Is Cal Poly really on par with the UC's prestige wise?

<p>I would pick UCD over Cal Poly because I plan on going to grad school.
Why would I take the advice of someone named dubyacheney?</p>

<p>and why would you discredit someone with firsthand knowledge about a school just because of his name...who is being ignorant now.</p>

<p>It is true however, that I have not given Davis a fair chance...all I was saying was that I don't know its rep to be excellent, but I'm sure the programs are great.</p>

<p>For anything business related, I think you'll do bettere in the job market with a UC degree. You'll also be better positioned should you decide to go to b school (grad(. Good luck, you'll enjoy any of these schools.</p>

<p>dubyacheney Davis has an excellent reputation, many would say even better than UCSB. You are the one being very ignorant.</p>

<p>Just wanted to echo other posters that the cal polys are NOT grouped with the other cal states when it comes to engineering and architecture -- they're comparable to the mid-range UC's. If you wanted to do English literature, I might say take any UC ahead of any cal state, but the cal polys are very good at what they do best.</p>

<p>well vtboy, its one thing for us to disagree on a reputation, its another to have a qualm about someone personally. This shouldn't be a forum for personal attacks. You don't have to agree, or even respect my opinion. That does not make me ignorant. However the fact that someone who would stoop to attack someone personally on college discussion forum seems some what far fetched in my opinion.</p>

<p>please let me clarify a few points on this thread:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>both the university of california system and the california state university system are "state" schools. they just have different missions.</p></li>
<li><p>as posted on the Best CSU thread, the original plan by the general assembly more than a century ago was to have three systems, the UC for graduate research and professions such as medicine and law, the polytechnic system for applied fields such as engineering, agriculture and business, and the normal system which originally was chartered to train future teachers. as the state grew but the treasury did not equally it was decided to fold the polytechnic system, founded in 1901 at SLO, with the normal system, founded several decades earlier at san jose.</p></li>
<li><p>despite having been folded into the system the two polytechnic universities have maintained a clear distinction wrt academic excellence and both state and private funding, with the original campus at SLO emerging as one of the premiere high quality state universities not simply in the state but the nation for what it does. this in part helps to explain why it is one of the most selective public universities in the state.</p></li>
<li><p>it is a documented fact that the majority of students who apply at the two polytechnic campuses typically also apply not at other CSUs but rather at UC campuses. it is equally common for an admit to either SLO or pomona turn down admits to UC campuses, particularly at davis, riverside, irvine, santa cruz and santa barbara.</p></li>
<li><p>the polytechnic campuses are documented to be superior to this range of UC campuses in areas in which they excel at the undergraduate level, notably agriculture, engineering, architecture and in the case of pomona uniquely, hospitality management. these schools are also attractive in business since UC campuses do not offer business degrees other than at the graduate level. SLO regrettably is capped in enrollment and therefore is limited in what it can do with an outstanding program in technology while the pomona campus enrolls almost 5,000 students in many diverse majors and emphases such as real estate management, entrepreneurship, entertainment business, small business management and electronic business.</p></li>
<li><p>when one examines other fields, notably the humanities and science, the UC campuses emerge as clearly superior. several UC campuses boast nobel laureates. that is consistent with their mission.</p></li>
<li><p>when one examines graduate level education once again the UC campuses emerge as superior. that too is consistent with their mission.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>of course it is anyone's opinion about which school is better overall to some degree, and it's far more useful to look at specific majors since every campus has its own array typically not duplicated anywhere else.</p>

<p>
[quote]
well vtboy, its one thing for us to disagree on a reputation, its another to have a qualm about someone personally. This shouldn't be a forum for personal attacks. You don't have to agree, or even respect my opinion. That does not make me ignorant. However the fact that someone who would stoop to attack someone personally on college discussion forum seems some what far fetched in my opinion.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>What a hypocrite</p>

<p>at what point vtboy did I attack you or do anything that would constitute being a hypocrite?</p>

<p>Hypocrite:
a person who professes beliefs and opinions that he does not hold</p>

<p>a quick sample of dubya's posts:</p>

<p>
[quote]
It is true however, that I have not given Davis a fair chance...all I was saying was that I don't know its rep to be excellent, but I'm sure the programs are great.

[/quote]

vs
[quote]
Davis is simply a joke.

[/quote]

Most people come to websites like this to share what they know or ask questions. Some get their kicks from vitriolic posts. Isn't it funny how the latter are so quick to take offense? Or as my mom says, "they can dish it out but can't take it".</p>

<p>KillaCam, potential grad school adcoms and/or employers look favorably on Cal Poly SLO graduates. They are not nearly as elitist or pretentious as CC posters. </p>

<p>Considering that your parents have three more children who are college bound, do them AND YOURSELF a favor and choose Cal Poly SLO. But if there is something specific about a UC that really excites you, then go for that UC, get a campus job or summer job, or just plan on starting your graduate life in more debt. UC vs Cal Poly SLO is not going to make a big difference in your case except on a financial issue.</p>

<p>It is ultimate YOUR DECISION, not some unknown CC posters. YOU TAKE RESPONSIBILITY for YOUR DECISION. You can't go wrong either way, except financially. </p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

