<p>I'm looking to transfer to one of these universities for a BS in mechanical engineering to work in the defense/ space industry: </p>
<p>-Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
-Cal Poly Pomona
-San Jose State University
-UC Berkeley
-UC Davis
-UC Santa Barbara
-UC Irvine
-Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Prescott (accepted as ME w/ propulsion concentration)
-University of Arizona (accepted as ME)
-Boise State University (accepted as ME)
-Texas A&M </p>
<p>Please LIST them because I am trying to prioritize the schools as I receive decisions. Also, please provide reasoning if possible. </p>
<p>Berkeley is far above all the other schools on this list in terms of prestige, networking, recruiting, etc… that doesn’t necessarily mean the quality of the in-class teaching is better, or that the quality of content delivery is better.</p>
<p>Next, UCD, UCI, and UCSB all have outstanding undergraduate programs at institutions with solid graduate programs.</p>
<p>For the undergraduate-focused schools with no PhD programs, San Luis Obispo is highly regarded for being one of the best engineering programs in the country at schools that do not have PhD programs.</p>
<p>After that, I would put SJSU and Cal Poly Pomona.</p>
<p>U Arizona has a solid program, but it is not as well known in engineering… in fact, I think ASU has a significantly stronger engineering program, whereas AU is more known for its outstanding sciences. But I am sure you can get a solid, respected engineering education at Arizona.</p>
<p>Erin’s Dad, Boise State would be about the same (or maybe even less) than attending a school in California for me. If ERAU, Texas A&M, or the University of Arizona offer a good enough education and job opportunities, I will take the loans necessary to make it happen.</p>
<p>fractalmstr, I’m not sure you remember, but I actually contacted you about ERAU recently and you gave me some excellent info. The schools that I’ve visited include: </p>
<p>-Cal Poly SLO
-UC Berkeley
-UC Davis
-UCSB (I currently attend Santa Barbara City College)
-University of Arizona’s Lunar & Planetary Institute (but I hardly remember it)
-ERAU, but its been a while and the last time I was there, I didn’t know what to pay attention to. </p>
<p>Ideally, I’d go to Cal Poly as I love the department and environment, plus, a lot of my friends are in the ME and AE programs there. UC Davis is close to home and to companies for which I’d like to work such as Aerojet-Rocketdyne. My toughest decision will be choosing between ERAU and UC Davis if I am accepted. I’m not much of a fan of Berkeley based on its location and environment, and my friends there have said that extracurricular opportunities exist primarily in the form of research rather than rewarding projects. I don’t know much about Texas A&M except that it excels in engineering, so I’m not sure exactly where it would fit in; the same goes for the rest of the schools on the list.</p>
The job opportunities for the same field won’t be any better at those Us than in-state. Companies don’t pay more for the same job for a grad of A&M vs a grad of Cal Poly. And as a student you are limited to a max of $7500/year as a Jr and Sr. Your parents would have to take out those loans. Are they willing to do that? That being said, southern Cal is chock full of aerospace companies.</p>
<p>I would love to stay in California for school if I am accepted to Cal Poly (my dream school) or one of the UCs; I applied to out-of-state schools just in case. I am currently paying for my education with a parent PLUS loan, but I will be the one to pay it off once I begin my career. Please inform me if I’m wrong, but I believe the $7500/year limit is only for federal loans, and I will be switching to private loans in the future. Also, I will be independent for at least one school year after I transfer so I wouldn’t need PLUS loans. To answer your question, they would be willing to take out the loans, but I will be responsible for actually paying them back.</p>
<p>Funny enough, it hit me right after I submitted my earlier post! :)</p>
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<p>If you ideally see yourself at Calpoly, why is your final decision only between ERAU and UC Davis?</p>
<p>Honestly, you really can’t go wrong with any of the schools on your list. At this point it’s a matter of figuring out what you can afford and deciding on a campus that you like best.</p>
<p>Sorry for being unclear. Cal Poly is definitely at the top of my list, but I have doubts that I will be accepted; I was denied last year when I applied. I attempted an appeal which was unsuccessful, and they informed me that the average GPA for ME transfer acceptance was 3.68 and only 30 out of 469 ME transfer applicants were admitted (~6.4%). I actually spent today visiting my friends at Cal Poly and there is no doubt that I love that school, but as I said, I doubt I will get in. UC Davis, ERAU, and maybe Texas A&M are next on my list. Do you have any insight on the department at UCSB? I live near the campus, but I have yet to check out their engineering department. What about SJSU?</p>
<p>I would still take the subsidized federal loans, however, Wells Fargo offers student loans with a slightly lower interest rate that the unsubsidized federal loans, so I will be looking into that.</p>
<p>I have also been offered $7500/year scholarship to Embry-Riddle.</p>
<p>*Cal Poly is definitely at the top of my list, but I have doubts that I will be accepted; I was denied last year when I applied. *</p>
<p>You applied last year? ARe you saying that you’ve only gone to a CC for a semester and you’ve applied to those UCs and CSUs? Don’t you have to transfer as an incoming junior?</p>
<p>Are your parents willing to cosign private loans for each year? Will they qualify?</p>
<p>I wasn’t a freshman and I applied to transfer as an incoming junior. It’s pretty impossible to complete lower division engineering at a community college in just two years; my school’s engineering curriculum is expected to at least take 3 years, and even that is a stretch. I didn’t apply to enough schools last year, and I wasn’t accepted to schools that I believed would serve me well, so I decided to spend another year bringing up my GPA and taking further lower division engineering courses at a different school that my previous community college didn’t offer.</p>
<p>My parents wouldn’t have a problem cosigning a loan and I wouldn’t think that qualifying would be an issue.</p>
<p>Apply to U New Mexico and that NM Tech school (both public). Both are known to give merit to transfers… They need more students. They both have fine eng’g programs.</p>