<p>i am currently at UCSD majoring in mechanical engineering right now but i am having thoughts on transferring over to calpoly san luis obispo.Can someone please tell the the advantages and disadvantages of both. Also can someone tell me which school has an overall better mechanical engineering undergraduate program.</p>
<p>I would say that if you're aiming for something higher than a bachelors in the immediate future, stick with UCSD. If you're looking to come out with a bachelor's into the work force, then CP SLO would have its merits. It wouldn't be quite so easy to compare them since CP SLO doesn't have a PhD program, but SLO is supposed to be more hands on whereas UCSD is more theoretical.</p>
<p>Which of the two has a more academically challenging mechanical engineering program.</p>
<p>Academically challenging and "will make you a better engineer" are two different things. I think CPSU has a better program than UCSD. I got into both (and UCLA and UCSB). CPSU has way way way more labs, more projects, but a less academically able average student. I tend to think that Cal Poly ME professors are quite good (relatively few professors with english as a 2nd language).</p>
<p>as far as i can tell, it's theoretical knowledge (UC) vs practical knowledge (CSU). what SLO teaches you will be the current practices and what not, SD will give you a much more extensive theoretical background at the expense of current practices. i'm inclined to think SD will be more academically challenging due to competition, if nothing else.</p>
<p>^ I second your view, toxic_waste.</p>
<p>
[quote]
as far as i can tell, it's theoretical knowledge (UC) vs practical knowledge (CSU).
[/quote]
I follow you, I guess. This manifests itself in lecture time vs. lab time. It looks like there is far more lab time at CPSU (at the expense of lecture time). I doubt most people learn more or better within a lecture than within a lab.</p>
<p>
[quote]
what SLO teaches you will be the current practices and what not, SD will give you a much more extensive theoretical background at the expense of current practices.
[/quote]
I'm not sure the phrase "current practices" means anything. In most engineering lectures you don't learn much about "current practices" or even "future practices". They give you equations and one uses them to solve problems or create a design of a component or whatever. Solid Mechanics, Dynamics, Fluids, Thermo, Heat Transfer are taught standard, across the board no matter the school.</p>
<p>The one thing i have not been able to understand is the competition to UCSD. How is UCSD competitive? Will the competition necessarily make me into a better engineer.</p>
<p>Competition undoubtedly makes one study harder. Studying makes one know the material better. However, I doubt the difference in study between CPSU & UCSD is high enough to make you any better of an engineer in the long term. </p>
<p>In the short term that additional study might make you better - but then one has to compare that additional study to the additional labs that Poly students take. From what I've seen in industry - labs are incredibly important in understanding how physical systems work. Because long after one forgets the specifics of an equation, a lab experiment or project will stay in your mind.</p>
<p>How hard will it be for me to transfer over to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo? I got accepted for the fall but i had to decline because i was not guaranteed housing for the fall. i was offered to be put on a wait list though but i did not want to take the risk.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I'm not sure the phrase "current practices" means anything. In most engineering lectures you don't learn much about "current practices" or even "future practices". They give you equations and one uses them to solve problems or create a design of a component or whatever. Solid Mechanics, Dynamics, Fluids, Thermo, Heat Transfer are taught standard, across the board no matter the school.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>i used "current practices" for lack of a better phrase -- i mean more job-related skills, something along those lines.</p>
<p>i'm not sure labs are quite as big as you're making them seem; i have friends going to UCI, and it seems like they'll have more labs than i will (UCLA), but i don't know of anyone who would recommend Irvine over LA.</p>
<p>
[quote]
i'm not sure labs are quite as big as you're making them seem; i have friends going to UCI, and it seems like they'll have more labs than i will (UCLA), but i don't know of anyone who would recommend Irvine over LA.
[/quote]
Sorry, when I say "labs" I mean required lab classes. Not anything else.</p>