<p>So I got accepted into Purdue for Actuarial Science and in general, I am looking to major in Finance, Statistics, or Actuarial Science. From what I’ve heard, Cal Poly SLO has a good engineering program. I haven’t heard much about any of its other programs. In terms of prestige, can Cal Poly SLO stack up against Purdue for any of those three fields? How about in terms of value? I would be paying a total cost of 25k at Cal Poly SLO and 42k at Purdue since I’m a California resident. Which one should I stick with?</p>
<p>SLO is highly ranked in agriculture, architecture, engineering and business. Bloomberg Businessweek’s 2014 ranking of US business schools has SLO’s Orfalea College of business raked at 70. Purdue is 57. <a href=“Bloomberg - Are you a robot?”>Bloomberg - Are you a robot?; </p>
<p>Is that business ranking more reliable than the us news undergraduate business ranking?</p>
<p>My son is majoring in actuarial science at Purdue, which offers an actual degree in Actuarial Science. He will graduate with a dual B.S. in Actuarial Science and Statistics, and a minor in management. This is doable in 4 years at Purdue. The campus has an active actuary club that features on campus recruiting from just about every big actuarial firm, insurance company and consulting group.</p>
<p>One of the very big plusses at Purdue is that it offers actual exam prep courses as part of its curriculum. This way, you can also graduate with 2-3 exams under your belt, which is a huge plus for job recruitment.</p>
<p>I am not familiar with Cal Poly’s actuary department - do they offer it as a major, or a minor? That said, it doesn’t really matter what degree you get (I know kids who graduated with math/econ degrees from liberal arts colleges, self-studied for the exams, and are now practicing actuaries). However, without a program in place (such as is offered by Purdue), you will be preparing for exams on your own time.</p>
<p>The savings in tuition is a big deal…but (1) make sure you can graduate from Cal Poly in four years (it is an impacted school), and (2) check out whether actuary recruitment is big there. Do they have a program in place? Do the homework on that one.</p>
<p>Another thing to consider is that going to school in California (Cal Poly) could make it more likely that you will find job opportunities in California. At Purdue, most of the actuarial recruitment opportunities seem to be with midwest employers.</p>
<p>That’s the thing. As much as I enjoy California, I don’t think I want to limit my opportunities to there. Because my impression with Purdue is that as far as job opportunities, it will give you a better opportunity at finding jobs everywhere else which basically means better overall job opportunity.</p>
<p>Cal Poly offers a minor in Actuarial Preparation!</p>
<p>Cal Poly offering an actuarial minor is a good sign. It shows that the school has an awareness of the particular requirements needed to become an actuary. As Cal Poly would be significantly cheaper for you, and is a wonderful and highly respected school, I recommend that you contact someone in the program to find out more about it. Specifically, find out whether they offer test prep courses as part of the minor (which is not essential, by the way, as you can prepare on your own), and whether they offer strong on campus recruiting for actuarial positions.</p>
<p>Also, just to be clear, at Purdue the major is not affiliated with the business school, although certainly many courses are taken there (econ, management and finance). Actuarial science is a heavy math/stats major and is offered in the College of Science, in the department of mathematics. It is likely the same at Cal Poly. Therefore, the rankings of their respective business schools are not in play for this major. I believe both schools would have highly ranked/respected math departments. </p>
<p>Sorry to keep posting, but in re-reading my posts I want to make another point clear! Whether the college offers exam prep courses or not, you must still put in a lot of your own time toward studying for the exams. My son takes the prep courses offered at Purdue, and must still self study for MANY hours for these exams. </p>
<p>I have a friend with that exact major and he loves it thus far. He has great contact with industry and already has internship offers as a freshman! Cal Poly has great costs, and I would reccommend going here and paying 25k versus the outrageous cost of Purdue when Cal Poly has better programs and is an overall better school. (NO bias lol)</p>
<p>Metalmonk, as much as MY bias is toward Purdue (lol), I would strongly recommend Cal Poly for you given the very significant cost difference. Have you been accepted yet? Good luck to you! It is indeed a wonderful major with excellent career prospects.</p>
<p>No Cal Poly acceptance letters do not come until the spring. However, my parents have just about thrown it out completely as a possibility so I wanted to get some input. </p>
Thank you for your answers. I will definitely look into Cal Poly SLO as an option.
