Which engineering schools, NATIONALLY, (private/public, small/big, liberal arts/professional) are most like Cal Poly SLO?
Cal Poly strengths:
1.Undergraduate focus
2.Practical emphasized over theoretical
3.Lots of hand-on opportunities
3.Attractive to down-to-earth students who want to work immediately as real engineers.
4.Strong Mechanical Engineering / Robotics
Franklin Olin College of Engineering, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Colorado School of Mines
Missouri S & T
New Mexico Tech
Virginia Tech
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
RPI, Purdue Poly maybe, Stevens, NYU Tandon
The closest things to Cal Poly in other states are probably “mines schools”. These are smaller tech-focused state universities which were originally established to serve the mining industry, but which now cover engineering and computer science generally. They differ from Cal Poly in that they don’t handle agriculture, but it doesn’t sound like that is your interest.
Such schools include Colorado School of Mines, Missouri S&T, Michigan Tech, South Dakota Mines, Montana Tech, and New Mexico Tech. The last three might be of particular interest if you are from Seattle, because they are WUE schools. This means that they discount their normal out-of-state tuition rate for residents of other western states, including Washington. So they are likely to be your cheapest options.
There are also private, undergraduate-oriented tech schools (which are likely to be more expensive). If you do FIRST Robotics, then Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) might be of interest because of its close relationship with FIRST. Other options in the northeast would include Olin College, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) and Stevens Institute of Technology. Rose-Hulman would be an option in the Midwest.
Lehigh is another northeastern school to consider, especially if you want to combine practical engineering/computer science with practical business/management. I once heard a Californian describe Lehigh as “a cross between Cal Poly and the Ivy League”.
Actually, CPSLO’s bachelor’s graduates are only 28% in engineering majors, and CPSLO offers many other majors (e.g. agriculture, business, various liberal arts). CPSLO is also significantly larger than many of the small engineering focused schools named in this thread.
@ucbalumnus Would you consider Virginia Tech comparable to CPSLO?
You’re right, but the OP is looking for “undergraduate focus”, and that is most likely to be found at smaller schools. Cal Poly is an exception; it has remained undergraduate-focused despite its large size, presumably due to its position within the CSU system. The State of California has traditionally reserved PhD-level research for the UC system, so Cal Poly has not developed in that direction.
VT is probably more comparable in size and distribution of majors, as well as more rural location. A potentially significant difference is that VT is a PhD-granting research university, while CPSLO grants bachelor’s and master’s degrees.
CPSLO and VT also handle admission to engineering majors differently. CPSLO admits directly to majors, while VT admits to a frosh general engineering program and need to earn a 3.0 GPA to be assured of getting into their desired engineering majors (those with lower GPAs face competitive admission for space available).
Thanks @ucbalumnus.
Yes, to FIRST. In fact, just advanced at last weekend’s FTC West super-regionals to ‘worlds’ in Huston.
Admission at VT to a frosh general engineering program by itself is not a problem. Grades are good. The concern with PhD-granting institutions is that their research opportunities.are not personally as attractive as real-world engineering opportunities.
Have pre-paid Washington credits. So WEU is attractive.
The 3.0 GPA is the college GPA needed to assure admission into a specific major at VT. Remember that a 3.0 GPA is harder to earn in college than in high school. VT’s average GPA is about 3.15 ( http://www.gradeinflation.com/Virginiatech.html ).
One thing to be aware of is that most of the schools discussed above have a distinctly “nerdy” vibe that may or may not be appealing. This is manifested in (1) male-dominated enrollment, and (2) lack of Division I sports.
Cal Poly, as noted above, has other things besides engineering (including agriculture, business, and liberal arts), and so it does not have this nerdy vibe to the same degree. For example, Cal Poly has relatively balanced male/female enrollment, and does have Division I sports. Lehigh or Virginia Tech would be similar to Cal Poly in these respects, but most of the other schools listed above would not.
Note that there is another Cal Poly (Pomona) that has some similarities to CPSLO in that it has many majors (though not agriculture, and engineering is a smaller percentage of students) and is a bachelor’s / master’s degree granting university. However, CPP is not in a rural area and has a significantly higher percentage of commuter students.
OP your WA pre paid credits (GET I assume) are good at any school. WUE schools may give you a discount up to 150% of their in state price depending on their policy (varies by school) but your GET value will not change and there is zero relationship between the 2 programs.
Right now it is $117 per credit and can be applied anywhere. You’ll just get more for your money using them at at WUE school.
That said, SLO is one of the more reasonably priced out of state options. Colorado School of Mines compares favorably for setting however it is more intense than SLO, seems to draw a different personality type. Nerdy versus balanced is part of it which will be common at some of the more tech or mines focused schools. So the “attractive down to earth” aspect might be a bit more difficult to find in combination with some of the other SLO highlights you are after.
Cal Poly SLO was the original “Cal Poly” campus. Cal Poly Pomona was established as a Los Angeles-area “branch” campus of CPSLO, and it eventually became independent.
CPSLO is located far from any major cities. CPP, on the other hand, is located within commuting distance of literally millions of people. If you are from the Greater LA area, you can live at home while studying at CPP, and get a very respectable degree at a remarkably low cost.
The downside to CPP is that it’s relatively dead in the evenings and on weekends – because so many students leave the campus area to go home. At CPSLO, everybody sticks around, because it’s too far to go home. So the social atmosphere is much better at CPSLO.
For out-of-staters, commuting is not an option, so CPP doesn’t offer any cost savings. Out-of-staters tend to prefer CPSLO, because it is somewhat more selective and has a much better social atmosphere. According to College Navigator, CPSLO has 17% out-of-state/international enrollment, while CPP has only 3%.
In California, the closest school to Poly in ME reputation, along with how they teach ME is probably Santa Clara.
I wonder how San Jose Sate compares.