Help choosing a school! Hard decision!

Colleges and Universities A-Z Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
1

<p>Hi, </p>

<p>I’m a little confused as of where I should go to school next year. There are many things I have taken into account. I hope you guys can give me some advice that will help me decide! I’m an Electrical Engineer transfer from Orange County. I will receive Cal Grants and possibly do work-studies but I can’t apply for federal loans. I will get around $8,000 from local scholarships this year. Also, I’m paying in-state tuition. I have been accepted to CSUF, CPP, CSULB, SJSU, Cal Poly SLO and UCSD so far (all for Electrical Engineering) and waiting on UCLA, UCD and UCI (safety). I will most likely hear from them until the last week of April/first week of May and I have to decide by May 1st. I will not attend SJSU, CSUF or CSULB. </p>

<p>It will take me 3 years to graduate.
Here’s the dilemma.</p>

<p>If I go to…</p>

<p>Cal Poly SLO (1st Choice): I’ve been to the campus and I love everything about it. Great engineering program, hands-on experience and the community is very supportive among each other. This is definitely where I want to go but… financial aid packages are not available until first week of April. I will get ~$6,000 from Cal Grants, the $8,000 from scholarships and possibly work-studies. I called and they said only 8% of their students get institutional scholarships so it will be hard to get more scholarship money. Cost of attendance minus Cal Grants and scholarships will be about $10,000. This will include living off-campus, tuition, books, transportation (taking car) and living expenses. Only way to attend is getting a private loan for the first year, but I’ve been told that’s not a good idea due to high interest rates. The second year and third year will force me to get a $16,000 private loan/per year (including Cal Grants) assuming I don’t get any scholarships or other type of aid. Once I graduate I will owe $42,000 of private loans. Ouch!</p>

<p>UCSD: I have never been to the campus but I hear they have a good engineering program. UCs were not in my plans due to their “theoretical approach” but their offer is pretty good. I saw my financial aid package and the cost of attending including scholarships for the first year will be $1,200 minus work-studies (TBA). I will get $12,000 from Cal Grants and a $10,000 UCSD grant so far. This includes living on campus, tuition, books, transportation (will not take my car), personal expenses and meals. So pretty much I won’t pay anything for the first year. For the last two years, I will owe altogether about $4000 of institutional grants and $14,000 of private loans (including Cal Grants) assuming I don’t get scholarships or any type of aid. </p>

<p>Cal Poly Pomona: I have been to the campus and I think it’s ok. CPP is SLO’s sister school which makes it a good choice due to their “hands-on approach” and their engineering program which I believe is pretty good. My financial aid package is not available yet but I will get ~$6,000 from Cal Grants and the scholarships I mentioned above. I will be living with parents, so all I really have to pay for is tuition, books, minor personal expenses and GAS. The commute is about 30-45 minutes which is not too bad but I will not get the college experience I would like. I will have money left over from scholarships the first year (about $6,000). I believe I could attend the second and third year without getting private loans, so I won’t have any debt after graduation. </p>

<p>Side Note: CSULB and CSUF will be the same scenario as CPP but I’ll rather go to CPP. </p>

<p>I know it’s a lot of information and I’m probably leaving out some other information. So bear with me. I truly appreciate your assistance and any advice. Thank you.</p>

2

<p>Different people will certainly have different perspectives based on preferences and finances. Trying to put myself in your shoes this is what at first glance I see:</p>

<p>*UCSD will give you true college experience will very little cost/debt. It is an amazing engineering school too.
*Do you really want to live at home in the case of Pomona?
*CP is fab, but you incur much more debt and that seems to be out of your comfort level.</p>

<p>Start eliminating as you have too many choices confusing you. Every time my son gets into another school he pretty much knows if it is under or over the current #1 choice in his mind at the time - and it is under, he eliminates it and moves on. UCD and UCI stuff came out a few days ago so you should know about those, check your portal.</p>

