<p>My friend is deciding between three schools: UCLA, UC San Diego, and UC Davis. He's a mechanical engineer major. Money/transportation/housing isn't an issue. He wants to know which college would be the best for mechanical engineering. </p>
<p>He and I have heard positive things (in regards to his major) about all three schools, so deciding between them is difficult. From your personal opinion, which one would you chose? Reasons?</p>
<p>:) Thanks.</p>
<p>Bump.</p>
<p>Any wizened wizards willing to answer?</p>
<p>I heard from my cousin that UCSD requires more classes for engineer majors - he had to stay an extra year. That doesn't sound too good.</p>
<p>for mechanical engineering, go to SD</p>
<p>I see no reason to go to UCSD just because of rank.</p>
<p>Tell your friend to try to visit all three. I think that UCLA and Davis offer better areas and experiences than UCSD. UCSD might be the most dedicated academically, but it's not the only thing he's going to want in a college.</p>
<p>first off, engineering undergrad programs are acredited by ABET. That means you'll take courses covering the same material no matter where you go. And since the 3 schools are all UC schools, they'll even have the same course numbers! All 3 schools have a good reputation for ME, as you can see by looking at who recruits on campus. </p>
<p>So my advice is pick the school that's a best match in terms of location, type of students, where people live, etc. Even though all 3 are UC schools they definitely are different. </p>
<p>And I'd doubly echo the advice about going to the one you like (as opposed to engineering rankings) because the dropout rate in engineering is so high. I have no prediction about what will happen to your friend in particular, of course, but if we were to look at 100 people who are planning on being engineers then research shows most of them won't make it! According to a trade publication
[quote]
the majority of engineering undergrads drop out or flunk out of the curriculum within the first two years. With a few notable exceptions, U.S. engineering schools typically have attrition rates hovering between one-half and two-thirds.
<a href="http://tinyurl.com/buzhg%5B/url%5D%5B/quote%5D">http://tinyurl.com/buzhg
[/quote]
</a></p>
<p>Thanks for the advice. :) </p>
<p>If they're all essentially the same, then he'll have to decide which one is better for him.</p>
<p>Anyone else have words of wisdom before the time to choose runs out?</p>
<p>UCLA seems like a more balanced school overall. You never know, you might change your mind during college about what field you want to go into.</p>
<p>I always caution against choosing a school based on a major preference right now. Very few undergrads exit college with the same career goals that they had coming in. Furthermore, a majority will change majors at some point.</p>