Out of stater asking SLO versus UCSC

Colleges and Universities A-Z Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
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<p>I think my daughter has already made up her mind on this one, but I’m a thorough shopper. </p>

<p>She’s liberal arts, loves the outdoors and has a gut-level preference for SLO, which I completely respect. As a family not from California, we’re not in the loop for the reputation each school has, both for admission to grad schools, or employment. General comments about the quality of the education, campus life, student body, etc. are welcome! I’d love input from any of you familiar with both schools. </p>

<p>Thanks</p>

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<p>I live in Santa Cruz–born and raised, so UCSC is OUR school. That said, my daughter wouldn’t even consider applying there. Way too close to home. :wink: She’s admitted to Cal Poly. I might choose UCSC for liberal arts, though. Or other programs such as marine biology. I know a lot of people who have their degrees from there, but myself, other than having a parent who worked there in the '60s, I’m not that familiar with all the colleges and programs up at UC. It’s definitely more liberal than Cal Poly, but then the town of Santa Cruz is, anyway. That’s a result of the UC campus coming here in the '60s. There are pros and cons about how it changed the flavor of our sleepy little resort town. </p>

<p>The setting is like being on a camping trip. You’re in the tall redwoods and wide meadows overlooking the city with an ocean view. Lots of hiking and beach-related sports here. And we have an old-fashioned Boardwalk amusement park right on the ocean. Mild climate with rain in the winter, although it can be warm then, as well. We’re in between Monterey/Carmel and San Francisco. An easy drive or bus ride.</p>

<p>The quality of education is fine up at UCSC. They have doctorate programs, as well. I just know it’s not for *my *daughter, mostly because of proximity to home. :slight_smile: You should definitely visit.</p>

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<p>Cal poly is well respected for certain fields, mainly engineering and architecture. UCSC sends more students to graduate school, which your daughter will probably need to attend if she is not majoring in a marketable field. Cal Poly is centrally located, has a small town feel to it and smells like manure half the year. The buildings at Cal Poly look a bit run down and for the next several years, most of it will be in various degrees of construction. With the Calif. budget, when it will be completed is up in the air. UCSC is located in a rain forest, is a gorgeous campus, about the same size as Cal poly. The buildings are nice. It rains a lot. The town of SC is similar to the town of cal ply, maybe not quite as fun. I think Cal poly is regarded as a more popular campus overall, and UCSC is viewed as a 3rd tier UC. Cal poly will be a bit cheaper I think, but not sure for out of state people</p>

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<p>I would also say that CPSUSLO is more conservative and traditional with it’s ag background. I went there years ago and many of our frriends have kids there. UCSC is very laid back and tolerant of all walks of life. Beautiful campus too.</p>

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<p>Thanks, everyone.</p>

<p>We’ve visited both campuses, so I have a fleeting impression of both schools and towns. We visited Santa Cruz on a drizzly day, and the tour guide said it’s often that way, which was somewhat of a turnoff to my daughter, who is hoping for California sun. And then we must have hit Cal Poly on a day when the wind was blowing the right direction, because we couldn’t smell the cows. It was sunny, the hills were green, and honestly, SLO seemed like paradise (we had driven up from LA…)</p>

<p>I guess my biggest worry about Cal Poly is that it’s true strengths seem to be engineering and architecture. Is the liberal arts school second fiddle? On the other hand, my personal belief is that liberal arts students benefit from learning around a cross section of kids, not just those with a love for the liberal arts.</p>

<p>Her impression of Santa Cruz was also that it was trying a little too hard to be “granola” and politically liberal and that it was more for show. The hilltop campus in the redwoods, which I thought she would love, seemed dark and sprawling. Touring it in a bus was a little strange (terrible, defensive, blase tour guide) and seeing so many people relying on the buses to get around was also a surprise. I think we were expecting the greener alternative of lots of bikes/walkers.</p>

<p>Her impression at Cal Poly was that people were genuinely friendly, nice, unpretentious, proud of their school and their town, and willing to share information about places to see, have dinner, hike and so on. We were there on a late fall Saturday, and saw so many students out riding bikes, hiking, strolling around down town, working out in the gym. Lots of friendly kids, who I could see my d was ready to get to know.</p>

