<p>Well, loans have to be paid back, so don’t count them as a true discount (although relatively low amounts of loans can help get you through college so that you can pay them back after). Work-study eligibility gives you preference for many on-campus jobs, since they would rather hire a subsidized work-study student than an unsubsidized employee, but it is still work earnings that you would need to earn part time.</p>
<p>Me too, ucbalumnus. I went to the same place you did, and graduated in four years with two different degrees. That included two sessions of summer school and four or five classes every semester, but it can be done. I will grant that things are a bit different now, but not entirely.</p>
<p>If you have good admission chances at one of the better UCs (which most likely includes UCSB in EE and CS) then the decision of what to do now comes down to predicting how well you would do in college at one of the better UCs. Will you most likely graduate in the top 10-20% in your major, or is that a stretch? How hard are you willing to work to stay near the top of your class? How aggressive will you be in chasing and winning intern opportunities with the best employers of EEs in California? And how well will you do in those positions?</p>
<p>Why does this matter? Because salaries for strong EE and CS graduates in California are above $100,000 and in some cases above $110,000. UC graduates have a clear advantage over CSU graduates for prime positions. If you have the skills and the drive to be among the best EEs your starting salary will be such that you can easily pay the loans that you may need to attend a UC.</p>
<p>@fogcity I plan on doing just that (all As work-before-pleasure deal, though I will find time to not be working) regardless of where I go. As far as internships go, if it’s that crucial that I pursue them (and I’ll do my research), I totally will.</p>
<p>SLO is excellent for eng’g and their grads do get recruited. </p>
<p>If that’s what your family can afford, go with that.</p>
<p>If your stats were higher, then maybe a lower UC would offer some merit, but I don’t think your SAT is high enough. If you’re retesting and score higher, then maybe.</p>
<p>I think you are right about Pomona and Riverside and probably Santa Barbara. Davis could be a reach.</p>
<p>Since the SLO ED deadline was yesterday, I say let it ride and see what happens. If they accept you ED, you have until 1/15/14 to get back to them. Take the time to tour SLO and the other campuses you are interested in. If, after that investigation, you decide SLO isn’t the right choice, then turn them down. You are out $55 and the hour you spent on the application. Be willing to accept Riverside as your more expensive freshman destination. </p>
<p>I’ll be the first to admit I don’t know a ton about financial aid. I would be surprised if there were significantly different offers from one CSU to another or UC to UC. Also, the packages are reviewed each year so, you can find yourself stuck if a grant dries up. CA has been promoting a ‘middle class scholarship’ that seems likely to change things too. </p>
<p>[California</a> Middle Class Scholarships soon available for college students - San Jose Mercury News](<a href=“California Middle Class Scholarships soon available for college students – The Mercury News”>California Middle Class Scholarships soon available for college students – The Mercury News)</p>
<p>Its hard to know what to expect 3-4 years from now.</p>
<p>I will say I’ve never heard a complaint about the quality or depth of their Engineering programs -</p>
<p>Also keep in mind that SLO has a blended BS/MS degree (in 16 majors) where you receive your BS and MS at the same time (in the 5th year), so those students should account for some of the 5th year graduating students. </p>
<p>[Blended</a> (4+1) Programs - Academic Programs - Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo](<a href=“http://www.academicprograms.calpoly.edu/content/academicpolicies/policies-undergrad/blended4plus1]Blended”>http://www.academicprograms.calpoly.edu/content/academicpolicies/policies-undergrad/blended4plus1)</p>
<p>If you need financial aid, don’t apply ED.
What happened for your sister’s financial aid at UC’s does NOT apply to you because
1° there’ll now be two kids in college, which will be factored in
2° there’s a new “middle class grant” that didn’t exist when your sister applied to the UCs.</p>
<p>Your parents are wrongly basing themselves off your sister’s situation 2 years ago and thus are blocking themselves and yourself off opportunities because of it.</p>
<p>Finally, applying RD allows you to compare packages. You can thus choose the best option - factoring in cost of attendance, net price, graduation rate, starting salary.</p>
<p>If you apply ED, your decision is locked in therefore you have to be certain that SLO is your only true choice. No other school, regardless of FA, would tempt you more.
Is that the situation?
It really doesn’t sound like it.
