How good is Cal Poly SLO for engineering and getting high paying jobs after graduation? For example, I have heard that Cal Poly graduates make more money than UCLA and the majority of UC schools, besides UC Berkley. Will engineering firms recognize Cal Poly as the amazing engineering school it is or blow it off as not as good just because it is a CSU school. How successful are Cal Poly Engineering graduates after graduation? Thanks for reading all that.
Cal Poly is a very well respected engineering school, especially for Aero, ME and CS. Believe it or not, a few of the other CSUs have respected engineering too, but none to the level of Poly.
The thing about earnings surveys is that they are HEAVILY influenced by the percentage of technical (read that HIGH PAYING) degrees they offer. Poly has a higher percentage of tech majors than UCLA. If you were to compare engineering salaries and throw UCB in too, they’d all be similar.
Lastly, all engineers make decent money, but the best students get the best picks. You’re probably better off with a 3.8 from SJSU or CSLB than a 2.0 from Poly, UCB or USC.
@tmmydbsn, I might be wrong, but reading your post it is easy to get the impression you seem to equate successfulness with high pay.
Engineering requires a particular type of intense intellectual engagement which is difficult to sustain for years and years unless you are truly passionate about it. From my professional experience, most successful engineers I met (and I was fortunate to meet a lot of them) are passionate about their profession, about their day to day work. For most good engineers the primary motivation is not money, although it is a very fortunate circumstance that what they do happens to pay well these days.
I also saw a few people who clearly were not in it for the passion. Some end up worn out by stress and quit, others tend to be constantly unhappy and miserable, and although they might have more money than others, I would hesitate to call them successful by my own metrics.
From my totally unscientific observations, there is no correlation between the school they attended and their passion for engineering. The corollary to this is to make sure you examine your motivation and thoughtfully evaluate your measure of success before applying to an engineering major.
If you do, know that big companies do recruit at CalPoly, just like they do at all big schools, they tend to hire from many schools in general so that inevitably limits the number of people they hire from a single school. Like @eyemgh stated, your chance of standing out in interviews are much better if you are a top student in your school. The corollary to this is that it might be a smart strategy to apply to schools where you are reasonably confident you can be successful and stand out relative to your peers.
Good luck!
Cal Poly Career Services conducts an annual survey of the activities of its most recent graduates, which is compiled into the Graduate Status Report (GSR). It includes information on placement (employer, position, salary) and admissions to graduate or professional schools. The median salary of the 2013- 2014 graduates from the College of Engineering was $67,000. The response rate to the survey varies, so it is not 100% accurate but does give a good idea.
Here is the link to the Graduate Status Report from 2013-2014: http://content-calpoly-edu.s3.amazonaws.com/careerservices/1/images/GSR%20Final%2013-14-updated6-11.pdf.
Here is the link to the searchable database, by year, major and degree type: https://careers.calpoly.edu/search.php