<p>I was wondering what most students do after they complete undergrad? Do many go on to Grad school… and if so where? Are they competetive for entry into Cornell, Berkeley, Stanford, MIT, CMU? Thanks!</p>
<p>Most seem to go straight to work.
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<p><a href=“https://www.careers.calpoly.edu/search.php[/url]”>https://www.careers.calpoly.edu/search.php</a></p>
<p>My son was offered an internship @ Lockheed just on the basis of getting accepted into AE - he had yet to take a class - and I’ve heard this is not all that unusual. Companies have their hooks into Cal Poly to such an extent that they influence the curriculum and sponsor “research”. I’ll leave it to you to figure out the good news/bad news aspects of this which, btw, is not just prevalent @ CP.</p>
<p>gotpeter^ Are you saying that your son was offered an internship as a freshman? Did he take it? What would they have him do?</p>
<p>I am sure that a student can get into a good graduate program if that is what they want to do. They have a 4-1 Masters program at CP for Materials Engineering, so I am hoping that my son can do that if he enjoys Materials.</p>
<p>I think we all realize part of the perks at CP in Engineering is the strong ties to industry. It is why many students choose CP in the first place. Getting a job is a big plus!</p>
<p>I know this thread is about Engineering jobs, but my daughter will be in Kinesiology where finding a job in that field after graduation probably won’t be in her favor. She wants to be an occupational therapist which requires 2 more years of grad. school (or a 5 year bachelor’s to master’s program at another school). Since she’ll be at Cal Poly, the latter won’t be an option. But, hopefully she’ll have a great lead-in to OT grad schools with her Kinesiology major and health sciences advising. AND, I hope she’s not too burnt out or broke to attend grad school! Yikes. Without that, she won’t have the career she’s been interested in for the past couple of years. </p>
<p>I mention that because one of my older girls got her BS in Biology at another state school years ago and had every intention of getting an MS or even a Ph.D at one time. (She had this vision of becoming a professor and showing them how it’s SUPPOSED to be done.) 
That was after having a couple of doozies! Anyway, it took her 6 years just to complete her BS. Some of that was not being able to get certain classes and having to wait a semester. She also had gone abroad for a semester, although I was under the impression the classes she took all counted toward her degree. She did change her major (from Journalism to Bio) after the first year, though. Believe me, she didn’t goof around. She worked on campus and was on the Dean’s List every year and President’s List her last semester. So, by then I think all she wanted to do is get a job to help pay off her student loans. Grad school went on the back burner, unfortunately. Oh, she did get into the teaching credential program, but after substitute teaching for a year, decided it wasn’t the profession for her. Too bad—she would have loved the summers and holidays off! ;)</p>
<p>Anyway, my point is, not all majors at Cal Poly are going to get you right out into the work force in your field with a decent salary. It’s obvious that Engineering and Architecture are definitely Poly’s strong points, but I rarely hear any of the other majors mentioned when it comes to “good jobs” right out of undergrad. Just be prepared for 2 more years of school for that to happen.</p>
<p>momofmv; No, this came from a Senior VP who essentially said, 'Whenever you are ready there’s an internship waiting for you @ Lockheed" which would probably be in the summer of his junior year. Sorry to have been misleading.
We used to do the same thing @ HP. Its taking a page from the Catholic Church:
“get em young and you got em for life!”
Very effective.</p>
<p>thanks gotpeter! That makes more sense now. My husband did an internship with Kaiser from SJSU and he still works there! Internships can be a good way to get experience and your foot in the door.</p>
<p>I graduated from the Cal Poly College of Engineering in 2005 with a B.S. in Computer Science. After graduation I worked briefly as a software engineer, went on to law school, and am now a graduate student at Harvard. I found myself very competitive for all of my applications, and did quite well in my programs. Engineering seems to be a great foundation for future academic endeavor. Feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions about grad programs: <a href=“mailto:sawagner@fas.harvard.edu”>sawagner@fas.harvard.edu</a></p>
<p>Thank you Patentlawyer. it is great to see a success story from Cal Poly. I also like seeing that an engineering degree can lead to many careers and options.</p>