<p>I’m a current Aerospace Engineering student at a CCC right now and I’ve recently heard a lot of good things about the Cal Poly schools, namely Pomona. Before I was set on Berkeley or UCLA for my under grad, but Berkeley doesn’t have an Aerospace program and UCLA is now looking grim when compared to the Cal Polys. I would rather work with a hands on approach and be able to work with companies in my field.</p>
<p>Apparently CPP has much better job recruitment for recent graduates, at least compared to most UCs and other Cal States. When comparing the two Cal Polys, how do they stack up? Which has the superior Aerospace program and job recruitment? I’ve looked online for hours trying to find answers to no avail, so hopefully you guys can help me! Do these schools even have good Aerospace programs? Thanks a bunch!</p>
<p>Cal Poly Pomona Aerospace grads get recruited by JPL NASA. It used to be that the CPP AE department served the burgeoning AE industry in LA, mainly centered around Lockheed. But since they are now extinct, it’s now mainly NASA. The NASA Commercialization Center is located right on campus, so the connections are firmly grounded. Hope this helps.</p>
<p>[CTTi</a> - NASA Commercialization Center](<a href=“http://www.ctti.innovationvillage.org/ncc/nasa.asp]CTTi”>http://www.ctti.innovationvillage.org/ncc/nasa.asp)</p>
<p>Sorry, I meant MD and not Lockheed.</p>
<p>I’m currently an Aerospace major at CPP. Don’t expect companies to take you in as an intern from the very start. I’ve heard from various professors that JPL (part of NASA) hires more people out of CPP than any other school. At the same time, roughly 80% of the students drop out of the program before they can graduate. Lockheed Martin hires more CPP students than any other company, so if aeronautics is your thing you’ll definitely be in good shape here. I’m only entering my second year so I can’t really say too much about the program but I’m very happy with it so far. The full-time ARO professors that I’ve had have been very good. If you end up going to CPP try to avoid the part time ARO teachers (namely Gonda as his philosophy when teaching is that you’ll learn the material in a different class so he doesn’t need to teach it to you). You’re going to need to work your ASS off if you want to graduate. Most do it in five years instead of four because there’s a ton of work to do. There’s a lot more I can say but I don’t really know what you’re looking for. Private message me if you have some questions regarding CPP and classes. Oh and if you haven’t already seen it, here’s the curriculum for ARO: <a href=“http://www.csupomona.edu/~engineering/current/currsheets/aro_09_10.pdf[/url]”>http://www.csupomona.edu/~engineering/current/currsheets/aro_09_10.pdf</a></p>
<p>Oh and as for your main question, CPP or CPSLO: I have not gone to SLO so I can’t really say anything about their program. I feel like there’s a little bit of a rivalry between the two schools. If you look at US News rankings, SLO will out perform Pomona in many ways and I give them credit for that. But from what I’ve heard they also have a few problems that we don’t have. First of all, they are located in an area that has virtually no employment opportunities in engineering, let alone Aerospace; whereas Southern California has more Aerospace companies than any other area in the world. Also, anything you hear about it being hard to get classes at CPP, triple that for SLO. One of my old high school teacher’s sons was at SLO when everyone was applying. She said that getting classes there was so bad that he was going to have to retake some prerequisite classes because the one or two year deadline to take the followup course had expired. From my understanding, registration there is based on a randomly generated timetable given to you when you first enter. You get two front of the line passes which you need to save for your senior year or you’ll never graduate. Again I repeat that I haven’t actually gone to SLO so I won’t claim that what I’ve said is 100% accurate but you should most definitely inform yourself. And if anyone at SLO starts saying things about CPP verify them with me before you take them as true.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info. How is it that the location of a college has so much to do with job prospects, especially when the two schools have nearly identical curriculum? Do the companies actually come onto campus and do activities? </p>
<p>How is the school life up at CPP? SLO has a bigger, more beautiful, and more lively campus, but I’d take anything over the CCC that I’m at right now. Lol.</p>
<p>I can’t really give any reason as to why location is so important. It’s kind of its own reason. The reason is that it’s closer to all the companies but that’s part of the location =P Yes engineering companies do come onto the campus during our job fairs and take students in for internships and jobs. It’s a lot easier for a company to drive out twenty minutes to CPP than it is for a company to drive four or five hours up to SLO. It’s also impossible for someone at SLO to have an internship unless it’s during the summer for that same reason. </p>
<p>Campus life at CPP exists only in the dorms. It’s a commuter school. Most of the students drive from their homes or have off campus apartments they live in. If you want a good social life there you’re going to either have to live in the dorms or join a fraternity. Although I wouldn’t recommend the latter as it’s very time consuming and you’re really going to need to focus on school, especially as a transfer.</p>
<p>Also, I’m curious. What have you heard about Pomona?</p>
<p>Professor Joseph Lim, an extraordinary math professor (MATH 125, STA 120, etc) has been working at Raytheon SAS (Space and Airborne Systems) in El Segundo for 16 years. He also happens to be Raytheon’s recruiting representative at Cal Poly Pomona =).</p>
<p>I’ve basically heard that CPP is a fantastic school for engineering but the social life and campus leave a little bit to be desired, especially when compared to CPSLO.</p>
<p>Sounds about right. Just make sure you live in the dorms if you want a social life. At least the first year you’re there so you can meet people. Then you’re good wherever. Oh and our AIAA (American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics) club/chapter has social outings every now and then.</p>
<p>CSpence, if you’re still reading this, which school did you choose? I’m curious.</p>
<p>I chose CPSLO, it just seems like a better suit for me. Although it isn’t 100% final yet, I still have about a year to decide.</p>