<p>I recently got into Cal Poly’s engineering school (for computer engineering), and I was strongly considering it. However, I was also wondering about the parties there - I know it doesn’t compare to UCSB, but as a hard working student I also enjoy having some fun on the weekends, and maybe Thursdays.</p>
<p>So my question is, how is the party life/social scene at Cal Poly SLO? Is it easy for out of state freshmen (male) to make new friends/go to parties? And also, will my hard major cut into my social life?</p>
<p>I think it is quite easy for out of state students to meet people here. Freshmen all want to get to know everyone else. It is likely though that your “hard” major will cut into some socializing, especially if you want to do well in school. I’m sure you could find time on some weekends though to go out. But seriously, engineering will test your work ethic.</p>
<p>What dorm/ apartment did you choose at Cal Poly? I think the type of dorms/apartments plays a factor. For example, at Cerro or in the engineering dorms, I hardly hear about parties. I have some friends who live in Yosemite/Tenaya and they said that they hear about parties all the time. I’m sure if you make some friends there, they can probably tell you about the party times and dates.</p>
<p>As for how much free time you have, it depends on your schedule (level of difficulty). For example, if you choose to take 12 units vs 16 units.</p>
<p>As a computer engineer, you will probably have a lot of homework, depending on how many units you take. You get to choose your dorms and rank them in order. However, it is not guaranteed that you will get a dorm of your first choice.</p>
<p>As a father of an engineering student at Cal Poly I can clue you in to pretty much everything that you asked for:</p>
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<p>Cal Poly is known for its parties and absolutely compares to UCSB. The two schools are rivals and if I were to compare the two for partying, I would say that Cal Poly’s parties are most likely a bit more “wholesome” than UCSB, but if you are looking for trouble you can find it at Cal Poly too. Every year a number of kids fail out of Cal Poly or go on academic probation due to over-partying. My kid is not a party animal and does not drink at all. He is grateful for the culture at the school that if you say “no” it is respected. If you really want to be in the party scene you can join one of the many frats around campus. Also, San Luis Obispo is a wonderful college town with many trendy bars and restaurants. Every Thursday evening the streets come alive for the farmer’s market and there are musicians, street performers, booths selling all sorts of wonderful foods from classic BBQ to exotic treats, etc. Additionally, many famous performers come to campus during the year and even Snoop Dogg comes to town to perform at a local bar. There will be no lack of distractions.</p>
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<p>No problem. There is WOW Week (Week of Welcome) where you will spend several days with a great group of girls and guys getting orientated to the school and the area. Then there will be the dorms. My kid is quite introverted and he had a boatload of friends by the end of the first week. You’ll be fine. There are few if any snobs at the school – it is a pretty cool place.</p>
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<p>There is no school worth your time that will have an easy computer engineering major. Your “hard” major will cut into your social life if you go to Cal Poly or anywhere else with a good reputation. However, if you adopt a “work hard, play hard” attitude you will graduate with a useful degree and a lot of good memories.</p>
<p>Tips: (1) Stay away from drugs completely and be very careful with alcohol. The school acknowledges that many students will experiment. However, like many campuses all over the US, there have been drug and alcohol related tragedies at Cal Poly. Be sensible and do not give the campus police force any reason to target you. If you are consistently irresponsible (or if you have one memorable meltdown or lapse in judgement that puts yourself or others in danger) you will be sent home. This would be the same for UCSB. (2) Take your major seriously and put in the hours for class, lab time and study time. (3) The Golden rule at Cal Poly is to study 25-35 Hours/Week or about 2 Hours/Unit/Week. My kid breezed through high school. He did all his homework but rarely studied for tests. At Cal Poly he studies big time. This is the big leagues buddy. Get used to it.</p>
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<p>You will not be a hermit as everyone else will be in the same boat. Maybe a boat full of hermits, hermitting together…</p>
<p>Haha thanks that helped a lot. Also, what career options does computer engineering open up? I really don’t want to spend my whole day behind a computer screen - Im an active kid!</p>
<p>Robotic cars, computer animation (animated films), COOL new inventioons all interest me</p>
<p>^^^ Cal Poly is all hands on buddy. My kid turned down UCLA, UCSD and a load of other great schools so that he could get his hands dirty. There are tons of clubs that will get you into the shop building things and the labs will get you out physically doing stuff. You like to surf? Cal Pol is the only campus that I know of that has a surfboard shop on campus where you can make your OWN board. Then there are the hiking trails, Poly Canyon, bike trails, Bishop Peak, a state of the art gym and rec center with every kind of physical activity your could want from rock climbing, weight lifting to racket ball…</p>
<p>Cal poly is known for its engineering so it looks great coming out and it shouldn’t be difficult finding a job. I hear that silicon valley employs cal poly students and they have a Google building there.</p>
<p>Job opportunities for CPE graduates are plentiful. The key is to land good internships, especially summers between 2nd/3rd and 3rd/4th years. Silicon Valley tech companies heavily recruit Cal Poly students at job fairs every quarter. The key to a good internship? A good GPA. That tells companies that you’re willing to work hard. You can easily make $10K in the summer as an intern.</p>
<p>A CPE graduate a couple of years ago turned his Capstone project into a company that Google bought for a couple million. A different CPE student in my son’s class ('13) will make over $100K at Google when he graduates this spring. My son had an offer letter in hand a couple of months ago from the company where he interned last summer.</p>