UC Berkeley Vs Cal Poly - Mechanical Engineering

Hello,
I was accepted to both Berkeley and Cal poly for Mechanical Engineering. Berkeley is the big name research institution but cal poly is known for being a very hands-on, undergrad focused program (and was my dream school throughout high school).
I know i’m very fortunate to be in this position and am just curious what any of you think. All thoughts, opinions, and perspectives are appreciated!!

Both are great programs. Both will offer more opportunities than you could ever take advantage of. No way I’d choose Cal Poly over Cal though. I say that as someone who is a big fan of CP and planned to go there over other UCs if I didn’t get into Cal. I’m not MechE though.

@briank82 “No way I’d choose Cal Poly over Cal though.” Your reasoning?

Do you plan on attending graduate school?

@Drewski445

My son was also in your position few years ago. Of course, he picked Cal. After a year of study, he declared EECS as his second major. Originally, he was just going to drop the ME as he said the classes are very dry, i.e., all physics and not much hands-on. He will be a senior this coming fall, and hopefully he gets more hands-on exposure.