<p>You need to go to UCSD, it is a pretty cool campus and nothing wrong with San Diego! </p>

<p>Also and importantly, decide how much you want to spend/go into debt and only focus on schools that meet your criteria. Narrow it down…Good luck!</p>

3

<p>Thanks for the response CADREAMIN,</p>

<p>Like I said in my post, SLO is my first choice but I can’t go somewhere I cannot afford.
Most likely it will be between UCSD or Pomona. I did applied for the Marvin Arnold and Irene Jaquetta Heye Scholarship, which I believe I have a good chance of getting. If that’s the case I will definitely attend SLO! (crossing fingers)</p>

<p>I like what UCSD has to offer but I’m not sure how much “hands-on” will be involved. I don’t want to graduate and spend another year getting trained where I get hired. Anyone knows about UCSD Co-ops?</p>

<p>My friend said that Pomona is potentially the best choice because of the little to no debt after graduation. in addition to the “hands-on” approach which is very appealing to me.</p>

4

<p>I hope you get your scholarship and can attend CP SLO! But know you have some great choices if not. Did you try posting in the UCSD CC and see what people say about how much hands on?</p>

<p>I hear Pomona is very good too, didn’t know if you wanted to live with folks, but maybe you can start that way and after a while find another cheap living arrangement. If you are happy staying at home, why not? Someone to cook and do your laundry isn’t all that bad! You seem like you are being very sensible in your decision and not wanting to take on too much debt. Hopefully you find a middle ground (with scholarship help) at SLO, sometimes you have to spend money to make money as they say, so incurring a little debt I believe would be ok for the job opportunities somewhere like SLO could get you. And being really happy those 4+ years is worth something I would think.</p>

<p>If you can visit UCSD, I think you will know if you like it or not at that point, that is what Osakadad and other pros say on here, gotta visit the school and have that “Hallmark” moment where it just feels right (or not). I do hear that UCSD is very competitive in that everyone is overly concerned with GPA, to a fault, if that makes sense. So it would be good to see if some CC posters will respond to your questions about the hands on opportunity and culture.</p>

<p>Please let us know what you decide and how it all works out! And while I sound all together, we don’t know which school of 4 choices my S will make either. But just have to wait for the open houses for the final vote. We have been to all of them, but need a second go round with more specific major information.</p>

5

<p>Thanks CADREAMIN. I will start a post about UCSD co-ops. </p>

<p>Well, I have been living with my parents for these past three years while attending CCC. It will be nice to have a change of environment. In regards with debt, it’s not that I don’t want the debt, but I’m not even sure if I can qualify for private loans. In addition, so far it seems like there is a very competitive atmosphere at UCSD, which is something I really dislike. Unlike UCSD, Cal Poly students are very friendly and cooperative with each other. At least that is what I perceived the two times I have been on the campus. </p>

<p>I will attend UCSD Transfer Admit Day to get a feeling of what UCSD is all about and I will go from there. I will hear from UCI, UCD and UCLA until late April. UCLA/UCD might become a choice depending on my financial aid offers. </p>

<p>What are your son’s choices? Top choice so far? Is he waiting to hear from more schools?</p>

6

<p>I agree, what I really noticed at CP is a collaborative environment verus cutthroat competitive. If Pomona is like SLO in that way then big thumbs up. Ya, UCSD is supposed to be brutally competitive about GPAs but certainly there must be some there that are going for more college/life learning than just GPA - so that may be just a generalization. But it was my son’s guidance counselor and 2 very good friends that attended there that said the same thing. So it is worth checking out that stereotype to see if it is true, especially if you don’t like it.</p>

<p>Because you are doing all this research (and getting into all these places) that shows you are a good student that will do well wherever you go. You seem driven enough to make it happen through work study or something. The uncertainty of the finances is making it hard to narrow for now, so you probably just have to wait till you know more, and in the meantime if you can check out the stronger possibilities that would be cool. But you have a great option in Pomona it seems, so relax, at least there is still a really good plan if your favorite doesn’t work. Having one good option (that works financially and is good school) in your pocket is sweet.</p>

