<p>so, i have to pick out the colleges i am applying to soon, and I wanted to do industrial engineering. My unweighted GPA is 3.75 and my weighted is 3.97. Im really not too sure if I want to do industrial engineering or accounting. i took a community college accounting course, and I liked it... i did very well. i also want to do industrial engineering because it seems pretty fun and they have higher starting salaries. my sat score is 2130, and i have decent ec's. the only instate industrial engineering schools for me are cal poly, berkeley, stanford, and usc (i live in california), and my parents really want me to stay instate. i cant get into any of these schools with my scores, (cal poly is a maybe, but my parents dont really like that school) and they dont want me to go to community college either. What do i do. should i just apply as an accounting major? i guess i dont hate the subject, but im so stressed right now. i know im not really asking a clear cut question, but im just throwing in a bunch of information. please, any advice would help.</p>
<p>Are you in the top 9% of your class? I think you are guaranteed to get into some UC then.</p>
<p>@theanaconda HAHA, no. i wish. my schools if kinda competitive. 3.75 puts me in the 70th percentile at my class.</p>
<p>Why do your parents want you to stay instate? Is it a cost thing? Or do they just not want you to go far away? Why do they not like Cal Poly (SLO or Pomona?) Both are great schools, probably the best in the CSU system for STEM stuff. </p>
<p>Also, not sure if it means anything to you, but you have a shot at USC. </p>
<p>I am concerned about the strategy of creating your college list based on a major when you are so unsure about your major and career plans. Have you tried the SuperMatch tool (available on the left side of this page). It is a great way to sort hundreds of colleges for all of the other factors, like size, location, and selectivity.</p>
<p>@SiliconValley ok, but what else would i choose a college on? i want to do either industrial engineering or accounting and if i dont like the schools, i can transfer junior year. ill apply as an industrial engineering major and switch to accounting if i dont like engineering. IE is not offered at many schools, so i dont have the best of choices. what else can i do? there really isnt a way around it is there</p>
<p>@butterfreesnd i dont really know why my parents want me to stay in state. they say that if i got out of state, like to virginia tech (where i want to go), then i will probably only visit for winter and summer, and maybe at most one other time. its not a cost issue (they paid 60k a year for 4 years for my sisters usc tuition), but they are still telling me to take advantage of instate tuition.</p>
<p>also, is cal poly pomona still good. how much better would my job prospects be if i got to SLO instead of pomona. most poeple in my area think of pomona as ■■■■, and SLO as decent. my parents dont like it because it is really highly regarded like berekely or usc or ucsd in the indian community (im indian), but they’ll let me go to cal poly SLO if i dont et into any other in state school. They would prefer cal poly SLO over any out of state like virginia tech, but they still dont like the school just for their reputation. its a good engineering school, but not really a good overall school.</p>
<p>but yeah, do u mind telling me how much greater my job prospects at SLO would be than pomona, in other words, really how much worse is pomona than SLO. cause u make it seem that pomona is decent; however ive heard from my friends and classmates that its utter ■■■■.</p>
<p>@toesockshoe: It is unfortunate so many parents and students get hung up on college rankings. There are so many great universities out there, but many people have the ranking tunnel vision. The Cal polys are highly ranked but mainly known on the West Coast as opposed to UCLA/UCB. Overall SLO is more highly ranked than Pomona and also more selective since they accept less students. SLO has more programs ranked higher than Pomona, but the three programs (Engineering/Sciences and Architecture) at Pomona are as competitive and highly sought after just like the programs at SLO. I copied a very good post by UCBUSalum regarding Accounting/Finance programs for CSU/UC’s since you show some interest.</p>
<p>:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
The UC’s do offer accounting concentration either thru the undergraduate business schools or the economics departments (business economics or management in the econ. dept.).</p>
<p>There 3 undergraduate business schools in the UC system: 1) UC Berkeley’s Haas; 2) UC Riverside; and 3) UC Irvine. I believe UCI’s is the only UC which admits freshmen to its business school. UCI started its undergrad bus. school a few years ago. Haas is the most difficult to get into and you would need to apply during your sophomore year as a UCB student for admission as a junior. You need about a 3.7 gpa from UCB to be admitted. Haas also admits junior transfers from community colleges (CC and you’ll need around a 3.8 gpa to get in). Haas might take transfers from other UC’s and other colleges, but because space is very limited and priority is given to UCB applicants and CC transfers, there are not many spaces available for other UC’s or other colleges transfers. Haas is rated as one of the top 10 best undergraduate business schools in the country.</p>
