Hi! So I recently got into Cal Poly Slo for General Eng, UCLA for Chem Eng, and Berkeley for Chem Eng. I have no clue what to choose. Let me walk you through what I am thinking:
SLO:
PROs: Great Engineering, love the campus, love the professor in charge of general eng, love that the professors seem like they want to help students, can mold own course of study
CONs: Not as prestigious as UCLA or Berkeley, only General Engineering and not chemical eng, more for people who want to work in industry
UCLA:
PROs: My brother goes to UCLA, more prestigious, hard chemical eng, met a lot of people already, the choice everyone expects me to choose, can work in industry or go to grad school
CONs: Professors don’t really seem to care, really hard, not the best program
BERK:
PROs: Better chemical engineering option, more prestigious
CONs: SUPER hard and competitive, in the college of chemistry so if I end up not like chem eng it will be harder for me to switch to a different engineering
My main concerns have to deal with whether I will like chemical engineering and the prestige of the school? My heart is telling me SLO but my head is telling me UCLA or Berk. Please any Chem Es, help me out!
Thanks!!!
A confused senior with 14 days left to decide!
As you probably know, SLO will better prepare you for a job after graduation. If you think you might want to go to grad school afterwards, choose UCLA or Berkeley. I don’t know that Berkeley professors care any more or less than UCLA, I doubt there is a difference. I can tell you that chemical engineering is one of the most difficult of all the engineering majors. If you don’t already really enjoy chemistry it may not be the right choice for you (not saying you don’t, but it should be a serious consideration).
I agree with @authentic1. It really depends on if you want to do grad school. If you want to go then probably choose the UCs. if you want to work first after undergrad, then go for SLO. be warned that UCs are very theory and research-based. Ultimately, its up to you.
One thing to consider, maybe, is whether you’ll have the energy for grad school after UCLA or Berkeley? If it’s a four or five year battle to get your B.S. degree, then maybe not? Cal Poly won’t be easy, but maybe easier, and maybe you’ll have more interest in continuing college. Just a thought. My son choose Cal Poly over UCLA for electrical engineering for the reasons you stated. Cal Poly is more focused towards undergraduates. Also, I would guess that you could transfer from General Engineering to one of the other engineering majors if you wanted to. (You should verify this.)