Does anyone have information on the UCLA MechE program compared to Cal? This weekend I took my son to CAL Day. We visited the MechE workshop and Maker Lab. The two facilities have an assortment of machines from welders to carbon fiber printing machines. The facilities cover three three floors and probably over 25K sq feet. Cal has tutoring center that is staffed by paid tutors that focus only on engineering classes. Last year we went on UCLA engineering tour and was shown nothing close to that. Does UCLA have any facilities comparable to Cal? It seems Cal spends a lot more money on the College of Engineering compared to UCLA.
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If you want, I can ask my son’s girlfriend who is a MechE major at UCLA. I know that she’s having a good experience and that her classes are very challenging, but I am not sure about the details of the facilities or other resources!
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Thank You!
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Son is still trying to decide between UCLA and Cal, admitted as mechanical engineering major. We did Bruin Day on 4/15 and Cal Day yesterday. For Bruin Day, we did “Discover Engineering” in the afternoon. There is a tour that took us around to see various buildings, including the birthplace of internet. We were shown a makerspace with 3D printers, laser cutters etc. Unfortunately we were not shown the more heavy duty machine shop, something having to do with needing training/authorization to enter. In Cal’s MechE machine shop, I saw the waterjet cutter for the first time. My son’s high school also has machine shops, with laser and plasma cutters, but not waterjet cutter. As a result, he was not able to make a type a gear for one of his projects last semester. I did some digging online to find out if UCLA has that type of machine. Based on a youtube video from last year, UCLA does have a waterjet cutter but seems to be a smaller version. I believe Cal has 2, one in the ME shop, the other in the metal shop in the Maker/Design center. I think it would be nice to have better equipment so when students take certain classes to make some project into real prototype, there is less limitation as to what material they could use.
Another difference between the Bruin Day and Cal Day is that there was no demonstrations of labs at UCLA. It was cool to see what some of the labs are working on, from new 3D printing methods, inverted pendulum, to autonomous control systems.
Both places had a variety of clubs showcasing their work. From a non-engineer’s view, some of the products at Cal’s club tables look more impressive that UCLA’s.
We have contacted some of son’s high school alums who are studying ME at UCLA. They are having a good time but none had any experience with Cal. One of them did mention that Cal has bigger maker space.
The above is just my observation as a biologist. Over the years, I heard more negative reviews from pre-med Cal students but what the MechE dept. showed on Cal Day truly impressed me.
I agree. Truly impressive. Showcased the passion of the students and commitment of Cal to the MechE and Engineering programs as a whole.
Hi @CaliBoy2024 – I heard back from my son’s girlfriend who is a MechE major, and here’s what she wrote in reply to what you asked above: “I would definitely say we at least have everything they listed if not more. They even have certain things like maker spaces on the hill as well as on campus, and I think the resources for the engineering program specifically such as the counselors are extremely excellent, compared to all other majors in terms of advice and availability.”
She says that the spaces are always full and buzzing. Re: that last point, her note about advising and resources/support tracks with what I have seen and heard. Overall, UCLA isn’t great with proactive advising for many undergrad majors. But the whole school of engineering is a different story. They are well resourced and have a lot of support. She has people to talk to and work with all the time to support her in her development. This has definitely not been the case for my son in Business Econ! But engineering seems solid. Both she and my son are involved in Bruin Racing (SAE racing – they have a Formula team, a Baja team, and a Supermileage team), she on the engineering side and he on the business side. That’s a lot of fun! I know Cal has teams as well. Maybe not a Baja team, though, which is the one they work on: https://www.bruinracing.com/
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My son is in Engineering and has had great advising. He met with his advisor last week and they spoke for well over an hour. I feel that the engineering school is a gem being somewhat smaller within the realm of a larger university. He also has had no problems getting any of his classes for all 3 quarters.
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Does anybody know what physics department is like at UCLA?
hi. thanks for the information.
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Hi! I have a question. I’m new to this entire college thing, and I will be attending UCLA in the fall. I wanted to ask about the GE classes. Like what they are and what ones I have to take (Major is Biochem). Thank you!