be very cautious with your decision though. I have talked to employers like Intel and Cisco and they advised for me to look into “Tier 1” schools. Cal Poly may have a good reputation but in the end it is not a Tier 1 school. I suggest you look into UC’s like UCLA UCSD and UC Berkeley or even UCSB. Cal Poly is a CSU and is not considered a tier 1, employers like Cisco and Intel do not look at any other schools except for Tier 1’s. And im not biased or anything, don’t get me wrong. I’m still in CC and have applied to Cal Poly myself but I also applied to UC’s. I’m just letting you know what employers have told me at their seminars which has led me to look into UC’s rather than CSU’s despite the repuation but more of a prestige. Do research on the Nobel prizes that UCSB has, UC Berkeley has, and UCLA has as well.
Sorry, joogman23 but you are incorrect. Both Cisco and Intel DO recruit at Cal Poly and have an active relationship with the college. Here are three examples. I know of many people at Cal Poly who are currently working at both Intel and Cisco and were interviewed on campus
124—Cisco Advanced Networks Lab A $1 million joint industry effort from Cisco Systems and Intel Corporation established this state-of-the-art network lab. It contains enough equipment for 32 students to perform experiments simultaneously. The way the lab is configured allows us to do a lot of things that you couldn’t do at other universities in the nation – hands-on router configurations, router testing, starting with layer 1 and moving up the protocol stack. Hardware funding and ongoing support provided by Cisco Systems Inc
Also last spring, This spring, McAfee Inc., part of Intel Security, joined with Cal Poly to provide cutting-edge curriculum on a topic that evolves by the minute: cybersecurity.
Cisco Fest: Not-Your-Average Info Session
Date: October 8, 2014
Description
Learn more about the company that made the Internet what it is today. During Cisco Fest, we’ll give a Cisco overview, host a panel presentation with Cisco representatives, and review internship & entry-level opportunities available specifically for Cal Poly students. Food, prizes and ample time for networking will be provided.
Beside the actual program to consider there is the type of school and experience. CP is a great school, however, it is an impacted state school. It is typical California experience, a battle for resources whether housing or classes. Purdue gives you a different slice of life for four years, it may be good to see how other people live in other parts of the country. There is a lot of positive cause CP is a great school for the money, but on CC anything negative is quickly covered up by the cheerleaders on the forum (this happens on a lot of school sites btw). In talking to people with students there I have a better picture of the reality…some kids outgrow CP really quickly, getting classes is struggle, sometimes kids only carry 12 units or less cause they can’t get the classes they need to move forward, changing majors is a nightmare (although you will only read on here it is no problem) and minoring or double majoring isn’t going to happen. Count an extra year to be safe and don’t forget to deduct the money you would earn working if you weren’t still in school that 5th year in the equation. I got this information from people who attend, a parent over the holidays told me she knows several friends of her daughters that left cause they couldn’t get into the major they wanted after they changed their mind about careers freshman year. Of course people get hired out of CP, but any school you are considering will offer internships and job opportunities. Again, it is cheap, but you may get what you pay for. Or it could be a fabulous experience. See if these issues are issues at Purdue.
After all this, we considered it for our S (have some good private options now so don’t think it is still in the running), but you need to go into it with eyes wide open to both schools, the good the bad and the ugly.
you are correct calcruiser4life, but you have missed the actual concept of what we are talking about. For Engineering and Computer Science majors your statements would be actually correct. For Finance and Actuarial Science, companies like Intel and Cisco look else. Source: I took a visit with my class to Cisco. As for Intel, I attended a Seminar in Silicon Valley.
Once again, don’t get me wrong. CP is a really good college, you will just be competiting with graduates from UC Berkeley Haas, and Stanford. You will be at the bottom of the list when you are applying from a CSU or a college that is not Tier 1.
I have zero input into your question am not all qualified to answer, but I do find it curious that you selected the Cal Poly mascot for your avatar. 
So what tier do you place Purdue University at?
Yes Cal Poly is indeed one of my top choices so I decided to use an avatar no one else seems to be using.