
@NLinsanity, why do you say USC is not worth the price? Very curious to know.
Salaries for graduates of these programs will be effectively the same. Opportunities for graduates of these programs will be different in specifics but the same in scope. The change-major information posted above for UCI and Cal Poly are pretty straightforward so I think your concerns in that area are addressed.
Given all this…I’d say go for the best price and best culture/academic fit.
USC is in it’s own league between those schools. Alumni network and engineering program at USC will open doors that the other schools can’t touch. You didn’t mention finances - is that a concern/factor? Your social circles will be established in college - and future connections, it is different pools and levels at each school. The connections out of a school like USC are far superior and their program is way more personal - no struggle for resources or classes. Private v. public is big difference. CP is run down and overcrowded, it is starting to show it’s age and budget struggles.
Son’s friend had to take summer classes cause during certain quarters could only get into 10 credit hours of relevant classes at CP. The graduated in 4 years, taking summer school every year. No thanks.
Son is an ME grad, thought he wanted aerospace e but changed his mind once he started taking classes. He always wanted to design aircraft and Cal Poly is known for that particular major, aero e. However, in case he wanted to do something else he didn’t want to be pigeon-holed in a very specific engineering. Hence the switch.
His first position was in a large manufacturing facility, and now his next position is an aircraft design engineer. And he feels his mech e degree really helps everyday.Engineering programs need to be ABET accredited so many programs are similar. His degree is from an in-state school (public).
Kat
IIIIIIII don’t agree with the assessment that USC is better can Cal Poly SLO. SLO is reaaaaally really exceptional for engineering. I’ve had many friends there who’ve done exceptionally well for themselves with the many resources that SLO provides.
@imjustthemom
Not overly intimate with SLO or UC-Irvine, beyond the tour and topline info.
D is doing ME at USC.
What she says:
Program is challenging but manageable
Resources are good (Viterbi is a bit of it’s own entity inside USC. We’ve found deans, etc. very approachable. She’s found advising very available and helpful.)
USC seems to go out of its way to pick “well rounded” engineers. Viterbi is about 40% female (among the highest for Eng. schools.) and it is pretty well integrated into the general student population. Some of her female friends from HS doing engineering at other schools have complained a bit about the engineers being a bit “tunnel-visioned” and the engineering departments being too male-dominated and segregated from LibArts and other schools.
D likes that USC has a 5 year progressive ME Masters, fwiw.
USC without aid is very pricey. “Sticker Price” with Room and Board (full, unlimited swipe meal plan) before out-of-pocket will be about 75k a year.
Don’t know yet how job/grad school search will play out.
I would say, from my discussions while she was choosing, Cal-Poly and USC are pretty comprable in terms of how Eng. professionals view the program. UCIrvine is well respected too (and with engineering GPA and EC/internships seem more important than schools in the 20-75 ranked range in terms of jobs. Grad schools will be all GPA.)
Irvine and SC have a reasonably similar location.
SLO obviously is a bit different.
I’d choose by $$.
Our S is a USC engineering grad. We didn’t apply to other Cal schools as we were out of state. (We liked the generous merit $$$ USC gave our S). I can say that Viterbi at USC has A LOT of resources and also has I believe the highest % of females. They had engineering career fairs all the time and encouraged freshmen and everyone to attend from fall term.
They did offer engineers the option (if their grades were high enough) to apply to get a 5th year masters in engineering or apply to the PhD program (our S wasn’t interested so we dint know details).
We were happy with the experience our S had at USC–more importantly, HE was happy. He had good guidance and some flexibility. He was able to research for a prof in engineering on campus even tho he had no work study. He also founded a club and co-wrote a paper on geology and some engineering papers as an undergrad. He had friends in other majors and was able to socialize with them. It is convenient to LAX and at the end of the light rail, plus on the bus system.
@herewego3
USC is not worth the price because you have to consider what the goal as an undergraduate students is. If you’re looking for job placement and salary numbers, Cal Poly engineering will blow USC engineering out of the water by sheer proximity to Silicon Valley and focus on employment throughout school (we had 80 interns from Cal Poly the summer that I was at Apple). I can also guarantee Cal Poly provides innumerable, modern resources and labs for the engineering department (at a cost to the rest of the university). UCI will provide the same job opportunities due to their proximity to LA as well as a myriad more of research opportunities for the students interested in graduate school.
Cal Poly - 22k/year
UCI -32k/year
USC. -75k/year
No school owns Silicon Valley, including UCB and Stanford. Don’t let that buzz word interfering with the decision. I am tired of hearing “Apple only hires San Jose State University graduates”,… Take it with a ton of salt.