I’m a engineering major who is currently attending community college that is looking to transfer after 2-2.5 years. When I graduate I wanna work at Walt Disney Inagineering. I am currently deciding if I want to a mechanical or electro engineer. Does it matter to Walt Disney Imagineering on what school I got my degree from? There are some schools that have good engineering programs that I want to go to (UCLA, USC, Cal Poly) and other schools that I also want to go to that have engineering but is not really known (GCU recently just added engineering as one of their programs and the first people to graduate as engineers are graduating soon).
I don’t have any particular insight into Walt Disney Imagineering as a career and its requirements. However, I’d be very wary of a program that just began offering engineering degrees. There is likely no accreditation, which is almost certain to be important for at least some Imagineering jobs since they have to do with producing rides and attractions for the general public. There is also likely to be a notable dearth of technical electives available since there simply hasn’t been enough time to develop them or hire enough faculty to add new ones.
https://www.gcu.edu/academics/academic-policies.php says that “Grand Canyon University remains committed to aligning the engineering and technology programs with accreditation standards and to exceed the high standards set by accrediting bodies to ensure STEM students receive a quality education. Before GCU’s engineering and technology programs can seek to be accredited, graduates must have earned a degree from the program. GCU will pursue accreditation as programs become eligible for consideration.”
Interesting that the paragraph sort of implies seeking ABET accreditation, but does not specifically mention ABET.
You can sort of reverse engineer this via LinkedIn. Log in, search for a school, look up alumni and where they work. What you won’t know, unless you stalk every profile, is whether or not it was their first job, internship, etc. You may also want to expand your options of first jobs. Do everything perfectly and landing a first job can still be challenging for a new grad. Most companies are looking for engineers with some experience. Personally, I’d choose a CA state school since you are in state. There are many good engineering programs in CA and it would be cheaper than USC, by a lot. I’d also be inclined to avoid a new school.
GCU doesn’t have ABET accredited Engineering. That ends everything. You need ABET accredited Engineering.
USC if it’s affordable but California state schools (CSUs, UCs) will offer excellent value and quality.
@CollegeKid354 - a lot of people wanna work at Disney Imagineering so you need to plan pretty carefully. What area do you want to work in? I know engineers who have ended up there in both animation and in theme park rides and they took very different educational paths. The key is you can’t just get any BSE degree - you really need to find an engineering program that is strong in what you want to do and get some hands-on experience, hopefully while you are still in school. UCLA is a great bet and they do allow transfers from CC - Cal Poly would be another good fit but before you choose a school see if you can’t find alumni who work in imagineering (LinkedIn is where I would start) and get some guidance from them or their resumes so you know what they majored in and where they interned / how much they did before they ended up at Disney. You can get there from here but it really requires a focused plan in addition to hard work and a little good luck!
Take a look at this link… perhaps you’ll find some leads for your research.
https://disneyimaginations.com/2019-imaginations-finalists/
Note - There are indded a lot of people who wanna work at Disney. That’s ok. As you study engineering, you will likely extend your areas of interest. For now, you have a good starting point.
Disney hires engineers from LOTS of schools.
However, your choice of college can influence how much interaction you may have with Disney (and it’s recruiters) while you’re in school.
Disney does heavily recruit at a set of targeted schools. They will be on campus, several times a year, presenting to student clubs, sponsoring events/design teams, as well as the normal career fair activities. I’m sure that’s the case at UCLA, USC, and Cal Poly but it wouldn’t be to the same degree at GCU.
It’s just one factor, among many to consider when picking a school.
Also, several schools have Theme Park Engineering & Design teams (like UF, University of Central Florida, Savannah College of Art and Design, Virginia Tech and the University of Michigan, to name a few). It’s a nice “plus” if the school has such a design team (since that’s your interest), but it’s hardly a requirement.
Is there a chance that the school can be Accredited by ABET this time next year? If so, should I consider it an option as one of the schools I should go to? Currently I am considering UCLA, USC, Cal State Fullerton, Cal Poly Pomona, ASU, GCU, and UNLV.
I grew up in Arizona, and GCU used to be a for profit institution until fairly recently. I would not give it a recommendation for engineering . They are not accredited, and for what you’re aiming for, the degree should be from a solid engineering school, like one of the Cal States or UCs or ASU or UNLV.
Dont be fooled by slick marketing. The established engineering schools are where the recruiters will be at.
I wouldn’t put GCU on the list. If you feel UCLA and USC are possible, why aren’t UCB and Cal Poly on your list? Both are very competitive, but good for what you’re looking for. You can do a mechatronics concentration at CP and cover what you want to do pretty well.
Ok, but what happens if ABET accredits GCU by this time next year when I can start sending applications. Should I consider it again or no?
ABET will take at least a year after they graduate their first class to accredit the program, so I would imagine they won’t be accredited before you have to decide.
Why the infatuation with GCU?
My question for you is…why? Why consider a rookie program with no track record that no person hiring will have any familiarity with when you have so many other options, especially with such high aspirations? To me it seems like the risk reward ratio isn’t there. Do you have a reason to see it otherwise?
@eyemgh, yup-exactly what I was going to suggest–>, great use of linkedin. To @CollegeKid354, you may also want to consider exactly what about Walt Disney Inagineering is so attractive to you and to consider if other companies would offer something similar. Is it the products, supposed vibe, etc? And what do you envision doing there. Like with colleges, don’t narrow your options prematurely. You also don’t want to be one down in terms of negotiating a position if you do end up with an offer from Walt Disney Inagineering. Explore other options. Find other potential employees that might offer something similar to what ever you view Walt Disney Inagineering as offering.
I have an interest in GCU because of the campus and people I can meet there and also I know some people who are going there. But I just wanna know if I should keep it on my list of schools I should apply to because of my unfamiliarity about the program and what makes a program good to employers. Besides GCU, the other schools on my list are: UCLA, USC, Cal Poly Pomona, ASU, Cal State Fullerton, and maybe UCI, UNLV, UCSD, and University of Arizona.
Asked my daughter, the Disneyfreak. She said you should do a term at the Disney College Program as that gets you Disney-fied and you’ll learn if you love it or not.
The Disney College Program is one of the things I plan to do during college. I got rejected for the fall 2019 program and I plan to keep applying for the program every semester. I heard that there are seminars where imagineers can talk to people and classes where you can learn things that can help you land a job with Disney.
Why not Cal Poly (the original, not Pomona, nothing against Pomona, just asking) or Berkeley. If you have a chance at USC and UCLA, you’d be close to being in the hunt for the two I mentioned.
A couple of years ago we had a tour guide at Cal Poly who was an Industrial Engineering major and had an internship at Disney.