<p>Aerospace engineering at cal poly and mech engineering at UCSB… Also, graduate school has become an option, can anyone give a quick summary for the positives and negatives of the schools in these fields?</p>
<p>Cal Poly?
Ranked higher
$10k a year cheaper
Taught by professors not grad student
Strong reputation
Killer BBQ
what am I missing</p>
<p>If you are very independent, and don’t mind being one of the masses, UCs give a good education. Questions to ask/get answered.</p>
<p>Lots of world class Professors at UCs, but as an undergrad, will you see them or grad students who barely speak English? Do you want a theoretical base for grad school or a practical base to find a job? Do companies in the area of interest hire out of either school? Do they recruit? What is the placement office like? Active searches posted or a pile of magazines?</p>
<p>There are two types of reputations out there. The popular ones that make up magazine rankings, bragging rights on FB, bragging rights for parents at the Country Club, and the reputation that employers have when selecting interns and graduates. In my experience, they tend to be very different. </p>
<p>That should give you some food for thought. Congrats on two good choices. Go out an set the world afire!</p>
<p>If Aero is your top choice then I would recommend Cal Poly: <a href=“http://ceng.calpoly.edu/news/cal-poly-named-nations-go-university-recruitment-h/”>http://ceng.calpoly.edu/news/cal-poly-named-nations-go-university-recruitment-h/</a></p>
<p>At the end of the day, forget the US News and other popular rankings (even though Cal Poly is ranked very well here too). It is what employers think that really counts. My kid is an ME major at Cal Poly and it has presented fantastic opportunities for him.</p>
<p>One thing is for sure, no TA’s and although it is a public school, it really feels more like a private one as far as individual attention goes. We were astounded at how much attention he is getting. Is it impacted? Yes. Are some classes large. Absolutely. But, somehow Cal Poly pulls it off. My kid really feels like he is part of a tight community and gets a lot of individual attention. I can’t really explain how they do it but they do.</p>
<p>i picked SLO, thanks guys!</p>
<p>Good for you! It was the right choice!</p>
<p>Nitsua24 said:</p>
<p>Cal Poly?
Ranked higher == that’s debatable and subjective. For example: <a href=“http://www.shanghairanking.com/FieldENG2013.html”>http://www.shanghairanking.com/FieldENG2013.html</a> ranked UCSB Engineering in 6th place worldwide. However, every institution ranks school subjectively–do you get the idea?</p>
<p>$10k a year cheaper
Taught by professors not grad student == Where is this coming from? The only part grad students are teaching is during discussion sessions.Not lectures.
Strong reputation
Killer BBQ
what am I missing</p>