<p>Alternatively, you can acquire an accounting concentration thru the economics departments at UCLA, UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara or UC Santa Cruz. I have not heard of UCSD to have such a program, but you should check their website. You might have to supplement the accounting courses with other business/accounting class thru extension programs or CC in order to meet the new CPA license requirements if you want to be a CPA (refer to the CA St. Board of Accountancy website). This also applies to Haas. Alternatively, you can meet the new requirements by getting a Masters in Accounting from UCI, UCI, USC or any colleges which offer it. A MBA from UCB or UCLA would be an overkill because these are top ranked MBA’s and students getting these MBA’s would not work in “lower” pay CPA firm jobs to get the CPA experiences. You might want to refer to some of my comments in the Graduate Business School section discussions.</p>
<p>The CSU’s (SLO, SDSU, CSUF, CSUN, SJSU, CSULB, CPP) mentioned above also offer finance major or concentration. The UC’s undergraduate business schools and economic departments offer finance concentration too.</p>
<p>I believe the order ranking of schools offering accounting in CA are:</p>
<p>1) UC Berkeley Haas;
2) USC Leventhal (the business school is also highly ranked nationally, a MACC is also available);
3) UCLA business econ (it might be a close 2nd place with USC);
4) I believe the UC’s are next, especially UCSB and UCD;
5) Cal Poly SLO; maybe Santa Clara Univ.
6 and below: the best ranked CSU’s, some private schools such as USF, Pepperdine, etc.</p>
<p>I don’t want to offend anyone but definitely most people would agreed with me regarding the top 4. Definitely, if you have aspirations to work in a large accounting firm, you would need top grades in college. The more elite your school, your grades can be a little less than someone from a less prestigious school. There are other factors considered, such as communication skills, presentation, appearances, etc.</p>
<p>USC is by far the highest ranked private college in CA for undergraduate accounting and finance. I don’t know much about other private colleges, but, in my opinion, I think Santa Clara Univ. is a distant 2nd for private colleges.</p>
<p>I would also rank the finance schools the same as above.</p>
<p>The large accounting firms (Big 4, next tier of international firms such as BDO, Grant Thornton, etc.) recruit from the UC’s and CSU’s for full time and intership positions. There are more positions going to UC grads than the CSU’s. In Northern CA, the large accounting firms like Haas. There are also new hires from USC, UCLA and other big name undergrad bus. schools from other parts of the country (i.e., Notre Dame, Cornell, Penn, etc.). In So. CA, the large accounting firms hire many from USC, UCLA and other big name schools from other parts of the country, including Haas. In both No. and So. CA, there are fewer positions available with large accounting firms for CSU grads.::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::</p>
<p>If you do well in any academic setting, you will succeed in your life. Just going to a “prestigious” university will not agree a job or success. You also need to consider fit. If you are unhappy at a university, your grades and esteem will suffer only making more it difficult to succeed. Visit as many as your prospective schools and see where you feel at home. Good Luck.</p>
<p>I think I’ve read here, UCSD has minor in Accounting.</p>
<p>Hmmm, it sounds like your parents want to keep you close more than anything, and are kind of trying to use the price to put up a little bit of a smokescreen. This isn’t really a problem, except that of the 4 schools in CA that offer a major you’re interested in, you have very little chance at two of them, and they disapprove of one. They’re kind of boxing you into a corner. Do you personally have any problem with only coming home two or three times a year? Or is it more of a parental issue on their part?</p>
<p>And about Cal Poly SLO and Pomona; I’m in NJ, and nobody knows either of them out here, they would probably just assume it’s on a similar level to any other state school. They are both good schools, and while you say that it’s only the engineering that’s good, that’s what they specialize in. They’re called polyTECHnic institutes for a reason - they deal in STEM stuff. Williams is one of the top schools in the country, but I would never recommend it to someone interested in engineering, just like I probably wouldn’t recommend MIT to a potential gender studies/English double major. A school doesn’t have to be good at everything to be a good school. As far as them being reputable schools, I always hear on CC that for impacted majors Cal Poly SLO is harder to get into than some UCs (Merced, Riverside, probably Irvine). Some numbers from their CDSs though:</p>
<p>Cal Poly Pomona: 22.82% of incoming freshmen last year had a GPA of 3.75 or higher</p>
<p>SAT 25%tile to 75%tile:
R: 450 - 560
M: 470 - 610</p>
<p>Cal Poly SLO: 65% of incoming freshman last year had a GPA of 3.75 or higher</p>
<p>SAT 25%tile to 75%tile:
R: 550 - 640
M: 580 - 680</p>
<p>So, while SLO is definitely the better school numbers-wise, I wouldn’t call Cal Poly Pomona “utter poo” as your friends and classmates so delicately put it. Their 25% is decently above the average SAT score of the students in this country, which is nothing to scoff at. </p>
<p>TL;DR: You and your parents can’t afford to be so picky when there are a limited number of schools that offer your intended major. They need to relax either the OOS criteria or the perceived prestige criteria. </p>
<p>toeshockshoe, UCD is also good for accounting. My daughter did some work with some people graduated from UCD and they are doing accounting work.
