Recently accepted to Cal Poly SLO (CompE), UCI (CompE), and UCD (CompE)

Colleges and Universities A-Z Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
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Hello, I’m currently a high school senior that has to make a big decision on which college to attend (UCI or Cal Poly SLO). I’m not sure what I am interested in currently, however, I know that I want to do something related to programming or maybe hardware. I was recently given the option to attend Cal Poly SLO or UCI for CompE, and I’m not sure which college is the best to attend for CS or CpE, and I might major change to CS (likely). How is the reputation for UCI or Cal Poly SLO in the job market? How hard is it to obtain internships in my 3rd-4th year?

Pros of Cal Poly SLO:

-I can easily switch into CS, because I was admitted as a CPE major (same department)

-CpE degree would provide me with experience with half programming and half hardware

-a little bit cheaper by 1k

-learn by doing

-I heard that their CS department is on par with UCSD and UCSB

-4+1 masters degree

Cons of Cal Poly SLO

-200 miles from my house

-not as prestigious as the UCs

-overcrowded classes

-i’m a minority there (asian)

-cost of living? not sure tbh

-middle of nowhere?

Pros of UCI:

-40 miles away from my house

-CS is respected here

-CS has an entire department dedicated to itself

-more research opportunities available (I’m not sure how important this is for a CS major. Can someone please comment if it is? Thanks)

-more asians? haha

-better chance of getting into graduate school (uh, do I need to as a CS/CpE major?)

Cons of UCI:

-CS and CpE are in two different schools, so it would be difficult (but not impossible) for me to transfer from CpE>CS. Also, the courses that I’m required to take is highly impacted (filled within minutes, but I only need two courses ICS 31 & 32)

-CpE will barely provide me with coding experience (only 6 classes on programming for my major)

-Classes are crowded

Thank you for taking your time to read this thread have a nice day

How does SLO compare to UCSB/UCSD?

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Among those hiring for CpE, the UCs you’ve mentioned are no more prestigious than, if as prestigious as, Cal Poly. It’s VERY well respected in that realm.

I’d visit and go to the one that feels best to you.

One note of caution, switching into CS at Cal Poly will not be easy, and might not even be possible. You need to call the department to see which majors they are even considering. Last year I think they narrowed it to SE and CpE only, but I’m not certain. If CpE is allowed, then you need to jump through a bunch of hoops. In many (most?) cases you needed to be above the cutoff line for admission right out of HS and CS was harder to get in than CpE.

Congrats and good luck.

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https://eadvise.calpoly.edu/majors/changing-majors-within-ceng/

CPE, GENE and SE are the ONLY majors that can switch into CS. OP would need a 2.5 GPA to be eligible.

As to your other points, you’ve hit the major ones that my D went through (although for us CP is closer). As far as prestige, if you want to go straight into the workforce, either will be fine. CP might get more silicon valley recruiting, but if you want to stay SoCal then Irvine will get the job done. If your goal is to get a PhD in data science or machine learning and then go make big $ at Google or Wall Street, then maybe the greater research opportunities at UCI will make grad school admissions a little easier.

I agree with @eyemgh, tour both and see which you would prefer to spend the next 4 years at. Neither school will adversely impact your job prospects :slight_smile:

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@CaliCSEngineer I’m a semi-recent Asian American Grad from Cal Poly. I think a previous thread of mine will answer many of your questions.

http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/21262466#Comment_21262466

Quick answer though:
CS at CP is more industry based and UCI is more research based, huge difference comes down to the number of lab classes, hands on action, and much smaller class sizes (400 vs like 30).

Currently at Columbia in NY (previously at Apple) and, essentially, general consensus is no one cares about differences bw small universities (If you’re not UCLA, UCB, Stanford - all other California Universities are basically nominal in difference). CP is closer to Silicon Valley so more jobs. UCI will have more research.