<p>Hello All!</p>
<p>I'm a current CCC student majoring in Aerospace Engineering. I'm doing pretty well in school so far with a GPA close to a 4.0. I'm very motivated about becoming an Engineer (and hopefully astronaut one day) and will never look back. At first I was set on going to Berkeley but they don't have an Aerospace program. Next on my list was UCLA, which isn't bad at all, until my counselor recommended Cal Poly Pomona. At first I didn't think much of it until then he mentioned how good the recruitment is and how they teach with a hands on style. That's a huge plus for me. If you don't have hands on experience then you're of no real benefit to a company, especially when compared to someone who has a lot of experience. </p>
<p>I'm actually surprised at how highly people talk about the program at CPP. Sure, you'll have people who automatically look down upon it because its not a UC. Complain all you want, but if I can get a job faster than a UC graduate then who's doing the laughing now?</p>
<p>Is this the right choice? Is giving up a fantastic social life (mainly girls) and a better looking campus worth it for strong job recruitment? I pretty much answered my own question, of course it is! I also want to continue my education and get a Ph.D, but if I get a job right away and have a chance to grow within the field I may be able to put that off for a while. Social life is important to me, especially with CCC being lackluster. CPP may not be much better at all (maybe it is?) but I would probably meet better women when I'm actually out in the professional world. Thanks for any help!</p>
<p>I’m surprised the counselor mentioned Cal Poly Pomona but not Cal Poly SLO. SLO is a significantly better school, and has one of the best Aerospace Engineering programs in the country (harder to get into as well but if you have near 4.0 and complete all the prereqs then its not even an issue). I too am transferring from CC into Aerospace Engineering next year and the only schools I’m going to apply to are the Cal Polys (I actually went to Pomona back in the day for a different engineering major). If you keep your GPA up you could pretty much pick your school, UC or CSU. Thing is with our major, like you said, Berkeley doesn’t have it and UCLA isn’t exactly renowned for their Aerospace Engineering, but it might be a better choice if you’re going for a Ph.D straight from undergrad since Cal Polys only offer up to Master’s.</p>
<p>As far as I can see it, there are two ways you could do it. If your goal is to get a good job in the aerospace field right out of college, I would go to Cal Poly SLO for Aerospace Engineering and seriously look at their 4+1 blended masters program that allows you to get a masters degree with only 1 extra year (<– this is what I plan on doing). If your goal is to get a Ph.D , I would look at UCLA, or the better path could be studying Mechanical Engineering at Berkeley (if you can get in!) then transfer and do your Graduate work in Aerospace Engineering (Mechanical and Aerospace are very close, and Berkeley obviously carries with it a certain prestige when applying to Graduate schools). It really all depends on what you want to do.</p>
<p>Couple of things – your counselor is correct. Cal Poly Pomona is a great choice for all the reasons that your counselor mentioned. My son, also in engineering, chose Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly SLO) over UCLA for many of those reasons. Pomona is a good choice and far cheaper than a UC ever will be. Also, the Cal Poly’s both have a great reputation among employers. You will be able to compete with graduates from any UC. However, I suggest that you look at Cal Poly SLO for a couple of reasons. First, your GPA at the CCC is definitely good enough to get in as a transfer student. Second, Cal Poly SLO is considered one of the best places in the country to study Aerospace Engineering. Here is an excerpt:</p>
<p>Cal Poly is No. 1 Spot for Aero Recruiting:</p>
<p>Aviation Week & Space Technology recently named Cal Poly the best place in the nation to recruit for employees. Cal Poly tops Georgia Tech, Penn State, Virginia Tech and MIT.</p>
<p>Here is the link: <a href=“http://www.calpolynews.calpoly.edu/news_releases/2010/August/Recruit.html[/url]”>http://www.calpolynews.calpoly.edu/news_releases/2010/August/Recruit.html</a></p>
<p>At Cal Poly SLO all the other things that you want will be there too. SLO has a great social life and all the attractive coeds you could possibly wish for. More importantly, it also offers a masters program with an extra year at school. Pomona is also a great school and will be cheaper if you can commute. We really liked Pomona and would have chosen it over UCLA as well. By the way, many Pomona grads go on to master’s or PhD degrees at USC. It seems that is what many do according to the faculty at Pomona. I had some pretty serious discussions with them as we were considering them. So, you may what to look at USC’s reputation for PhD’s in Aero to assist you in your decision.</p>
<p>When I was doing research about this, the consensus seemed to say that CPP was superior to CPSLO for job recruitment, much superior. Is this true?</p>
<p>Not true – CPSLO is outstanding for recruitment. In general, 600 employers visited last year. Not sure for your exact major. CPP ain’t bad either.</p>