<p>Just got accepted into the Civil Engineering major for Cal Poly SLO and for UCI.
I was wondering which school has the better program for undergraduates?</p>
<p>Thanks !</p>
<p>Cal Poly SLO: Great job placement, smaller class sizes, and plenty of engineering clubs to join. </p>
<p>UCI: Unknown job placement, higher tuition, and larger classes that are sometimes taught by TA’s instead of professors.</p>
<p>Your choice.</p>
<p>I remember being told 3 years ago that CalPoly Pomona’s CE program is difficult to complete quickly because, the classes are difficult to get into. Too many students for so few classes. Instead of completing a CE degree in 4 years, students might have to complete in 5 or 6 years. I’m not sure about CalPoly SLO, though. I believe UCI is supposed to have a very good structural engineering program there. If you do your undergrad at UCI, it might be easier to get into the masters program for structural engineering, since you are at the same school. I’m not sure sure about all of this because of my bad memory.</p>
<p>Hands on practical vs. research and theory. A polytechnic education is much more in line with your question of which school is better for undergraduates. At Cal Poly, most classes with have 30 students or less. Every class will be taught by a professor. Most classes require lab work. As long as you maintain a 3.0 GPA or higher, you will have many employment and internship opportunities. Every year, including during the recession, 400 to 600 companies recruit at the campus. Employers flock to Cal Poly and it shows. Cal Poly Engineering grads command the highest starting salaries of all those schools. My son got into UCI and their Honors Program. He was also officially accepted at UCLA, UCSD, UCSB and UCSC. He was also invited to apply for a merit scholarship at UC Berkeley, but we won’t know that decision until 3/24. Bottom line, my kid will decline all those offers for Cal Poly because it is simply the best “undergraduate” engineering program in California. It is much more selective than UCI as well. However, my son was extremely clear that after 12 years of book learning in K-12, he wanted a practical hands on experience. He never wants to be a research engineer. He wants to start building “cool stuff” as soon as possible and will go for internships at the earliest opportunity. You can also get a Masters degree along with your undergraduate degree there with just one more year of study. Go visit both schools and see which one you feel most comfortable with. Cal Poly is a gem and I believe it is more selective than UCI and cheaper to boot. For us it was a no brainer. He would choose Cal Poly over UC Berkeley.</p>
<p>Osaka, It is one thing to turn down UCI, but it would be hard to understand turning down what is considered by many the top civil engineering program in the country, UC Berkelely - and with merit scholarship - for CalPolySLO. However, listening to the description of the “hands on” v. “research” experience that you mention your son prefers might make sense.</p>
<p>
Read this: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/engineering-majors/1096816-counterintuitive-side-engineering.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/engineering-majors/1096816-counterintuitive-side-engineering.html</a></p>
<p>“Berkeley grads: 19% found jobs, 48% were seeking employment
Cal Poly SLO grads: 63 students found jobs, only 9 were seeking employment”</p>
<p>I would choose Cal Poly SLO over Berkeley too.</p>
<p>NegativeSlope, maybe we are looking at difference UCB and CPSLO documents</p>
<p>here are the proper ones as listed in the link that you provided:</p>
<p><a href=“https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/CivilEngr.stm[/url]”>https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/CivilEngr.stm</a>
<a href=“http://www.careerservices.calpoly.edu/gsr/08-09/GSR_2008-2009.pdf[/url]”>http://www.careerservices.calpoly.edu/gsr/08-09/GSR_2008-2009.pdf</a></p>
<p>and this is the summation of those links:</p>
<p>Students Responding - Civil Engineering
102 - CP
50 – UCB</p>
<p>Employed, Graduate School & Other
91% - CP
80% - UCB</p>
<p>Seeking Employment
9% – CP
20% - UCB</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>it’s generally well-accepted that, in civil engineering, if you want to work on the most interesting and rewarding projects, you have to have a graduate degree. it’s hard to argue that many california other universities don’t better prepare ce students for graduate school.</p>
<p>besides, i don’t know about you, but i’d want someone that’s designing “cool stuff” like a bridge or building to have received the most rigorous and theoretical education possible. these “practical” engineering degrees sound a lot like what’s more universally known as “engineering technology” degrees, and i’d image they’re more suited for those types of postions if they want to shy away from the theory anyways.</p>
<p>Guys - I must apologize for not clarifying that my son is NOT a civil engineering major. I completely agree with Experiment 8 who said,“i don’t know about you, but i’d want someone that’s designing “cool stuff” like a bridge or building to have received the most rigorous and theoretical education possible.”</p>
<p>My kid’s experience to date has primarily been in building computers and software. He has also done an internship as a computer networking engineer with an international Japan-based technology consultancy.</p>
<p>He will most likely go into consumer technology product development and will NOT be a civil engineer. My comments may not have been appropriate for an aspiring CE major.</p>
<p>Additionally, my son was very clear about teaching style, student population, class size, air quality, proximity to hiking and rock climbing, nature photography opportunities, a business friendly non-political environment, etc. Choosing Cal Poly was also a lifestyle decision.</p>
<p>
The UCB students are going to grad school not because they want to work on interesting and rewarding projects, it’s because they can’t find a job. Grad school is a last resort used to wait out the recession. In 2006, the economy was still in good shape. 49% of UCB grads were employed (compared with 18% in 2010), and only 35% went to grad school (compared with 48% in 2010).</p>
<p>Source: <a href=“https://career.berkeley.edu/Major2006/CivilEngr.stm[/url]”>https://career.berkeley.edu/Major2006/CivilEngr.stm</a></p>
<p>Doing grad school makes sense only if you want to get into academia or already have a few years of work experience. People with grad school and minimal work experience often have their resumes thrown away into the “overqualified” recycle bin.</p>
<p>Wow , thanks for all your responses , I have much more insight now.