<p>S has it narrowed down to CP, USC, UCLA, (admitted in those) and Cal (waiting to hear) for EE. Got into other UCs (UCD, UCI, and UCSD) cause he way over-applied, but we had no idea what to expect so have ruled those out. Also got into some privates (yes, again he over-applied) but they have been ruled out cause engineering not as strong and they are a little small/quiet for his taste. I would love to know the answer now, but he needs to go to admit day to 3 of those to be sure. So the waiting continues.</p>

7

<p>don’t go to UCSD without having first spent time on the campus. There is something about the way the campus is architected… that is, sterile ugly buildings, spread out, not a true campus center, and lack of D1 sports that makes the campus sort of unsocial. The parties are at SDSU, which is more of a true big time college experience – problem is that is a 15 minute drive without traffic.</p>

<p>If you are OK with that atmosphere, then more power to you. Read a few of the posts over at students review . com (take out spaces), and you’ll get an idea of what I’m talking about.</p>

8

<p>@CADRAMIN
Definitely cutthroat competitive is not what I’m looking for. UCSD seems like a good deal but I’m just wondering if it’s very competitive just for the weeder classes or throughout the entire program. Something to keep in mind.
I will wait until late April and hopefully my other admission/financial aid packages are available by then. Thank you very much for your support and advice. </p>

<p>@DunninLA
That is another good point. I will go to the Admit Transfer Day and check it out myself. Thanks for the warming hahaha. I’m not big on parties, but it be nice once in a while.
I’m definitely checking out UCSD posts.
Thanks</p>

9

<p>You need to go to each school’s admitted student’s day. Then go with your gut. My kid got into many of the schools you mentioned and at the end of the day his choices were:</p>

<ol>
<li>Cal Poly SLO</li>
<li>UCSD</li>
<li>Cal Poly Pomona</li>
<li>UCSB</li>
<li>UCI</li>
<li>UCSC</li>
<li>UCLA</li>
</ol>

<p>Cal Poly SLO was way out front. UCSD was second by a mile and the rest including CPP were pretty far behind with UCLA being surprisingly at the bottom. That specific program was just a complete mismatch. If he had not chosen CP SLO he would have gone to UCSD. My kid really thought that the faculty and kids at UCSD were bright folks that he could identify with. It is a great program, but alas it really is more theory than hands on. One professor made it very clear to us that their goal was to prepare our “scholar” for graduate school as a first priority.</p>

<p>Here is my suggestion. Don’t count CP SLO out if you really love the place. CPP is like CP SLO in many ways, but it just ain’t the same program. My son is home from Spring Break now and just informed me that many of his colleagues are getting internships that pay $10,000 over the summer and a co-op can pay as much as $20,000. This will go a long way to reduce costs and debt. These programs often end up in job offers if you perform well. So, don’t count these things out as you may not incur as much debt as you think you might and I wouldn’t want you to give up on a opportunity that you really desire. Also, you will graduate as an EE. We are talking about top dollar here. Starting salaries for EE’s can be among the highest offered for engineers. So, loan repayment will be easier. It will be like a car payment for a new vehicle.</p>

<p>So, you need to factor in these things as well. Before you write off Cal Poly, call the school and talk to career services and see if what I say is feasible to mitigate costs. If not, then choose UCSD powerfully and don’t look back.</p>

10

<p>To be fair, I must add that internships and co-ops are NOT guaranteed. Just be sure to have at least a 3.0 GPA at Cal Poly and be very proactive in getting these opportunities. Go to every career fair and get to know the recruiters. Speak to professors with industry contacts and network. The great thing is that most Cal Poly students that apply themselves consistently in their search do get internships or co-ops.</p>