I live in the bay area and was accepted to UC Merced, SJSU, UIUC, and CU Boulder.
I was waitlisted at Cal Poly slo, UCSC, and UC Riverside. Throughout april I was honestly hoping one of these would pull through but it is seeming less likely to happen before May 1st. So now I have to make a decision between these four schools.
SJSU: Mechanical Engineering
ASU Mechanical Engineering
UC merced: Mechanical Engineering
CU Boulder: Applied as mech but got into exploratory studies. All you have to do is maintain 3.0 gpa for first year then you can transfer into engineering second year.
UIUC: Applied mech but got into pre-engineering. From what I’ve heard, the program is hell and its super hard to get into engineering and maintain 3.75+ gpa. There is no guarantee you will even get into the engineering college.
So yeah. I need to decide soon. Money isn’t too much of a factor but it would be really nice to stay in-state which is why I’m really hoping slo and ucsc pull through. CU boulder is a good school but it’s very far from home and I feel like I already have good options here. I also feel the same for ASU. So really its between sjsu and merced it think. SJSU is really closeby but I kind of wanted to go a little further away to gain the independence, but still in state. If I go to sjsu I would probably just live at home. So Merced might feel like a good choice as it is a few hours away. My only problem with it is that I don’t know how good its program is. It tends to have bad word of mouth and I feel like it may be really hard for me to find a solid job coming from that school. I have always been told that the name of the school actually matters quite a bit as recruiters will choose someone who(for example) went to Cal or ucla over a graduate from uc merced.
Both SJSU and Merced seem like excellent choices but you appear to favor Merced. It’s quickly moving up the national rankings and I’ve heard it has a lot of new facilities.
I agree with your reasoning about eliminating the OOS schools, particularly UIUC and Boulder where you’ll be paying a significant differential for the dubious privilege of a secondary admissions process to your major. ASU - assume it’s not Barrett Honors, right?
How sure are you about your major choice? SJSU has a number of very cool engineering-adjacent programs like Packaging (which sounds boring but is actually a great program with incredible employment stats) and Industrial Design, and a variety of alternative fields within engineering like Industrial & Systems Engineering and Industrial Technology. Merced has a range of traditional engineering majors, but not as much variety, so there would be fewer alternatives to explore there if MechE didn’t win your heart.
In terms of the MechE education, both SJSU and Merced have ABET-accredited programs that will give you a solid foundation. What are you interested in doing with a MechE degree? It would be worth looking at what kinds of extracurricular projects and research participation would be available to you at each school, and how well it would fit your interests. They’re both going to be high-quality programs in terms of the core academics.
Have you considered living on campus for the first year, if you go to SJSU? It might be worth the cost in terms of feeling like you’re having the full college experience. Once you make friends and get involved on campus, it might not matter as much whether you live in an apartment or at your folks’ home. If you prefer SJSU in every way except the location, then consider “going away to college” at first, even though it’s close to home - you will be surprised how little it has to matter that your family home is close by. There’s no wrong choice here; just don’t give location too much weight. Either school will feel like a new world once you get there, even though you think SJSU is too nearby and familiar. Have you been out to Merced to get a feel for the campus and surroundings?
If money is not an issue (it always should be), then why do you want to stay in state.
ASU is up and coming and provides good aid. If you’re in engineering, it’s a win.
CU Boulder has a great program - but as you said you need to get a 3.0 - and UIUC is also top notch.
You’ve got great options - but if you’re going for assuredness, ASU is close to home. If you’re in Honors, I’ve read nothing but great things about Barrett.
I’m sure UC Merced is fine - but likely isolated and it’s newer…and then SJSU. Why stay so close to home - experience something new - and frankly, get yourself out of the Bay Area. While there’s no guarantee you’ll work where you go to school, the odds are better and the Bay Area is over the top expensive.
It’s really up to you - Boulder is awesome - great town and campus - but all you have to do is maintain a 3.0 - that means you have to maintain a 3.0 (it’s not that easy). It’s really a neat town though.
UIUC - very flat, i don’t personally like the campus. ASU - in the desert, not far from mountains, up and coming and you’re in engineering. It’s a huge school - but you’ll have a great social scene and sports. I’d imagine Merced is the opposite - but don’t know - and SJSU more commuters.