SLO is a great school and its graduates find great jobs. It’s ideally located and overall there’s no reason to dislike it. But it doesn’t sound like it’s your one, clear choice. Quite the opposite.</p>
<p>Apply RD. Apply to some out of state private schools with scholarships for your stats. Check out NM School of Mining and Technology, MO School of Science and Technology, even Rit which I think would be a great fit for you. Apply there. Then, in March-April, compare packages.
Absolutely apply to all UC’s to which you have a shot (remember that your parents’ income is no longer analyzed the same way as before since there’ll be two kids in college so your sister not getting enough FA at a UC doesn’t mean you’ll be in the same boat. And DO tell your sister to reapply for financial aid, since her FA is likely to increase, too, due to YOUR enrollment).</p>
<p>You are exactly wrong for ED: you need financial aid so you need to be able to compare packages, you want to apply to other schools, and SLO isn’t your first choice at all! In addition, because SLO is numerical, if you can get in now, you can get in later, there’s no advantage for you. SLO is an excellent school but I really don’t see why you want to apply ED when it’s not your first choice and when your need to compare financial aid packages.
You shouldn’t (mustn’t) apply ED in these circumstances.</p>
<p>To the OP, what is your M+R SAT score? As others have stated, since CPSLO isn’t your clear first choice, it’s better for you to wait for the RD round (probably moot at this point anyway) although with a $100K+ family income you’re unlikely to receive any need-based aid from a CA public. Cal Poly is very hands-on, as many have pointed out. If you’re the kind of student who loves robotics, or programming, or building a power supply or a circuit from scratch, then Cal Poly is for you. If these things leave you cold and you’d rather dive deep into the theory behind electrical engineering, then you’d probably be better off at a UC.</p>
<p>I can’t speak for the cost of living in cities where UCs are located, but I can tell you that you can save $2000-$4000/year by living off campus in SLO. The cost of dorms and food service is very high compared to what you can find off campus.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Any published evidence for this? Where I live, there’s a great deal of anecdotal evidence that points to the opposite. Employers are very happy to hire Cal Poly graduates over UC graduates because they can hit the ground running. There are many opportunities for internships at Cal Poly and a good student could easily make $10-$15,000 in a summer as an intern. Graduates make $60,000-$100,000/year base salary with target bonuses around 10% on top of that.</p>
<p><a href=“https://www.careers.calpoly.edu/search.php[/url]”>https://www.careers.calpoly.edu/search.php</a></p>
<p>The low CPSLO 4-year graduation rate is due to a number of reasons, as discussed on the thread linked earlier. Many students take an extra quarter or two to graduate. My son graduated in 4 years with a great job offer in hand from the company where he interned the summer prior to his senior year.</p>
<p>@vballmom it’s a 1290, which I know is quite weak but it’s what I’ve got.<br>
I do have the opportunity to change from ED to RD, so there’s that.
@NCalRent, are you saying I have a good chance to get into SB? Because really the two colleges I’m comparing and debating about are UCSB and CPSLO…</p>
<p>And the only reason I’m debating SLO is because if there’s any chance at me getting into a better college (or a cheaper, equivalent college), I’d like to pursue it…that’s the only reason, really. I’m afraid that I’m cutting off my quality of education by going to SLO.</p>
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<p>You shouldn’t worry about the quality of CPSLO. However, since you are uncertain that it is your first choice, and you have cost concerns that make comparing financial aid offers from different schools desirable, applying ED is not a good idea, as it closes off options before you can see them.</p>
<p>The ED deadline was yesterday - you either did it or not by now. I can’t imagine withdrawing your ED request now would look good to SLO. </p>
<p>Your stats are average for UCSB - so your essay, ECs and course rigor will be competing against lots of others. Here are last year’s averages:
[Freshman</a> admission profile | UC Admissions](<a href=“http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/campuses/santa-barbara/freshman-profile/index.html]Freshman”>http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/campuses/santa-barbara/freshman-profile/index.html)</p>
<p>Believe it or not, your stats are light for SLO as well, particularly in Engineering. Their average last year was 4.08 and 1388 SAT M+R. Your best shot with them is to leave your ED application in place and let the chips fall where they may.<br>
[Student</a> Profile - Admissions - Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo](<a href=“Cal Poly Admissions”>Cal Poly Admissions)</p>
<p>I am curious as to what your concerns are about the quality of a Cal Poly Engineering education?</p>
<p>Is your concern mainly surrounding the CSU affiliation or something else?</p>
<p>@NCalRent the admissions office told myself and my counselor that I could withdraw by the 15th if I so choose (without penalty), so it is a possibility.</p>
<p>@ickglue I’ve just heard rumors that the scope of the EE education is truncated to make room for the ‘learning by doing’ method, which means you get hands on experience at the expense of depth of learning. Also yeah, I guess I’m kinda psyched out by the CSU vs UC thing, the graduation rates, and the fact that UCs are just looked at by the nation rather then just the state in a good light. An obscure good school vs a nationally acknowledged good school…</p>
<p>If that’s your main concern, don’t worry: “the nation” (i.e, people who know about schools) knows about SLO. In fact to the point it’s not associated with the CSU’s at all. In addition, hands-on doesn’t mean less: Olin, one of the top engineering schools in the country, has a hands-on curriculum too.