<p>I know someone who picked Cal Poly over UCLA, which I think was a mistake.</p>

<p>Cal Poly is extremely popular among southern California students. It has a lot of tradition and is regionally respected for graduates in accounting and architecture -- maybe some agricultural-related areas, too.</p>

<p>I forget that it's a "state" university -- it's sort of its own deal. A lot of kids who would otherwise be applying to UCSB or UCSC or UCD, UCI, maybe also apply to Cal Poly -- and it's NOT a slam dunk to get into because of its popularity.</p>

<p>Apparently it can also have some housing nightmares if you're a freshman.</p>

<p>It is not on par with UCB, or, I think, even UCSD or UCLA. But it's stratospherically above San Diego State or any of the other state universities.</p>

<p>
[quote]
at what point vtboy did I attack you or do anything that would constitute being a hypocrite?</p>

<p>Hypocrite:
a person who professes beliefs and opinions that he does not hold

[/quote]
</p>

<p>When you called someone ignorant, then you attacked me for calling you ignorant.</p>

<p>If you want to save money, in my honest opinion cal poly is the BEST BANG FOR YOUR BUCK. you pay state tuition, as opposed to UC tuition, and receive education on a level of UC's and if you graduate which i know you will you will carry with you a degree from a school with relatively equal prestige as a UC with the exception of UC berkeley, LA, and san diego. </p>

<p>If you look at the big picture, i mean the big big picture, paying back loans after school, 15k is really marginal, and if you succeed can be paid off. but if 15k is a huge deal to your family, then thats even more reason to go ahead and enroll at poly. </p>

<p>UC Davis is an excellent school no matter what anyone says. Incredible science departments and a top notch vetinary program. Yea davis is boring, but SLO can be too. ill admit SLO is a little more charming, and closer to the ocean, but dont forget davis is a 2 hour drive from the bay area and on top of that snowboarding is just another hour or so away. In that sense, davis and SLO are the same in college life aspects.</p>

<p>if you are absolutely positive you dont want to go ahead to grad school, by all means SLO is PERFECT for you. SLO was made for students like you. kids looking for a great education, at a great price, eager to work right after college. SLO's mission is exactly that. </p>

<p>have fun.</p>

<h1>"You don't have to agree, or even respect my opinion. That does not make me ignorant. However the fact that someone who would stoop to attack someone personally on college discussion forum seems some what far fetched in my opinion."</h1>

<p>Personal attack? I'm sorry but i respectfully just don't see it</p>

<p>this is gonna turn into another one of those silly-fighting threads i've seen on CC. stop...who cares? everything said on here is all opinionated. if u don't like it, ignore it. there's no point in arguing anyway (although it's kinda fun to watch lol) anyways</p>

<p>well back to the topic...i got accepted to davis and cal poly, where were the only two i had to choose between. i had a hard time choosing too. so my pros and cons for davis and calpoly were:</p>

<p>Davis -
pros: perfect distance, not too close, not too far
good school overall
nice campus
food was pretty good
close to s.f./sac
really nice gym (i'm serious, it's sooo nice)</p>

<p>cons: too common...i guess
will probably meet the same type of people (like people from the bayarea)
sometimes too hot
smelly cows (but only in certain areas)
expensive (well at least compare to CSUs)</p>

<p>Cal Poly -
Pros: nice campus (smaller & more concentrated)
friendly environment
near the beach (doesn't really apply to me though)
new experience for me (esp i'm from the bay area)
an hour or so from santa barbara
good reputation
undergraduate-oriented
have a car in your first year (i heard davis won't let u have a car ur freshman year)
nice weather
smaller classes
less expensive than the UCs
i'm going there whoo-hoo!</p>

<p>cons: TOO far for me
not much diversity (i guess that doesn't really matter)
smaller dorm rooms
food sucks (i heard)
harder to change ur major</p>

<p>that's all i can think of for now...i hope it helps...i chose cal poly over davis mainly because i wanna meet more people from all over california or even beyond and i guess the reputation too....but definitely NOT the distance...i wish it's in san jose or something...hhahha</p>

<p>The original poster mentioned that he didn't want to attend grad school because money was a problem.</p>

<p>While certain kinds of grad school (medical school, business school, law school) do indeed cost a lot of money, many other graduate programs actually are free or negative cost! </p>

<p>Almost all Ph.D programs and many M.S. programs, particularly in technical fields, offer their students teaching assistanceships, research assistanceships, and fellowships that basically make school free, and provide a small stipend to live off of during studies. (This stipend is often large enough to allow for a small amount of savings, with judicious spending) .</p>

<p>So if you are ruling out grad school for only financial reasons, please take this into mind--and add this into the plus column for the UCSB and UCD, which both have very strong engineering programs, placing students into prestigious graduate schools like Berkeley and MIT. Getting into a Ph.D or a good, free M.S. program typically requires good grades--a B+ average, at least--and undergraduate research, which often pays.</p>

<p>Having a graduate degree helps in getting a first job, and usually puts the degreeholder higher up on the pay scale.</p>