Cal Poly vs Colorado SOM vs Univ of Utah for materials engineering

College Search & Selection
1

First time posting. Looking forward to everyone’s advice!

My B18 has been admitted to the U of U (in state) with a full scholarship for tuition but not room and board. He has also been accepted to Colorado SOM, Cal Poly, UC Davis, and waiting to hear from UC Santa Barbara and U of Michigan. The U of U is a great school but we would love him to experience life and culture outside of Utah and get the full college experience as the U of U is very much a commuter school. It is also practically in our backyard and he knows it well. We are waiting to hear about financial aid but don’t expect much from California schools, maybe merit? He received a merit scholarship from Colorado SOM but it’s still quite expensive for OOS tuition. We will pay 1/2 of his college costs and he has to cover the rest so it is a big decision for him. He’s a sensible kid and is leaning towards the U of U. He visited Colorado SOM last summer and it was his top choice at the time. He will be visiting Cal Poly and UC Davis at the end of the month if things work out. He is a materials engineering major at this time. I would hate to have him miss out on one of these OOS schools if there is a big difference in the education he would get vs the U of U. Cal Poly looks like it would be a very fun location to go to school. Thanks all in advance.

2

Four great acceptances!! Congrats to your student.

If he’s sensible financially and has heard the horror stories on debt, then he’s going to choose U of U. I get the trepidation for sure if it’s truly a commuter school. Some have said that and others said it’s much less so than past times.

Unfortunately, he’s not going to get merit from these schools - other than some small things, the likelihood is very slim - but that’s known up front before one applies (or should be known). Mines used to go up to $16K but it’s less now - I believe up to $10K.

To get “affordability” you have to apply to the right schools. At this late stage, there’s two I can think of. Not sure if his UW GPA is 3.9 or above, but if so, you can still apply to Arizona.

Their auto merit with a 3.9 or better UW would be about $20K-22K a year after merit for tuition, room and board. If a 4.0, $16-18K.

Below a 3.9, it becomes more expensive.

The other option - did he take an ACT/SAT - with a 32, he could score a great deal at Alabama. No, it’s not the West but he can be OOS and go dirt cheap. My son’s GF is in the metallurgical engineering program there which is their version. A 3.5 with either 30 or 32 ACT will make it cheap. Bama gives an extra $2500 in engineering (or they did) with a 30 ACT.

See the two links - both can still be applied to. Bama - if you took the test - will be easier to get bigger $$.

I point these out - not to give him more choice - but it’s a way to balance affordability with the out of state option. In other words, they would have been better in the initial consideration set - if merit was what is desired.

Good luck.

PS - I’d add if he’s interested in smaller (i.e. Mines), UAH is another to look at - they have Materials and if interested in aerospace companies, they are well connected.

Out-of-State Freshman Scholarships – Scholarships | The University of Alabama (ua.edu)

2022-2023 Incoming First-Year and Transfer Tuition Scholarship Awards | Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid (arizona.edu)

1 Like
3

Thank you. I will let him know your information. He wanted to stay west of the Rockies geographically but we have family in Michigan so he applied to U of M also.

4

U of M very expensive.

UCs very expensive.

They’re going to support the in-state kids.

U of Arizona is West of the rockies - and only uses UW GPA. You’ll have missed the Honors deadline but…

Good luck

Did you look at WUE? Not sure if it’s too late - there are 7 schools - you pay 150% of in-state i think:

Metro State Denver
Boise State
Idaho
Nevada Reno
New Mexico School of Mining (their Mines but in the middle of nowhere).
Washington State

You might also look at SD School of Mines…Western enough…but not WUE. The U is WUE but that would help non-Utah students.

WUE Savings Finder - WICHE

5

UofU is an ABET accredited program so he’ll be taking about the same classes he would anywhere else. Outside of the tippy-top schools (Caltech, MIT, etc) engineering grads are viewed as similar by employers. If I was making the decision I’d choose UofU. I don’t see the point of going into debt to get the same education.

As for fun, well there’s no disputing going to school on the beach (UCSB) or in a small college town (such as Cal Poly) could be more enjoyable that a commuter school. He has to make the decision of whether it’s worth it. He could live in the dorms frosh year to meet people and feel more involved with the school. Also he needs to realize the workload of engineering. Assuming he sticks with it he will be spending most weeknights studying as well as plenty of time on the weekend. The amount of fun compared to other majors with more free time is a lot less! As adults we’ve gone to Europe and other places and don’t spend $20K per year on our trips; I wouldn’t spend that kind of money at age 18 to go to college at a more “fun” place.

edit: ABET link is Materials Science ABET Accreditation - Materials Science & Engineering

2 Likes
6

My son is a Cal poly alum (BS/MS ME) from out of state. He loved the experience. It’s a great engineering school in an idyllic location.

That said, he agonized between CP and The U until two days before the acceptance deadline. He got a great scholarship from out of state and is an avid skier. The MUSS is crazy cool, and from what we gathered, the students who remain on campus, roughly 10,000, become a tight knit group. The engineering program is strong. The dorms are unparalleled (maybe the new CP dorms rival them now). There is a LOT to like about The U. If he goes there, just have him live in the dorms and try to replicate the experience that students from other cities are living.

There will be minimal to no money from the CA publics. My son, for comparative purposes, got $8K from Cal Poly and $100K from Case. UCSB will be even more expensive.