There are no specific GE’s based on major but by College. The academic advisor during Freshman orientation can make recommendations but you can also look at the requirements on this link and check the course catalog to find GE courses of interest. Also below is a link to a sample 4 year major course program.
https://www.chemistry.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Biochemistry-Major-2022-2023.pdf
Hopefully current students can chime in on some GE course recommendations. If you search this discussion thread there are recommendations for the GE clusters. Here is a link. Undergraduate Education Initiatives | UCLA Cluster Program
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Curious how UCLA students feel about the speed of the quarter system, particularly if their previous schooling was semester-based. Main pros and cons of quarters vs semesters would be interesting to hear. For context, my kid is trying to decide between UCLA and semester-based schools.
My kid:
Pacing not a problem, because Kid is not a procrastinator. For procrastinators it gets quite intense. You might think semesters would be worse for that (even more material to cram at the end), but I think the issue is that time flies in the quarter system, and by the time you realize you’re behind, it could be too late. “Just a week” (of slacking, being sick, being tied up with something else) isn’t a thing.
Taking just 3 classes at a time feels very manageable, almost “light”. And it’s not necessary to take more, since it’s quarters, so regular school year packs in 3x versus 2x terms. (3x3>2x4).
Hope that helps.
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I’d agree with the part about procrastinators (surprisingly quarters are worse).
Maybe I’m misunderstanding what you are saying with 3x3 > 2x4 (3 classes per quarter vs. 4 per semester), but I don’t think that’s right. UCs on quarter systems require 180 units to graduate (AFAIK, maybe some variation at one or two of them) and at UC Berkeley (which uses semesters) it takes 120 units to graduate. It’s similar at most US universities on semesters (though what is a “unit” can vary). So a full time load at both UCLA and UC Berkeley is 15 units (each quarter or each semester) which is typically 4 classes whether it’s quarters or semesters (possible to have three 5 unit classes or five 3 unit classes but that’s rare).
If you come in with AP credit or credit from community college classes taken in high school (as a lot do at UCLA), then your course load would likely be lower (could easily be 3 classes for a number of quarters/semesters), but in most cases it’s still the same whether it’s quarters or semesters (perhaps a few cases where you’d get 2 semesters of AP credit at one school and 2 quarters of credit for the same AP at another).
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Quarters give you more variety in classes (50% more courses), but feel like they move faster. If your kid’s major is (or interests are) very interdisciplinary that extra variety can be quite valuable. Especially if major is not really decided, quarters will provide more opportunity to take classes in more departments.
Semesters give you less variety, but give you more time to refresh your memory on any pre-requisite material you may have forgotten and generally a bit more time to “ease” into the class before mid-terms start.
Quarter courses have finals week just after courses finish (see @CMCMLM’s post below, first final can even be the next day at UCLA). Some semester systems give you a full week with no class before finals (for example, RRR a.k.a. “dead week” at UC Berkeley). Of course with 50% more material to study for a final, that extra time is also more necessary for semester classes.
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Thanks, yea, this must be it for my kid (many APs coming in)…I kept asking why it seemed like upperclassmen shift to 4 classes at a time and kid says nope, advisors keep saying she is fine with 3. In fact kid keeps saying she’ll be on track to get graduation requirements done early. So it’s based on how many credits are already subtracted from the requirement, rather than getting through them faster because of quarters. Sorry folks for the confusion!
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My kid has taken 3 classes each quarter at UCLA, plus a Fiat Lux which usually meets less often or finishes earlier in the quarter.
That said, her classes have rarely been 4 units. Most have been 5, with her cluster being 6 and her language class being 4, and the Fiat Lux as 1.
So, she has averaged about 17 Units a quarter.
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Not to be nitpick but UC Merced is also on the Semester system.
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My first year engineering son has had a mix of 3 and 4 classes so far. It is very fast-paced but if you are organized, it should be ok. He hasn’t had any GEs, so he is looking forward to taking some non-STEM requirements. He had a very busy last quarter with classes ending a Friday and he had Math 32B Final the next day, a Saturday night. He still had Chem and Physics quizzes the last week of classes so it was very busy for him. I do wish there were a couple study days before finals- or at least don’t make finals start on Saturday.
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I think my S only took four classes in about 3 quarters across his whole 4 years. AP credit would have easily filled any shortfall in units (given his major was quite short).
But because standing affects pass time (and this doesn’t include AP credit), it was important to make sure you took at least 45 units during freshman year.
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