Cal poly vs. UCs

College Search & Selection
1

Hello, I’m a senior applying to both UC and Cal Poly for engineering (I was thinking of chem eng but now I don’t know).
I know that both are great universities and all but the problem is that my parents don’t think Cal Poly are. They look at US college reports and see that just because they don’t have doctorate, they are bad. I tried to talk to them but you know how asian parents can be.

Another problem is that Cal Poly doesn’t have chemical engineering. I am aware of that UCB has a great chem program but I don’t really think I’ll get in with my stat (1460 SAT, 3.72 UW GPA, 4.67 W GPA). Now I’m little confused if I even should go into chemical engineering because, maybe I suck at research, I couldn’t find good chem engineering major in UCs or schools with affordable tuition that I can go with my stats.

So in short, I just wanted to compare UC and Cal poly and their good engineering majors (not only limited to chem). Please tell me what majors at UC and Cal poly are good enough for me.

Thank you!

2

UCI, UCSD, UCSB, UCD have chemical engineering. CSU Pomona, CSU Long Beach, SJSU have chemical engineering.

Other engineering majors in those schools are also good. I think UCB and UCLA are too competitive for you although you may have a chance. The bigger issue is the ability to handle the work after you are admitted. In order to get jobs, high GPA at graduation is better than low GPA from a more popular school.

3

Thank you for the reply.
Just looking at my numbers, would you say I have a chance in UC schools?

4

What is your UC GPA capped weighted and fully weighted? https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/

Your SAT score is within range for all the UC’s, but with low acceptance rates for UCLA/UCB you should consider them a Reach.

As stated by @coolweather, there are a number of UC’s and Cal states beside UCB that offer Chemical Engineering. If you are leaning towards an Engineering major, for the majority of the UC’s and all the Cal states you need to get admitted as a direct admit.

Easier to change out of Engineering than change into Engineering. That said based on your uW GPA, your UC GPA capped weighted is around 4.1. Chemical Engineering will be very competitive so you need to apply widely. Here is some statistical data for the UC’s which is not major specific so expect any Engineering major to require higher stats and will have a lower admit rate.

Freshman admit rates for UC GPA of 3.80-4.19:

UCB: 12.6%
UCLA: 11.7%
UCSD: 38.7%
UCSB: 53.6%
UCD: 56.5%
UCI: 52.1%
UCSC: 75.7%
UCR: 90.1%
UCM: 96.1%

Freshman admit rates for UC GPA of 4.20 or above:

UCB: 42.7%
UCLA: 47.2%
UCSD: 84.2%
UCSB: 82.0%
UCD: 90.3%
UCI: 94.1%
UCSC: 92.7%
UCR: 97.5
UCM: 98.1%

2018 UC capped weighted GPA averages:
UCB: 4.23
UCLA: 4.23
UCSD: 4.16
UCSB: 4.13
UCI: 4.13
UCD: 4.11
UCSC: 3.96
UCR: 3.81
UCM: 3.71

2018 Data:
25th - 75th percentiles for SAT:

UCB: 1360-1540

UCLA: 1340-1540
UCSD: 1300-1520
UCSB: 1270-1500
UCD: 1220-1480
UCI: 1230-1490
UCSC: 1210-1450
UCR: 1130-1380
UCM: 1020-1280

Also do not dismiss the Cal States and they admit by your UC/CSU GPA capped weighted and test scores which determines your Eligibility index. (CSU GPA x800) + (SAT Math + EBRW).

Cal Poly SLO admits by MCA points which includes GPA, Test scores, HS course rigor and a small percentage of EC’s and major related job experience. If you want to know to calculate your MCA points, look at post #52 on this thread: http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/cal-poly-san-luis-obispo/1694769-confused-about-mca-score.html

Best of luck and Cal Poly SLO is a great Engineering school even without Doctorate programs. There is nothing from keeping you in doing your Undergrad at SLO and then doing your Masters/PHD at a school like UCB.

So you are more interested in doing Research vs. working as an Engineering in the private sector?

5

UC capped is 3.96
UC Weighted is 4.22 (I took a lot of challenging courses)

I think I want to go to graduate school after undergraduate, so I would say research.

6

Target UC’s for any Engineering would be UC Santa Cruz and Riverside based on UC GPA and UC’s tend to be GPA focused. UCI/UCSB and UCD are possible but you would need some safeties such as the Cal states suggested above. However, if your parents will not consider SLO as an option, they may not let you consider the other Cal states. Many of the Cal states do offer research opportunities so research is not exclusive to the UC’s. Definitely have 1-2 safety schools on your list. Have you looked into some private schools besides the Cal states and UC’s?

7

What interests you about ChemE? Are you leaning toward that major because of a type of work you hope to do, or because you are drawn to the subjects that comprise its academic foundation? Have you looked at Materials Science/Engineering as a major? (Cal Poly SLO does not have ChemE but does have Materials. Some UC’s, like Irvine, house ChemE and Materials within the same department, while at others, like Davis, the two are separate.) There’s a lot to like about materials, with a great deal of technological innovation based upon work in this field.

If it makes you feel any better about Berkeley likely being out of reach, the College of Chemistry (which includes ChemE) strongly prefers not to admit its own undergraduates to its grad school… so tell your parents you’re saving Berkeley for grad school. :slight_smile:

For affordable OOS programs with WUE tuition reciprocity, look at Colorado State (ChemE), U of Nevada Reno (ChemE), U of NM & NM State (ChemE), U of Utah (ChemE and Materials), and Washington State (ChemE and Materials). https://wuesavingsfinder.wiche.edu/search-results.php Several of these have great Honors College programs that you may qualify for.