<p>So much of the impact of these quick visits is determined by who you happen to run in to and whether the sun is shining :)</p>

<p>I don’t want to make this entire decision based on the first impression and what we can read in the viewbook! I think you can see why she’s leaning hard toward Cal Poly, but are we seeing this clearly?</p>

<p>She’ll be going to Open House, and if her first impression holds, I’m sure she’ll be a Mustang. But I can’t help but ask if we’re missing something about UCSC…</p>

<p>And I guess the obvious question: is it a mistake to turn down a UC (even mid ranked) for a CS? How do you compare the value of the degrees from each school?</p>

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<p>Cal Poly has the edge on Weather, Admission stats of freshmen, and Cost (and in my opinion, political climate). I’m with your daugher 100%.</p>

<p>From College Board:</p>

<p>------------- Cal Poly ----- UCSC
% admitted ---- 37 -------- 64
SAT Reading --530-630 — 510-630
SAT Math ---- 570-670 — 520-640
ACT ---------- 24-29 ------ 22-28</p>

<p>OOS tuition – $ 5,826 — $10,095
Room & Board- $9,846 ---- $13,641</p>

<p>Total -------- $15,672 — $23,736 </p>

<p>Actually, the UCSC website lists the annual cost of attendance for OOS students to be a whopping $50,190 !! It’s no contest.</p>

<p><a href=“https://admissions.sa.ucsc.edu/discover/faq/finances.cfm[/url]”>https://admissions.sa.ucsc.edu/discover/faq/finances.cfm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Oops… I made a mistake on the above post. College Board lists UCSC OOS tuition as $22,071 (not 10,095 – that is for in-state).</p>

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<p>Although we really like the Santa Cruz area, Daughter, wife an I all agreed (which is not easy) that UCSC just was not the right fit for my daughter.</p>

<p>Riverrunner, we too also had a very poor tour experience at UCSC and did not think the campus was an easy one to navigate around either.</p>

<p>FWIW, my daughter is also a liberal arts kind of kid (Psychology Major). Additionally she has been accepted to both USSD and Cal Poly, and has chosen to enroll at Cal Poly over UCSD.</p>

<p>Not sure if that is a smart move or not. However, I think for her, she will best learn and thrive where she is the happiest - which I do believe will be CP. </p>

<p>Having said that, it is hard for me to see her pass on UCSD. So I can definitely relate to how you are feeling about this. Fortunately for us our daughter feels very comfortable with the decision she has made.</p>

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<p>norcal, my D is Psych as well! And, full disclosure here, obviously I’m the one who “isn’t quite sure.” She is quite sure :slight_smile: </p>

<p>I think we’re on the same page as far as weighing the possible presige factor of a UC over a CS, versus happiness and sense of being in the right place as they finish growing up over the next four years. If they believe they are in the best place for them, they will do better than simply chosing based on what the neighbors may think about the sticker on the car. Where we live, there is no knowledge of the hierarchy of California schools, so we’re immune, but I don’t want my daughter to have an unpleasant surprise at the end her schooling, if she were to find that her degree just isn’t worth as much as a UC degree she could have had. Sorry to be so blunt, but I’d rather know now, if there is something I’m not understanding about this. Increasingly, I’m thinking Cal Poly possibly outranks UCSC in terms of average quality of admitted students (thanks ralph). </p>

<p>In the best case, whether they get a job or are admitted to grad school will come down to their own performance at school, and not which of these two names is on the diploma. </p>

<p>ralph, thanks for the stats comparison. I know that took some work on your part, that I could have done, but didn’t. I appreciate your taking the time to look that up. Cal Poly has always looked like the better deal, especially for OOS. However, I’ll share that both the UC and CS schools have knocked a bit off the sticker price for OOS kids. Not the whole thing, but enough to make them competitive with other schools, public and private, around the west.</p>

<p>Thanks again for taking the time to respond.</p>

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<p>it’s all about cal poly!</p>

