posting in both CalPoly SLO and UCSD forums
Hello all 
I am super torn between attending UCSD and Cal Poly, I’ve already been accepted into both, UCSD for biology and Cal Poly for biochemistry. I’ve toured both and loved the UCSD campus, however it is so hard to beat the atmosphere from Cal Poly - everyone was so genuine and friendly and active! I’m concerned about the “socially dead” aspect of San Diego. I’m into all the outdoorsy stuff: surfing, running. snowboarding, hiking, the works. I know it’s hard to beat the academic program of UCSD, but I’ve heard of many of the Cal Poly engineers switching to biochemistry as that it becoming a very increasingly competitive major! There’s also the “learn by doing” at CalPoly vs the theoretics taught at UCs. How do they stack up against each other otherwise? Would I be particularly dumb to pick one over the other? Cost is not a significant factor between the two. What are your guys’ experiences with the two?
Thank you so so so much!
Do you want to be a biologist or a biochemist? Very different. If your goal is medical school, stay away from UCSD. They have a terrible track record of placing students into med school, only about 1 in 3.
My D is in the same situation. She was so sure of attending UCSD that we canceled our reservations for Open House and only went to Triton Day yesterday. Spoke to profs and advisers. Without going into details of the conversation and the presentation we attended for her major, we found their program is too theoretical. Now here we are at the Quality Suites in SLO going to do a tour tomorrow with the department. This is definitely not the type of campus she is expecting, basically nothing around but the university. It’s definitely not La Jolla, but my suggestions and advice to her is this very important decision maker. Go to UCSD and expect to go 6 years with a masters before employers will even consider you or 4 at SLO already knowing your job. The only concern for me as a parent is safety. I know I am being paranoid but the Men’s Colony being so near scares me.
I think the last recorded escape from the colony was in 2009, and even then there he was apprehended without incident in Fresno.
Having lived in both San Diego and SLO I would consider SLO a much safer place to live. Students won’t just stay in La Jolla, San Diego is a large city near the Mexican border. I know as a college student my friends and I spent our time partying in Tijuana because we didn’t need to be 21, I know this still goes on. As a mom, safety in SLO is a non issue for me. My daughter is also accepted and considering Cal Poly.
I know people who’ve gone from Cal Poly to UCSD and they agree that Cal Poly has the best atmosphere hands down. You can do all of those things you just mentioned very easily at Cal Poly, or SLO in general.
Surfing - Incredible beaches nearby within a 10 minute drive and you won’t have to fight the crowds and parking that you would in San Diego.
Snowboarding - You’re closer to the best snowboarding than you would be in San Diego. There’s a ski club that puts on great trips all the time to places like Mammoth and Tahoe.
Hiking - You probably wouldn’t have time in your 4 years here to hit all of the beautiful trails and peaks in the area.
Running - On Saturday’s I would drive 15 minutes to Grover Beach and run the length of the beach to Shell Beach on the north side. Get the beach and running in with one trip!
@OrangeMom28
“basically nothing around but the university…” In terms of what, just cities? IMHO this is the best place to live in California, everything that people love about California is all very close by. No, there won’t be a huge city but SLO has all of the amenities and a great nightlife. Plus, little traffic.
“Men’s Colony being so near scares me.” Yes, you’re being paranoid. I’ve never looked into incidents with that but I can almost guarantee you that your concern would be better placed with being struck by lightning. SLO is so incredibly safe that it’s laughable to me, having grown up in San Bernardino area, when I see the city urging residents to lock their car doors or homes. The majority of the crime seems to be theft and the majority of the theft is from unlocked cars!!
Thank you for all your feedback!! I really appreciate it!