If I wanted to go to a graduate school as well , does that really affect if I go to UCI or CP ?</p>
<p>Cal Poly SLO is the best place on earth. It has the best vibe and is very relaxed but always fun and exciting at the same time. Having lived in both cities, id chose SLO over irvine without a doubt.</p>
<p>@Experiment8</p>
<p>"These “practical” engineering degrees sound a lot like what’s more universally known as “engineering technology” degrees, and i’d image they’re more suited for those types of postions if they want to shy away from the theory anyways. "</p>
<p>Cal Poly does not have engineering technology majors. The university’s approach to hands-on training is by accompanying almost EVERY engineering lecture classes with lab classes that provide the opportunities for students to see and experience the theories in action in a laboratory setting. This is why Cal Poly is known for its “learn by doing”, or more commonly known, hands-on approach, to engineering education. I would characterize “hands-on” = Theory in action.</p>
<p>Rather than just reading about a theory (say, stress fracture on a concrete bridge-like body under extreme load), Cal Poly students get to actually apply the stress to the structure and destroy it in the lab.</p>
<p>@OP</p>
<p>If you plan on engineering graduate school, and if you want to attend the same university for both undergraduate and graduate, then UCI would be easier for this plan. You will probably have a pretty easy time getting into UCI’s graduate engineering program while you are still a senior in UCI.</p>
<p>With that said, I would suggest you aim higher for graduate school and target more well-known engineering institutions. Graduate school’s name prestige level does matter over a longer career duration than undergraduate. Hence, going to a graduate school such as MIT would be substantially more advantageous than UCI or Cal Poly. And if you are considering a graduate school such as MIT, your undergraduate GPA is infinitely more important than the difference b/w UCI and CPSLO.</p>
<p>In conclusion, I do think Cal Poly’s engineering program is stronger than UCI’s and the other mid-tier UCs. UCI is superior to Cal Poly in areas such as biological sciences.</p>
<p>@Experiment8</p>
<p>"These “practical” engineering degrees sound a lot like what’s more universally known as “engineering technology” degrees, and i’d image they’re more suited for those types of postions if they want to shy away from the theory anyways. "</p>
<p>Sorry but you don’t know what you are talking about. </p>
<p>I graduated from Cal Poly with a BS in Civil Engineering degree and am working in structural engineering (one of the more rigorous and theoretical disciplines in civil).</p>
<p>What one will find within civil engineering is that a Cal Poly BS education will prepare you to kick ass right out of the starting gates encompassing 95% of real world applications you will actually see. </p>
<p>I have heard personally employers say “why hire anyone other than from Cal Poly? I know what I am getting and there are plenty of kids to choose from each semester…so why look anywhere else.”</p>
<p>I enrolled at the University of Nevada Reno for Structural Engineering (masters) and I realized that 80% of what I would learn in the masters program would be overkill. What I also realized is as an engineer you have the capacity to open a book and think for yourself. Cal Poly teaches you and provides you to have the confidence to do just that. You only need your brain, a pencil and a goal and anything is obtainable. </p>
<p>A BS program should provide you with the skills you need for the rest of your life with the skills to succeed in a higher level theoretical program if desired. </p>
<p>An example at Cal Poly: Reinforced concrete design my instructor was a practicing Civil Engineer who specialized in concrete design. No PHD who never worked in the field. He taught us exactly what we needed to know and where to find additional information but did not over load the theory. At one point he got to a highly work intensive theoretical concept and said, “you just need to know this, understand this part, and you will be using a computer to do this in the real world, so understand what is happening, be able to check you work but don’t spend too much time on this”. After graduating and practicing he was exactly right. </p>
<p>The learn by doing approach provided many lab situations. Most of which I have more REAL experience than others before I even graduated. For example, we would test various members and connections and see the actual factor of safety. What really happens if you over load something by 2, 3 or 5 times the actual rating. This knowledge is significant when designing real structures and making real world decisions. It provides you a realistic view to what you are designing with. I have provided this testing knowledge to many bosses and they all appreciated it. It represents REALITY. This is what Cal Poly helps bring. </p>
<p>Above all, college should be a happy place where you can receive an amazing education in an amazing location. What other place beats San Luis Obispo for weather and…women!!</p>
<p>And lastly, it’s not all about having a 4.0 GPA. It’s about having a solid education and being a cool fun person that people want to be around. SLO will help make you a kick ass individual who will rock any interview. </p>
<p>Advice for new students: Have fun, learn a lot and get hooked up with a good employer / mentor. But never stop having fun :)</p>