Hi, I’m really debating about what to do at this point.
Major: civil/structural engineering
Gpa: 4.31 (UC)
Sat: 1240/1600 (530 English, 710 math)
Sat math 2: 650/800
Ec: Olympic development, captain high school and club soccer, 500 + hours of community service
Accept: UCSD, UCI, SLO, SDSU
Reject: UCLA
Waiting on: Cal
I doubt I’m going to get into cal, I want to know if I should go somewhere and transfer or are transfers overrated? Basically, should I go to a university for all four years or transfer? I was thinking about USC or Cal but I don’t know if it’s worth the money. It makes me sad that I didn’t get into UCLA but that’s life, students with lower stats got in compared to me because they applied for the college of Letters and Science. Anyways what would you guys recommend? I didn’t receive any LOR requests from Cal so I guess that isn’t a good sign. Anyways I’m open to any suggestions. Please and thank you!
If I were you I would 100% choose slo or ucsd. Both are excellent schools and you would have a very well respected degree and many opportunities when you graduate. I would compare the two programs and see if one is better for what exactly you want to study. There is no guarantee as a transfer you will get into ucla or cal.
@socalmom007 I can’t decide between SLO and UCSD, to be honest. I heard that SLO is in the middle of nowhere and that there isn’t much to do there. In addition, I’ve heard that UCSD is socially dead but I’m not sure about that. I’m planning on visiting the campuses but I prefer to go on a day that isn’t the “Triton Day” of Cal poly open house. I have heard that Cal Poly is good for engineering but I don’t see them on online rankings. Finally, people have told me that UCSD is actually better in engineering than UCLA…
@socalmom007 Also if I do go to one of these colleges I’m thinking about transferring to USC. I’ve always wanted to go there but I didn’t apply because of the price. I started to see people get scholarships to their privates (LMU, PLNU & USD) and I didn’t know they give out massive amounts of money to some.
As a transfer student you will likely not get scholarships, those types of scholarships are mainly for freshmen. San Luis Obispo is a super fun, college town. It is a bit isolated, but there is a ton to do there and lots of social opportunities. I’ve also heard UCSD is somewhat socially dead, but that I can’t tell you first hand. As far as rankings, Cal Poly isn’t on many of the ranking lists because they do not offer phd’s. This is a good thing for undergrad students, the professors are there to teach. Look up payscale.com comparison charts for computer science majors, Cal Poly grads are up there with the big boys as far as earnings.
If you are set on civil engineering, note that CPSLO has ABET-accredited civil engineering, while UCSD structural engineering is ABET-accredited for general criteria only (not civil). You may want to carefully compare the curricula to see if the required and available courses will fit your professional goals (if you know any civil engineers to help you evaluate, that would be beneficial).
UCI and SDSU also have ABET-accredited civil engineering.
If you are not completely sure of your major, or you are not directly admitted to your major (e.g. as undeclared or pre-major status) consider how difficult it may be to change major (particularly to other engineering majors) at each school.
CPSLO: https://eadvise.calpoly.edu/majors/changing-majors-within-ceng/ (2.0 to 3.0 GPA needed, depending on major)
UCSD: https://students.ucsd.edu/academics/advising/majors-minors/capped-majors.html (competitive; CSE needed 3.9-4.0 GPA in recent quarters; other thresholds not listed)
UCI: http://www.changeofmajor.uci.edu/CoM_Engr.html (2.00 to 3.50 GPA needed, depending on major)
SDSU: http://arweb.sdsu.edu/es/advising/impaction.html and https://arweb.sdsu.edu/es/catalog/GC1617/051_Civil%20Engineering.pdf (you are admitted to the pre-major; you need a 2.50 GPA to enter the civil engineering major; other majors may have different thresholds)
I would not suggest attending one of these fine four year schools with intent to transfer. Transferring may result in credit issues that delay graduation (extra cost), and merit scholarships are less available for transfer students than frosh.
@ucbalumnus Thank you for your recommendation, that’s exactly what I needed help with. My father is a civil engineer and he says that he has plenty of interns from UCSD under structural engineering majors so it shouldn’t be a problem. I guess ill throw out the idea of transferring to USC. In addition is it true that UCSD is better than UCLA in engineering?
Since your father is a civil engineer, you may want to ask him if employers could have any particular preference for new graduates among the various schools.