The graduation rate IS a sticky point though, but compared to the other CSU’s it really not that bad (on the other hand, it’s because the average CSU has abysmal graduate rates.)
If you already submitted your ED application AFTER A WHOLE (PREVIOUS) THREAD TOLD YOU NOT TO, then, don’t withdraw it. Who are they kidding, there’d be no penalty? Unless you and your counselor can email and state very explicitely it’s because your financial circumstances make it necessary for you to compare financial aid packages, even though SLO is still your #1 school – remember that when you applied ED, you told SLO that it’s your #1 school and you want to maintain that impression at all costs, because why would they admit someone who wants to attend another school?
Don’t withdraw it then.
That’s it for you then.
Let us know if you got in.
If you don’t, we’ll provide more schools for you to explore.
DO look at the common app and prepare it, just in case, so that you don’t have to scramble last minute during Christmas Break.</p>
<p>I understand your concerns and ultimate your choice should come down to what you are most comfortable with. But I think whether you choose SLO, or UCSB, or whatever, you really owe yourself a campus visit to all these schools. By being there, you will get a good sense whether the community (beyond just the academics) is a good fit for you.</p>
<p>To give you my two cents on Cal Poly, I am a Cal Poly EE graduate and subsequently went on to graduate school at Harvard and Stanford. I had a very hardcore design engineering job straight out of Cal Poly, designing semiconductors. But subsequently, I went on to work in technology related investment industry. So I never once felt my engineering education was inferior to my colleagues, many of whom came from Stanford, Caltech, MIT etc. In fact, (personally speaking) I actually retained more of what I learned in theories than my other colleagues. So no, I think your fear of a Cal Poly engineering education being inferior is unfounded.</p>
<p>Also, I currently have a mix team of MIT, and Stanford Phds working for me. And I feel perfectly at ease (and have some knowledge to add) in discussing pretty complex tech related issues with them.</p>
<p>If being in a UC is important for you, then by all means. But to be honest, when I am hiring, I view a UCSB, UCD, Cal Poly graduate in the same high regard. If anything, I noticed there is, right or wrong, a stigma here on CC attached to UCR, UCM, or UCSC.</p>
<p>@MYOS1634 I actually made this thread after I submitted because I was having second thoughts; I made threads in the past asking but they weren’t as opinionated as this one and really didn’t sway me in either direction.
Also, MYOS (and all the people who are curious), there is a page on SLO for changing application details, and the early decision deadline is explicitly stated as the 15th, penalty free (or it’s implied that it’s penalty-free)
[Application</a> Changes - Admissions - Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo](<a href=“Cal Poly Admissions”>Cal Poly Admissions)</p>
<p>Also, I’m just a naturally indecisive person, so flitting around my options is just something I do…I still don’t know which option is best. I’ll get back to you guys when I’ve made my decision and something’s come out of it (either December 15th when the results of the ED app come back or in March, I guess).</p>
<p>Thanks for your responses, it helps…</p>
<p>Also, ickglue, your two cents are some very shiny two cents indeed, and I’m very impressed…</p>
<p>Unless I’m mistaken, this allows you to make changes to your ED application - test scores, GPA, courses taken, new EC’s/Awards/non academic things, new address, etc. It doesn’t allow you to switch from ED to RD, or to withdraw from ED.</p>
<p>The form [Freshmen</a> Application Change Reqeust Form](<a href=“http://dots-util.calpoly.edu/freshmen_changeUPDATE.php]Freshmen”>Freshmen Application Change Reqeust Form) has a catch-all miscellaneous changes box that can be used to request a change from ED to RD.</p>
<p>I still don’t see why you want to commit to one school so early without seeing your other options if you are “a naturally indecisive person”.</p>