<p>I think that was a pretty balanced critique of Cal Poly. I also go to Cal Poly now as an engineering major. I am not sure where the previous post heard it from, but Cal Poly is NOT comparable to Cal Tech or MIT, nor should it. There are VERY FEW schools on this planet that can compare to those two, even Harvard/Yale/Stanford might not be at that same lofty level as MIT and Cal Tech. </p>
<p>And why should CP be compare to those 2, it does not have a multi-billion dollar budget or endowment, it does not grant Phds, and it is not a research laboratory for the government or big corporation. </p>
<p>With all that said, I love Cal Poly for exactly what it is. A medium size undergraduate focused technical university with rigorous academics and located at a great town with pristine nature as a backdrop. </p>
<p>Prior to coming, I always knew that it takes 4+ years to graduate. It was well advertised by the university and I spoke with CP engineering students about the graduation rate, and the change of major policy. I knew coming in that Cal Poly encouraged its student to take up internships and Co-ops in the industry and that easily sets one’s graduation back by 6 to 9 months. But I specifically wanted that professional experience to set myself apart from other universities’ graduates during my career search. In addition, I also knew that CPSLO required a lot of laboratory classes along with lectures and those lab classes really take up time. For me, that is a plus not a minus, because the labs are where “learn by doing” is being realized.</p>
<p>With respect to culture, I think CP has a lot of it. The really grand performance art center on campus has a great deal of performances coming through year round. So I take advantage of that whenever I can. Also, the town itself is relatively fashionable, it has great Japanese food, decent Thai, and lots of Italian. We even have our own Apple store! And Apple stores are never located in a dump of a town. </p>
<p>But like any other universities in the US, including Cal tech and MIT and Harvard, Cal Poly has its various flaws, some major and some minor. It is far from perfect, just as the previous post stated. The budget is being slashed left and right, and the school population is being reduced quite drastically to something like 16000. This might or might not translate into larger classes given I have no idea if the faculty will be reduced as well.</p>
<p>But again, Cal Poly is a bargain compare to the privates and some of the public universities out there. Our campus is huge, facilities are outstanding, great dorms, great engineering complex, vast open space, and rolling hills. I especially look forward to seeing the completion of the new Science center, and our new rec-center. I looked into many other universities prior to coming here, and very few schools can match Cal Poly for its quality and value. </p>
<p>And if you get into Harvey Mudd, you probably also got into top engineering schools such as Cooper Union, Univ. of Michigan, Cornell, Cal, UCLA, U of I Urbana, Northwestern, all the mid-tier UCs engineering, and just may be even Stanford. So with that said, comparing Cal Poly to Mudd is probably not a fair comparison, but I think it is an honor for Cal Poly to be even compared to Mudd.</p>
<p>I, for one, love being at Cal Poly, and there is not even a nano second of regret.</p>