<p>Trying to decide between these two schools… any thoughts? Cal Poly wants a declared major (which may be hard to change later on) - UCI has lots of flexibility in choosing an engineering major. Cal Poly is a nice campus but out in the stix - UCI is more suburban. I have heard it said that Cal Poly is more focused on job training while UCI is more research oriented. My list of positives for both schools far outweights the negatives, but I still can’t decide. Help!!!</p>
<p>have you visited both campuses yet?</p>
<p>At irvine youll be surrounded by asians and at cal poly youll be surrounded by white people, if that matters to you.</p>
<p>Also, Irvine is a commuter school. Cal Poly isn't really out in the stix, it's a college town. It's not exactly that close to a city, but LA is only about three hours away if you get desperate. Cal Poly's enginneering is highly recruited from, and harder to get into, than UCI's.</p>
<p>I say definately SLO. for one, SLO is harder to get into. another point you might want to consider is the fact that SLO has a better reputation than UCI, which is known to some asians as a backup school.</p>
<p>I disagree, I think UCI has a better reputation and is harder to get into than SLO. Except maybe for engineering.</p>
<p>ummm, uci vs cal poly? for liberal arts def pick uci, but for other fields cal poly is known to compete for applicants with ucd, ucsd, ucla, ucb, and usc. does this even matter? reputation for alumni, as far as undergraduate education goes, depends on the internships you get. these count the most when it comes to getting a job. firms are not ignorant to the practices of large universities when dealing with undergraduate students. they know youre experience comes from applying the material gained in your TA taught classes. cal poly doesnt really have TAs, but im sure a large number of their professors are comparable to TAs at berkeley, la or san diego. what it comes down to is your ability to get connections and truly apply and dedicate yourself to the concentration of choice at the university you feel most comfortable. yeah it sucks, having to fight through high school to get to a university where you have to fight even harder for a job. no matter what school you choose, whether it be harvard or chico state... you cant escape the struggle.</p>
<p>both uci and cal poly are excellent schools. engineering, architecture, business, any technical major considered, is definately cal poly. anything else id go with irvine. </p>
<p>however im sick and tired of hearing about prestige this and prestige that. any of the mid tier UC's, davis, sb, irvine, and cal poly slo are all reputable. the 'wow' factor really depends on the perception of the employer. many people out there believe davis is elite, others think ucsb produces party animals, others feel cal poly ships out the most well prepared undergrads out there, its all perception. you really cant go wrong choosing any of these schools. now if your comparing uc berkeley, or ucla grads with these mid tier uc's and cal poly, of course the berkeley and la grads look more attractive, but between the middle tier uc's and cal poly its all perception.</p>
<p>what really counts is how involved you get into your field of study, internships, programs, these types of things seperate you from the rest.</p>
<p>now if i were you id visit both campuses and get an idea of where you want to spend what could be the most important, fun, crazy, 4 years of your life. forget about the prestige for a second and try to consider the funner things. in my honesnt opinion cal poly wins hands down.</p>
<p>Being a Graduate at Cal Poly and having a lot of knowledge about UCI where my mom is a Prof., Cal Poly has the edge and is, overall, a more difficult college to get in to than UCI in terms of admissions percentage, which was 43% as of 2006. This admissions percent is lower at Cal Poly (I believe Irvine's percent is somewhere in the neighborhood of 60 percent; very respectiful); thus, more applicants are denied entry at Cal Poly than at Irvine. This suggests in very simple terms that Cal Poly is a more desired school, which often speaks to reputation. For technical programs, such as engineering, Cal Poly is one of the finest schools in the nation and is recgognized as such in any leading college guide publication. However, Irvine is also extremely competitive and has a very highly regarded engineering program. Also, Irvine has the "UC" badge that seperates it as an elite college worlwide. Cal Poly has a beautiful mid-size Campus in a rural setting surrounded by rolling hills and is adjacent to the charming downtown of SLO. Irvine is a huge sprawling campus amongst the heart of the big-city feel of Orange County. These were very important factors for my choice of colleges. As far as reputation for both schools? Both have excellent academic reputations with leading faculty who have outstanding academic credentials. Visit both campuses if you can and you can't lose no matter which college you choose.</p>
<p>UCI has a high admission rate this year because it is attempting to expand. UC Davis had an admission rate of 69%, same deal for them. Admission percentages doesn't always accurately reflect selectivity.</p>
<p>To the OP, your choice of which school to attend comes down to what you want to major in. Cal Poly is known for their engineering and archtecture programs. UCI has comparable programs, a strong biological sciences program, and a strong liberal arts program. Pick the school that's strong in what you want to major in.</p>
<p>To address your last question, it's true that the CSU and UC systems have different goals for their students. CSU students are taught with a bias for preparing them for the work after graduation. UC students are taught with a bias for preparing them for graduate school and future research.</p>
<p>To the OP?? Come on, the OP last inquired about this over 1 1/2 years ago...talk about a stale thread.</p>
<p>The kid is probably already chosen his school. :)</p>
<p>good observations. two fine schools with different missions and absolutely different settings.</p>
<p>i think it's totally up to you. you should make it a MUST to go to both campuses and do an overnight program. i was exactly like you.. choosing between cal poly and irvine. i chose cal poly in the end because i did an overnight thing and LOVED it. well and also because it has business. i dunno. check out the schools! :)</p>
<p>What about economics? Which school has the best program?</p>