Computer Engineering: Cal Poly SLO vs. UC Davis

College Search & Selection
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<p>I've been trying to decide between these two schools for over a month and I still haven't been able to comfortably choose one. I visited both campuses and they each have different things I do and don't like. I wish I could take the good parts from both and combine them into one, but it doesn't really work like that. </p>

<p>Even though I've been able to split up simple pros and cons for each school, I can't comfortably decide on either one. I was hoping some people here could guide me on my choice based on my pros/cons for each one: </p>

<p>Cal Poly: I really like the size and general appearance of the campus and the "learn by doing" approach, particularly for engineering, is much more appealing to me than the purely theoretical approach I figure I would receive from Davis. It seems like I'll have a lot more opportunities internship/job-wise coming out of Cal Poly, and that if I choose to go for a Master's Degree I'll be very well prepared regardless of where I attend for graduate studies. However, I don't know how well I'll fit into the high-energy, always-outgoing atmosphere of the campus. Both times I visited there seemed to be the ends of the social spectrum: the obviously socially inept types of kids and the overly outgoing and constantly-chipper kids; I didn't see, and it didn't seem like there would be, too many who match my personality. </p>

<p>UC Davis: I visited Davis after seeing Cal Poly, and immediately upon entering the dorms and housing facilities I knew I preferred Davis' housing and dining. I didn't get to experience Cal Poly's dining and I didn't necessarily like the dorms I visited too much, but Davis' seemed pretty outstanding; I definitely think I would feel more comfortable living in Davis' dorms than I would at Cal Poly's. I also have many people from my high school planning on attending Davis, and Davis is much closer to home than Cal Poly, so I think I'll also feel more comfortable there in that sense. What I didn't like so much was the overwhelmingly huge campus and I don't feel I'll benefit from Davis' program as much as I would from Cal Poly's, even though I realize Davis also offers internship opportunities and is a pretty prestigious school to be receiving a degree from when looking for employment. </p>

<p>Also, I'm very interested in joining some kind of music club or somehow entering a music minor at whichever school I go to, but could only find a music club for UC Davis. Does anybody know if Cal Poly offers a music club, or will I have to start one on my own? </p>

<p>Thanks in advance for the guidance and advice.</p>

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<p>I can’t say for sure if Cal Poly has a club for music, but you can email the department at <a href=“mailto:music@calpoly.edu”>music@calpoly.edu</a> if you want any information on it.</p>

<p>I’m a student at Cal Poly, and I have to say that it really is important that you like the feel of the campus as well as what it has to offer. Food is going to suck no matter where you are, so I wouldn’t take that into consideration. Your views on the social aspects, unfortunately are not true. Yes, there are the “socially inept” and the “nerds” like at any school (and many of them are in your major and mine), but it’s not as polarized as you may think. As a matter of fact, I fall in the middle, where I’m doing relatively well (currently a 3.3 GPA) and I maintain a social life. The school is good about providing social opportunities for you if you want to get involved, but they leave you alone if you’re not interested. </p>

<p>As for your worries about which school is better for your major, all the statistics clearly demonstrate that your research was correct, and that Cal Poly seems to hold a striking edge over UCD. As a Computer Science student (we’re very closely linked with the Computer Engineers), I can tell you that there is a very large number of companies that come to campus to recruit students because they love what we have to offer. Most recently we had a few students hired by Facebook, and before that Google accepted a few applicants (these were the first visits by the two companies to the campus), and historically many other companies like Apple come almost quarterly. The engineering department holds plenty of events and gets a good number of companies to come by monthly to help get our students hired (the department is very good about trying to ensure our grads have jobs before they graduate).</p>

<p>One thing you might want to consider though is the hands-on approach, which you mentioned. Because we’re not a research-oriented school like a UC, none of our classes are taught by TA’s like at UC’s, and all of your core classes are forbidden to have more than 28 students in the class. The largest class here is about 300 students, and that’s the psychology lecture. The largest I was in was 120 for my history GE. All of the classes actually required for my major, however, have not had more than 33 students (calculus 3). I’ve found this useful because the professors actually learn the names of their students, especially in the core classes involving programming and whatever isn’t support. This helps them to personalize the teaching, make SURE you’re involved and understanding, and I’ve found that after a few weeks they try to tailor their office hour help to your needs.</p>

<p>I can’t confirm the numbers for Davis, but my friends at Cal say their core classes involve hundreds of students in one class for the same major. I would presume it’s similar at Davis, considering how many students get accepted into their Computer Science and Computer Engineering departments (last I checked it was over 20% acceptance, I believe) while only about 12% got in for my graduating class.</p>

<p>Hope I could help, and I wish you the best! Ask me if you have any further questions about Cal Poly.</p>

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<p>DSG3002, synhyborex just gave you an excellent overview of why Cal Poly could be a good choice. So, I’ll focus on just a couple of things about Cal Poly. First is music. Cal Poly has an extensive variety of bands to choose from. I wish that you could have attended the Open House a couple of weeks ago. The marching band was front and center and they were having a great time. They also have award winning jazz bands and music clubs. Their top jazz band gets PAID for its performances. Just check out the web site. Also, Cal Poly offers degrees in music as well. How do I know this? My kid will attend Cal Poly in the Fall and he has been in band since elementary school and in high school he was in marching band, jazz combo, concert band and drumline. He will be an engineer (GENE), but music has been his entire life up to now (outside of building computers, video games, hiking and rock climbing). With regards to dorms, Cal Poly has some excellent dorms. You may have visited just the red brick ones. They have new facilities on campus as well. Focus on the program – you will never regret the hands on learn by doing methodology. Good luck!</p>

<p>By the way, my kid turned down 5 UC’s for Cal Poly. This includes UCLA, UCSD, etc. No regrets even though he could have commuted from home for UCLA.</p>

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The only classes taught by TAs at UC school are the lowest level intro class such as the required English Composition class. None of your science, math, or engineering classes will be taught by TAs.</p>

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<p>The food seemed godly at Davis, so if the food is similar at every college I think I’ll be just fine. :smiley: I guess a few days at Cal Poly isn’t enough to really fully grasp the entire social scene there to be making assumptions on how people are divided (and connected) about the campus. </p>

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<p>I looked up as much information as I possibly could about the music program at Cal Poly and decided that they’ll be bound to have something I’ll enjoy becoming a part of (the Guitar Ensemble in particular). And yes, the dorms that I saw were the red bricks for the Engineering students. I did more research on that and think North Mountain would be best, although would you happen to know if the individual rooms there are bigger in comparison to the red bricks? They seem like it in the pictures, but it’s hard to tell. </p>

<p>Thanks for your responses! It feels like I can be more comfortable in choosing Cal Poly now, and that in terms of academics/education and opportunities for the future that it would be a much wiser choice.</p>

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<p>Congrats on a very good decision. Best of luck!</p>

<p>P.S. By the way, you just saved yourself and your folks about $10,000 a year for the next 4 to 5 years depending on how fast you push to graduate. You’ll also most likely graduate with a job!</p>