<p>My son got into UCDavis as a Regents Scholar (we didn’t expect that!) and into CPSLO both in the Materials engineering depart. He is leaning towards CP, but the Regents thing comes with a lot of perks. ($7,500 per year, priority registration) This brings the cost closer to the same amount. </p>
<p>He loves CP and we also like Davis. Any thoughts about the engineering programs at both schools. We know the everyone here (with the exception of KalPoly) loves CP. We just wonder if Davis would also be a good choice?</p>
<p>Thanks for any advice you can give…we have really come to appreciate all of your comments.</p>
<p>I am currently an EE student at UC Davis. Let me share with you why I want to transfer to CP from UCD. With all the grants and scholarship that I get, I also do not have to pay anything for tuition. </p>
<p>To be honest, I <em>personally</em> think that UCD’s engineering dept is not very good at all (compared to CP’s), hence the reason why I am transferring to CP this fall. I barely tried to do any work this past quarter (Semiconductor Physics, EM, and Electronic Circuits), and passed all of them with all with B+, and they all have no labs requirements. When I looked at CP’s curriculum for the equivalent courses, they all have labs as requirements. Professors were all apathetic, all they wanted was the students to learn the conceptual things and they never gave any industry examples or applications on the stuffs that we lectured. They also push students to go to grad school because some of them go way off tangent to talk about topics in courses in the graduate level.</p>
<p>I have a few friends who graduated from UCD a year or two earlier with EE major and they are still unemployed as of late. They all unanimously suggest me to transfer to CP if I have the chance. Even my uncle (a Stanford graduate with masters in EE) suggested me not to stay in UCD and go for CP. </p>
<p>My opinion:
CP’s very well known and highly respected for engineering, while UCD is not.
If money is of no concern, definitely pick CP.</p>
<p>Congrats to your son (again) Momofmv!! I would just say be sure to go to Admitted Student Day at Open House and attend the MATE department presentations and Q&A. They showed us pie charts of CP vs. UCD Materials Engineering curriculum. The amount of lab time and project work was not anywhere even close to similar. Both schools teach the concepts and theory, it is the practical education that distinguishes Cal Poly and makes their grads so much more prepared to work as engineers after college. </p>
<p>Most engineering courses at CP are “3 lectures, 1 lab” which means 3 hours per week in lecture and 3 hours per week in lab. (for labs, 1 unit = 3 hours of time). By the end of my son’s 3rd year of MATE (this June) he will have completed 17 engineering courses with labs. And that doesn’t count chemistry, physics, or life science labs.</p>
<p>So for one engineering class you get about 30 hours of lecture and 30 hours of lab time in a quarter (plus homework, of course). So with all the labs, one could argue that Engineers at CP are getting double the education. Perhaps this helps explain why so few engineers graduate in just 4 years from Cal Poly.</p>
<p>My son was also accepted to UCD and UCSB, not with Regents though. He loves the Davis campus, but based upon Cal Poly’s reputation, would choose Cal Poly for engineering over either UCD or UCSB. With this economy especially, being able to get a job after college is key!</p>
<p>I knew I could count on you guys to give excellent reasons for my son staying on course to CP! </p>
<p>Thank you smallpotato for being so honest and giving details into why CP has a better engineering program than UCD. I hope you are able to transfer to CP! The labs sound so critical to learning the practical side of engineering and being prepared for a job. CP’s reputation is so strong with employers. Now i can see why. Thanks so much!</p>
<p>ralph4^ yes, we are already signed up for Open House at CP and we have been on the MaTE department tour and were very impressed. We will go to the presentations and hear more about the program. Your opinions have been wonderful because they are directly about MaTE and your son’s experience. It sounds like CP has a much better way of teaching. thank you again for your help!</p>
<p>CalMomof5^ yes, getting a job is a very important part of the picture. CP seems to be superior in that area for sure. Congrats to your son and thank you for your honest opinion.</p>