I only have one kid in college so far so nothing to compare it to yet, but I can confirm that advising is subpar in general at UCLA. Our son entered undeclared and it has been hard to get through the process to get what he needs in terms of classes/bureaucratic support to finally declare into the Business Econ major at the end of his second year. You need to be prepared to use upperclassmen and others who know things to make your way at UCLA, and unless you make an effort you won’t necessarily have professors who know you at all. He seems ok with that, and he navigated a large HS well and is just continuing to apply and refine those skills. But yes, it’s competitive. Weeder classes are competitive and club acceptances are competitive, etc. Which might not be what works best for our D23 (who didn’t get into UCLA anyway but does have 4 other UCs to pick from thus far). Hence I’m in this thread contemplating all this great input.
That said our son wouldn’t trade UCLA for another school. He loves it, and the big sports rah rah campus piece is fantastic for those who want that. He’s in marching band and it’s amazing. I wouldn’t pick UCLA solely because they guarantee 4 years of housing (though that’s awesome!). Most students move off campus anyway after a couple of years.
Can you elaborate on that? Do you need to apply for club memberships at UCLA or other UCs? Is it all clubs or just some of them? Back in the dark ages when I went to college if you wanted to join a club you showed up and you were in.
For a number of clubs, yes there is an application process. I don’t know if that is everywhere, but I know it’s a thing at some UCs. Business clubs especially.
As an example, my niece wanted to join the Bruin Belles, a women’s’ service club at UCLA. The year she applied, only about 15% of applicants received club membership. She didn’t get in. She reapplied the next year, and still didn’t get in.
Are you sure people weren’t talking about SDSU having an issue with homeless people on campus? UCSD is in a very nice area and more removed from the city.
currently D23 considering SLO vs UC Davis (plus a few OOS flagships). I have been in CA for 20+ years now but didn’t grow up here. I now appreciate what SLO brings to the table, but my impression (happy to be corrected) is that outside of California (or maybe West Coast, maybe…) Cal Poly SLO is not as well known or appreciated. Whereas UC Davis, by nature of being one of the UCs, is more recognized. (still probably under-appreciated). I have no particular expectation my Daughter will stay in CA after undergrad, so, I do wonder about how the name carries for graduate school or jobs outside of California.
I would also ask if you’re sure people are talking about UCSD? I’m an alum of SDSU and a mom at CP SLO. There are definitely homeless people in downtown San Diego and San Luis Obispo, but not on campus at either CP or UCSD.
My son absolutely loved his UCLA visit. My husband seemed pretty happy with it too. We’ll all go back for Bruin day and tour the engineering department at that time. Right now, my son plans on talking with students that he knows at both UCLA and Cal Poly to get their input. He’s just enjoying taking it all in right now.
@eyemgh has covered the whole “individual statistics vs. bulk statistics” issue well, but I wanted to add a quick metaphor that might help cement why bulk statistics can be misleading.
I can state with almost near certainty that you, dear reader, have precisely one skeleton in your body.
But, because pregnant people exist and read CC, the average “number of skeletons per body” for all people reading this comment is (probably) going to be >1.
This has been a valuable thread. Our son is not an engineering or stem student. He is interested in journalism, history, political science, etc. He is potentially thinking about going to law school after undergrad. So, our question is - would you choose Cal Poly v. UCs or other state flagships if your child is thinking of going pre-law?
That is completely true. I mentioned it here on CC before, but D18’s friends and roommates at Michigan had not heard of Cal Poly SLO.
Also, several of the “Parents of the High School Class of 2021” had not heard of Cal Poly SLO either. The CA parents had to call out that it’s a CSU in San Luis Obispo.
However, there are a bunch of programs that are recognized in certain circles, like SLO’s Architecture/Landscape Architecture programs, very well-known around the US and the Animal Science program, which has a 3+4 program with the University of Edinburgh’s Vet School program, one of the top vet schools in the world, just to cite a couple of examples.
I honestly fall into that bucket - not knowing anything about CalPoly until my son started researching schools in CA. His dad lives in CA and knows the school well and speaks highly of its reputation in CA. But, on the east coast, it is an unknown …
What I’m trying to figure out is how his CalPoly undergrad degree would translate to a law school app - at least on the West Coast.
I guess the question though is does it matter if the experience, placement and salaries are all exceptional. there are lots of great schools that are off the radar. Who has heard of Harvey Mudd outside of CA? Olin? Rose-Hulman? And those are just focusing on engineering. Liberal arts opens up a bigger pool.
Well known schools tend to be big, with large doctoral programs, and/or athletic programs. That usually comes with significant issues, like giant classes, heavy reliance on TAs and administrative bureaucracy.
It’s important to know what one is getting into when following reputation.
If the student is a really top-end student in college, A+ grades may be possible if the college has them (CPSLO does not have A+ grades). For pre-law, it may be a slight advantage for such a student to attend a college where A+ grades are possible, because they are given a value of 4.33 for law school admission purposes. Obviously, you have to check other colleges under consideration about the grades that they have.
It looks like all UCs allow A+ grades, but all of them calculate A+ = 4.0 for their own GPA purposes. Note that +/- for UC college GPA calculations is worth +/- 0.3, but is worth +/- 0.33 for law school admission college GPA calculations (and the latter allows A+ = 4.33).
For example, if an outstanding student at a UC has 48 grades in 4 quarter unit courses, with 24 A and 24 A+ grades, the student would have a 4.0 college GPA for UC purposes. But the student would have a 4.165 college GPA for applying to law school.