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<p>I agree that our kids need to feel comfortable at the school they choose. I have noticed that when I tell other people the schools my son has gotten into (Cal Poly, UCI, UCSC, UOP and SJstate) most people are impressed and seem the most positive about CP. That may be because he is in the engineering school, but I think people here in CA just feel good about Cal Poly. It is a strong school, a beautiful location and it seems to be a very happy and positive place. Not everyone wants that type of school. Some people really want a competitive, highly academic feel to their college. They may want a school with big sports programs. they may want a lot more diversity in the student population.</p>

<p>I think Cal Poly has a great reputation and is seen as better than a few UCs and equal to some others in certain fields. Not sure about liberal arts. I think private schools are often the best for that, but clearly not always affordable.</p>

<p>Tough decisions…</p>

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<p>Also, classes are extremely hard to get…I know that’s it’s more difficult everywhere, but i have a friend at UCSC that is now taking a quarter with only two classes because she could not get any others…</p>

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<p>@ nutellaella, isn’t harder to get classes at a csu? even though it is cal poly?</p>

<p>I think, Cal Poly is mostly good if you go to engineering/arch/ag/business major. UCSC is way better for liberal arts such as english…</p>

<p>Source: me being in this forum for so long… -_-'</p>

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<p>I would definitely go to Cal Poly. Even though I live within 10 miles of UCSC, I am just not a big fan. I still feel it ruined our small town atmosphere. :frowning: Too many liberal, laid back students and people, in general, are associated with UCSC.</p>

<p>As for the drizzly weather, she was probably experiencing our “marine layer” aka FOG. Many times in burns off by afternoon, sometimes not. It happens more in the summer mornings. Our warmest weather is what we call Indian summer in the early fall not long after school starts. Gorgeous and all the tourists have gone home!</p>

<p>We get most of our rain in the winter months. Some in the early spring, but not much. </p>

<p>Again, I would choose Cal Poly. It might be a state school, but it has a great reputation! I agree with others, you hear a lot of people with nothing but positive things to say about Cal Poly. On the other hand, UCSC doesn’t have a great reputation with the town of Santa Cruz. They call it The City on the Hill and it sometimes seems to think that’s what it is! I won’t even go into the politics! Arrrrghh.</p>

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<p>O.k. I have to share a story. My son was just at a Kiwanis club meeting, where he and three other HS students were receiving an award. The three students mentioned where they were going to college (or considering going). Kids mentioned UCI, Berkeley, Yale, etc. My son mentioned Cal Poly and an OOS school. What surprised us is the overwhelming positive response from the Kiwanis club members about Cal Poly. A few members had grown children who had gone there (including my son’s HS principal who was at the meeting), or went there themselves. One old guy said he had gone there back before it was co-ed. Anyway, there were at least 4 or 5 people that said great things about Cal Poly. Not a word was mentioned about the other schools mentioned. My son was surprised by that and it helped him get over the UC prestige factor quite a bit. Anyway, as betweeen UCSC and Cal Poly–in my opinion–for both education and the prestige factor, Cal Poly wins!</p>

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<p>naixn92,
It’s definitely still hard, but i think UC’s are just as hard if not harder, because they’re not doing the whole “graduate in 4 years” push…
i could be wrong though!</p>

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<p>CalMom05, I have to agree with you about the positive response when it comes to Cal Poly. It’s amazing how many people smile and have something good to say about it. And, I know at least three valedictorians who were accepted to various top notch UCs like UCLA and UCSD, as well as UC Davis. But, they chose Cal Poly. It was just a better match for them.</p>

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<p>That’s funny you should say that because the top student from my son’s high school last year turned down UCLA, Cal and other top schools for Cal Poly as well. It makes sense because she wants to be a vet.</p>

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<p>@nutellaella,
I heard that when you go to a UC, you have a much higher chance to get out with a degree in 4 years. They are trying to do anything possible so you can get out as fast as possible. Or maybe, its because they take only kids with lots of AP/College credits, since they need less classes than people who takes the regular classes in HS. hmm.</p>

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<p>ahah i have no idea!
All i know really is that my friend at UCSC could not get all of her classes…two quarters in a row.</p>