USC is good for industrial engineering and accounting but the price tag is high, most people can’t afford it without financial aid.</p>
<p>@butterfreesnd I KNOW, im not being picky. i told my parents I really dont have a good change with cali schools. Cal Poly is the only maybe. I dont mind going away, its mainly a parental issue. What do you recommend I do? Should I just go out of state now, I thought Virginia Tech might be a good option. Or should I go to community college and fancy my chance there by try transferring out to USC or berkeley. Either way, I think I can end up in Virginia Tech both ways (i think a transfer to virginia tech from community college is quite easy right)</p>
<p>@DrGoogle My parents paid for my sisters 4 years at USC with no scholarship for a pretty useless degree. I don’t know how they stand financially now (she is graduating this year) so they might be a little tight with money cause that is about 240k spent on my sis’s education. That might be the problem. One child is leaving college and the other is ending. My sisters college might have put a dent in their budget, so I probably wont be able to go to such an expensive school without scholarships, which I probably wont get at USC due to its high competition and my mediocre stats.</p>
<p>Mine didn’t get anything either, just a small scholarship about $5K/year. So she didn’t pick USC and picked a different school. She is very happy with her choice right now.</p>
<p>@DrGoogle if you dont mind me asking, what school was that. Also, what do you think the max I should pay for year is?</p>
<p>My daughter has Regents at UCSD so she is now paying $7.1K per quarter excluding health insurance, etc… This amount has room and board but not spending money and books. I think it should be more or less $30K for a UC, it depends on the location. I think UCB and UCLA and UCSB are expensive locations for housing.
I think Cal Poly SLO maybe cheaper. I think it’s known for business.</p>
<p>@DrGoogle wow, you must be proud of your daughter. She seems very smart.</p>
<p>@toesockshoe, your parents would probably hit the roof if you mentioned this but, CSU-Long Beach has an accounting major and engineering. They don’t have an “industrial engineering” major per se, but what they do have is fantastic internship leads and they are very “workable” with your engineering specialty. </p>
<p>(My son and I visited the campus and met with the Dean of Computer Engineering, last year, as well as their engineering counselor and they squeezed us in knowing we were from out of town! Very nice and accommodating staffs everywhere! Son applied there and got in, but chose Caltech.) </p>
<p>The school gets over 70K apps per year, but I think your stats would get you in. </p>
<p>The school’s engineering program has actively and successfully sought out the corporate companies that have their in Orange County. The Long Beach students have job offers before a lot of their peers at the UC’s! Boeing is leasing buildings from CSULB and grabs engineering interns right from campus labs. The engineering department has ties to almost every firm in Redondo and Hermosa Beach and places their interns at those large companies. </p>
<p>Think about it and talk to your parents. Have them look at the website. It’s a lot less expensive than the UC’s.</p>
<p>@"aunt bea" HAHAHA youre funny. my parents think cal poly SLO, purdue, and virginia tech are horrible schools. They’ll kill me if i tell them i want to go to CSU long beach.</p>
<p>Boeing is not hiring in California, not on a massive scale anyway. They are laying off tons of engineers that I know off. </p>