<p>My S was admitted for EE. He was also admitted to Cal poly in Ag engineering. He's a kid who dreams of working for NASA/JPL and is interested in robotics. He's sent in his SIR to Cal Poly, but I'm afraid if he can't switch to Mech E he'll be stuck in Ag Eng :(</p>
<p>Now I see that Santa Cruz has computer eng with a robotics concentration. Does anyone have any insight into the program? I know UCSC engineering school is not ranked in the top 100 (US news), but what's the school perception with employers?</p>
<p>I don’t think there’s any way to generalize what employers think of UCSC engineering students. It really depends on what you son does with his time at school. I’m not sure about Cal poly, but as UCSC a large number of engineering students get internships, which of course look very good on a resume. There are also many opportunities for students to assist their professors with research being done at UCSC. </p>
<p>However, I think your son should stick with Cal Poly. He has not even begun to take classes yet, so switching should not be too big of a problem. Also, some courses may overlap in the majors, so your son could potentially take courses that apply to Mech Eng if they will not let him switch his major right away. Cal Poly is overall stronger in all of the sciences that would be most useful for a job at NASA. Heck, even Ag Eng could be applied. Growing food in space is an important issue with a lot of room for improvement.</p>