<p>Just to clarify, you do count as first-generation to go to college if both your parents didn’t go to college. Just because your older sibling is in college, doesn’t mean you’re not first-gen because it’s generation, not person.</p>
<p>Also, UC Davis does have a very good engineering program (though yes, not better than UCSD’s). I think compared to Cal Poly, it’s still better. However, I think that the 3 schools are close enough in quality that you should really just go with which place will make you happier overall, not just in academics. UCSD is notorious for having little social (no offense), and if you don’t have many opportunities to have fun, you’re not gonna be quite as motivated or refreshed to do well in school. However, it is SoCal, so maybe it’s reputation is just relative to other SoCal schools.</p>