Of the two CA options, I’d pick Cal Poly everyday. The classes are smaller, they don’t use TAs, and it’s cheaper. Plus, Mustang families are supposed to talk smack about Gauchos. I still think it would be hard to recommend any school over the opportunity he has at Utah.

Feel free to PM me if you have any Cal Poly questions.

3 Likes
7

Everybody loves Colorado school of mines. Great school. We looked at the computer science programs they offer. They already have classes aligned for students concentrating on CS and robotics, CS and business, etc. Kids are nerdy and quirky. Golden seems a great charming city. We were so excited until we found out the cost as OSS. I asked around parents of students going there. Some students applied so many outside scholarships, and they somehow manage to pay the tuition. My son probably fit there perfectly, but doe to the finance, he decided to go to UCSD. Since we are local, we noticed that there are so much benefits being close to the school. We can see him every weekend. If he needs any help we are always nearby.

8

I can’t agree. Have they addressed their suicides yet? If they have, GREAT! If they haven’t…it’s a problem.

9

He was interested in Colorado State as they are part of WICHE but now thinks it isn’t much different than the U of U.

10

Ah, the workload of engineering is something he/we probably haven’t thought about. He is in an IB program at our local HS and it has definitely been demanding preparing him for college but every college program is unique and different. More to think about, thank you. As for fun, proximity to the ocean would be a very different opportunity for him to explore and enjoy from the mountains where we are, but both locations are pretty wonderful. The U of U being an ABET accredited program is a plus and knowing employers view them similarly is good to know. Do these different schools have different ‘connections’ to employing companies once students graduate and/or for job fairs? It’s all new to me. Thanks.

11

YES, it’s important to realize they are DIFFERENT connections. There’s no doubt that my son would not be in the position he’s in had he not been at Cal Poly. There’s also no doubt that opportunities for students at The U were not presented to him as a student at CP. The opportunities at all schools will be good, but will be different.

12

You can’t just focus only on the suicide rate. For instance, if you search the happiest colleges, let’s say WashU comes up. At the same time the most stressful colleges, WashU comes up. On the other hand I know that Caltech or MIT are very stressful, but somehow kids with mental health transfer to other schools. So Caltech doesn’t get the bad review if the kids commit suicide after they left the school.

13

Not only. But if there are many it has to be a consideration. I didn’t know about CSM. But for example any parent sending their kid to WPI needs to take note and understand if it will be an appropriate environment for their student.

No one plans for this for sure.

1 Like
14

Congratulations to your son on the excellent acceptances he has received so far! As others have mentioned, the California publics give very little aid to out-of-state students. Same with Michigan. So, in all likelihood, you’re looking at the sticker price for those schools.

Has your son been accepted to Utah’s honors program? It has an excellent reputation and might mitigate some of the “commuter” aspects of the univesity, and living on-campus would also aid with that as well.

You may be interested in this thread to get a sense of how others have felt about going to college in their hometown: Going to college in one's own hometown?

15

The honors dorm is amazing as well. The biggest issue with honors at The U for engineers though is the curriculum. Classes aren’t replaced, but instead added to an already deep load. If I recall correctly, it’s about 10 hours.

2 Likes
16

That pretty much puts any college with a net price over about $20k out of his budget ($5.5k direct loan + some work earnings to cover his share which could realistically be up to about $10k). Beyond that would require parent loans or parent-cosigned loans.

If you want him to experience one of the out-of-state schools that is likely to be more expensive, you may have to put up more money for that.

2 Likes
17

One rule of thumb is it takes 6-10 hours per week outside of class (studying, homework, practice problems, etc) for each STEM class. It quickly adds up to a fulltime job. You can tell kids that, they won’t believe you until they’re in it.

As for employers, it’s easier to recruit regionally when its a drive or short flight away so that’s probably where the majority of on-campus recruiters come from. The flip side, though, is that with the web and Zoom its easier than ever for a student to find employers, apply online, and have a screening interview. A key, then as now, is to get an internship summer after junior year. Do well and it’s a sure bet of a job offer, and other employers like to see a student has seen the real side of industry.

18

Congrats on this excellent field of study - lots of fascinating things to learn about.

If he hasn’t already considered this, there may be some important differences at each school in terms of curriculum. Cal Poly is a Materials Engineering major, while schools like UC Davis and U of U are MSE (MatSci & Eng). The addition of the “science” side implies spending more time on the what and why a material behaves a certain way before getting to the application (engineering) of those concepts. I recommend he drill down into the course descriptions to see what grabs him.

Also, the MSE side in particular can naturally lead to graduate school. If he may be interested in that, that is another point for taking the lower-cost approach to undergrad.

1 Like
19

One other plus for UofU is that, like many schools these days, it offers a 5-year BS/MS program. See Materials Science BS/MS Program of Study – Materials Science & Engineering

I don’t know about Materials Science but in many fields like EE or ME a person with a BS is plenty employable. It can be worth an extra year in these fields to gain additional expertise, though. The first 2 years of college are largely math & science, the second two allow a specialization although ABET requirements mean you’ll have to take courses in many areas of the major. So that MS year can really deliver additional skills.

2 Likes
20

It delivers additional depth and/or breadth, but it also typically results in a significant salary bump that will follow someone throughout their whole career.

2 Likes