<p>I've been accepted to Cal Poly Pomona for Business Administration, and UC Santa Cruz for Business Economics. I prefer Cal Poly over UCSC, however UC Santa Cruz appears to be the wiser financial decision. With gift aid I will pay the same to attend either university, however there is $6,500 of tuition/board which is not offered by loans through the school.</p>
<p>Cal Poly Pomona
-I like the campus
-Freshman can have cars on campus
-In SoCal, I want to get out of the Bay Area
-I could transfer to Mechanical Engineering if I wanted
-Lower cost of living
-Bad: Commuter campus(social scene, parties, campus life, etc)
-Major Bad: $6,500 in unfinanced costs</p>
<p>UC Santa Cruz
-Bad: No Mechanical Engineering
-Bad: Don't like Campus/small college system/hippyEnvironmentalist vibes
-Not commuter campus
-Neutral: Could live at home in San Jose to save money if necessary(Don't want to)
-Bad: No cars for Freshman(I will definitely have one)
-Tuition fully financed</p>
<p>Can anyone offer some insight? If you're really interested in my situation I made a similar post with slightly more information in another section.</p>
<p>How is the social atmosphere(social scene, parties, campus life, etc) at both schools?</p>
<p>How does the prestige and value of degrees from these schools compare in the business world after college?</p>
<p>I think you’re overestimating your chances of switching to Mechanical Engineering at Cal Poly Pomona. Not only is it extremely competitive to get into, it’s extremely hard to transfer into as well, even with a top GPA in your engineering-related preparation. I think 3.5 minimum after all prerequisites they’re looking for have been satisfied. That’s not easy, considering many prospective engineering majors drop like flies.</p>
<p>Cal Poly Pomona is a great school and I am graduating from there this spring. However, neither school really has good prestige in business. Cal Poly Pomona is a STEM school. It’s engineering, science, and mathematics majors are the money makers. It’s a good place to come to if you’re going to do STEM, but I would consider the quality of your classmates in a business major. We just had a career fair today and I have a job interview tomorrow. Some people get hired THE DAY of the career fair. I’d like to think we generally do well with employers. </p>
<p>If I were in your shoes, I would probably attend UC Santa Cruz. I came here because I didn’t have to pay tuition and it was 10K per year cheaper to go to Cal Poly Pomona than UC Davis. You’ll get a good education in the humanities here, but you’ll get a great education in STEM here. Although, UC’s are no slouch. You’ll get a great education there too. If social life is a huge deal to you and you want to come to Cal Poly Pomona, join a fraternity/sorority. If you’d rather not, then you would probably like UC Santa Cruz better. A lot of students here at Cal Poly Pomona work and go to school. </p>