UIUC will make it very unlikely that you will get into the ME major. You need a 3.75 college GPA just to enter a competitive admission process to get into the ME major.
CU Boulder’s secondary admission to engineering majors is significantly less difficult, but is still a risk.
Any of ASU, SJSU, and UCM should be fine for ME. But how does cost and debt compare?
Thanks for the insightful reply!
I have visited the sjsu campus many times since it is nearby. I haven’t visited Merced but I have seen a lot of videos about the campus and in general I really like it. I’ve never thought of myself as a super picky person in terms of campus looks and surroundings as I am very good at adapting to the world around me. But I definitely love the modern and new look of Merced.
In terms of career, I really want to work around integrated fields of software engineering and mechanical engineering. This is basically robotics engineering which only UCSC offers(and where I am waitlisted). Cal poly slo also has a mechatronics program but I am waitlisted there as well. SJSU and merced both only have regular mechanical engineering so I may switch majors to software engineering at SJSU or CS at merced(depending on where I go). I feel like mechanical engineering by itself doesn’t have as much scope as just SE/CS alone.
So far, it sounds like I’m leaning a lot towards the merced side. But my main and largest concern with the school is that from what I have heard, it’s seen as a bad school. It’s seen as the worst UC and I’m sure a school’s reputation plays a big part when looking for jobs. Ultimately, I want to be able to have secured a job right out of school.
The reality is - there is no guarantee of a secured job anywhere. Even Harvard doesn’t have a 100% rate.
But if you got to an ABET school and you take advantage of all resources - on campus and on line - you will land an internship - and should you do a good job, you will land additional (either the same or a different company) and a job.
But there’s nothing assured. Much of last year’s class, due to no fault o their own, didn’t find jobs.
But most companies care about ABET accreditation as a minimum to apply. Today, most jobs are found on indeed and/or linked in vs. at the school.
There’s always going to be perceptions of “better” or “lesser” schools - but if you have the right attitude and work ethic, you’ll find your place. Ultimately, you need to spend four years somewhere, so choose the right school for you.
Just curious - why are you so focused on being in-state? I’m going to assume you got good merit aid at ASU? Nothing wrong with your choices but you applied to out of state schools - so why have you basically excluded them from your consideration set?
Arizona State seems to be pretty robust in this area https://robotics.asu.edu/ but it looks like the actual robotics degree programs (BSE and MS) are only at the Polytechnic campus, not Tempe.
Good luck with the decision! I have no idea what you can expect in terms of waitlist movement this year; just stay on top of your email, because they don’t give you much time to respond if they do make an offer! I knew a student who didn’t see her UCSC offer until hours before her deadline.
But SJSU and Merced are both good options - it really comes down to what’s important to you. Good luck!
Even though money isn’t too much of an issue, I would still rather pay less money to make it easier on myself and my parents. And since there are so many good options in state, it just doesn’t make sense to go outside.
My son holds a BS/MS from Cal Poly in ME with a concentration in Mechatronics and does exactly what you are interested in. Although the path is easier, because it’s laid out, you don’t need a concentration or degree to do that. You just need to wisely use your tech electives to essentially make your own concentration and put it into practice in a club or a local school project. You have plenty of time to sort that out as that coursework doesn’t come until 3rd and 4th year.
So for me the UC’s cost about 38k while ASU costs 40k after merit. Not much of a difference but something just makes me want to stay in CA. Maybe its the good weather
I think it’s not wanting to be away from mom - and that’s ok.
Not sure what kind of merit you got at CU - I don’t know anyone with a $38K. More like $48K (getting the $25K over 4 years) - but congrats to you.
All are good options. In the end, there’s a million engineers from a million schools ranging from your Michigans/Purdues to your Western Michigan or Middle TN State.
You’ll be fine in whatever you choose.
The important thing is work hard, immerse yourself into school, get tutoring when you get stuck (my son refuses), don’t run home just because you are close - because you are there to learn and grow, and work hard to find jobs. You’ll need to - but that’s ok - if you outwork the others, you’ll land one whereas they sometimes will struggle.
