Hi I know this is very wordy so I put a shortened version of it with just my main questions at the bottom but if you would be willing to please read the whole section so you can get a better feel of my situation and help me select where I am going to attend next fall.
Hi, I was recently admitted to both UCLA and Cal Poly SLO for undergrad Civil Engineering. Going into the admission process, these were my top two schools and I was almost hoping that I would only get into one of them so I wouldn’t have to choose between them but I was blessed with the burden of choices. I am from South Orange County so LA is closer to home but that is not important to me. LA is a fun city but there is almost a romantic and idyllic feeling to SLO with the town and more laid back culture. I am very into outdoors activities such as skating, surfing, hiking, fishing, skiing, camping, riding dirt bikes, etc. and while SLO has more of that closer to campus, I believe that there are options for all of these at both campuses. Also while SLO has lots of open areas, I feel like LA has an infinitely wide range of things to do so I would possibly get bored at SLO before I do at UCLA (not that I am planning on having loads of free time but just my pov). I am planning on getting a job right out of my undergrad and possibly continuing my schooling with a Master’s Degree later in life. I have heard that SLO has better opportunities for employment right out of school. I find it hard to believe that new UCLA graduates are in less of a demand than SLO graduates but I could be wrong so please let me know if I am. I would also like to live in SoCal, preferably Orange County or San Diego, after college so would UCLA being closer to the area provide more opportunities there, or because SLO is only a few hours past LA would it not make a difference? One of the he bigger pros about UCLA for me was the bigger sports teams as I have been tailgating at the Rose Bowl before the UCLA football games for years and always have a blast. However with COVID my hopes for being able to tailgate and attend games next year are slim to none. I also see SLO opening much faster in respect to it being a smaller school and in a more conservative setting. I would like to actually attend in person if I am going to be paying full tuition wherever I go so that makes SLO more attractive but I don’t see UCLA or SLO being closed down in the 22-23 academic year so there is no huge difference there but still something to consider. I am not worried about the “lack of diversity” at SLO as I feel it will not affect me and I do not plan on changing my major so I am not worried about that either. One of the biggest differences about the schools that I am interested in is the class availability/sizes. While I have heard that at SLO it is much harder to get classes, the classes are smaller and are mostly taught by actual professors and vice versa for UCLA so it is a double edged sword and I was wondering which option you thought was better? Also I have heard that at UCLA it is harder to succeed because of these larger class sizes and unforgiving curves while at SLO the students are more willing to collaborate and it is less cutthroat. I am not asking which is easier as I know both will be challenging but if by first-hand or second-hand knowledge does anyone know if it is true that SLO promotes a more forgiving learning environment in engineering fields than UCLA? If COVID was not a factor, I believe that I would have already chosen UCLA as it is such a great and sought after opportunity but from when i visited both campuses last spring during COVID I felt more connected to the SLO campus. That being said I never saw either while they were fully open(besides the UCLA football games which looked like a blast). I know this was very wordy so for that I am sorry but if you got to the end thank you for taking time out of your day to read this and please respond to any/all parts of this as every little bit of insight helps. Thank you:)
Short version: Cal Poly SLO or UCLA for civil engineering? To start I felt a stronger connection to the SLO campus and area. I like outdoors activities and while SLO has a lot of open space which I like, I feel like the options are limited and have more options in LA so what is your stance on that? Is it actually true that it would be easier to get a job right out of SLO rather than UCLA? I would much rather be in person for learning and activities(which there is more at UCLA ex: school sports) so would it be worth it to wait for UCLA to open or just go to the already more open SLO campus? Is it true that SLO promotes a more forgiving learning environment in engineering fields than UCLA with its smaller(yet harder to get)classes? Thank you for any and all insight and I will consider it all while making my choice.
Here’s a recent thread about CS classes at UCLA being “impacted,” though I know zippo about Civil Engineering classes. However, @10s4life recently graduated from UCLA Engineering and can fill in the details.
My D will be attending SLO. She didn’t get into UCLA, but they also don’t have the program my D wanted either. In any case, I’ve heard if you’re willing to be flexible throughout your 4 years, and I’m sure this applies to UCLA too, take early morning and/or evening classes, then you can graduate SLO or UCLA in 4 years. You only hear about the complaints, but there are plenty of SLO students who graduate engineering in 4 years unless they do a co-op or something.
Both are great schools, congrats! I do think that UCLA offers a stronger engineering program overall and a better “complete” college experience.
UCLA civil is not only highly ranked but the ASCE (american society of civil engineers) chapter is one of the best. It is a completely integrated academic, professional, and social experience. Its the gold standard for a engineering org.
Slo is better for immediate hiking as UCLA is in westwood, a nice small college town in its own right. However the beach is close by as are some good hiking trails. It will require an uber ride though. I also like how UCLA engineering is multi disciplined. We get to declare a technical breadth outside of the major and there are tons of options from the traditional engineering fields to pre med and even engineering management (you get to take classes that are offered through Anderson). What is nice is all of UCLA is close together. The dorms are in one spot called the hill and the apartments are just next too them. So you are never far from your friends.
Both campuses will likely be open in the same capacity come fall. Don’t let their reopening plans change your perceptions.
UCLA will gurantee you get classes for engineering majors. Slo has a very good rep but it is much more local. In CA it is viewed very highly, less people have heard of it OOS. Slo has much more labs than UCLA. UCLA classes are more theoretical in the sense that rather than do a lab report and do calculations (labs sound nice but most students i know there hate the reports as they are time consuming), ucla classes are traditional problem sets and you may have a end of quarter project that is more hands on.
If you value sports and school spirit then ucla wins hands down. Tailgating at the rosebowl, watching games in pauley, the school pride is unrivaled. Let me know if you have more questions.
I live in San Diego and work for a large telecom/aerospace company here. If you’re wanting to live in San Diego at some point and you’re worried about SLO restricting your job opportunities down here, don’t be. I can tell you that our company HEAVILY recruits Cal Poly grads in all facets of engineering that are relevant to our work. We recruit from UCLA too, but you wouldn’t be disadvantaging yourself if you went to SLO. Hope this helps, congrats on having two great options!
Don’t use this bizarre COVID year to make your decision. From your post I can tell UCLA is where you want to be. Things will return to normal. Don’t turn down your chance to be a Bruin if you feel you will have regrets.
That’s funny, cause I thought from his post he really wanted to be at SLO!
@joobamar They are totally different environments so ask yourself what you want out of each of them…maybe divide it academically and socially and ask what is important. Make a list…
For example, academically, you could ask about class sizes or how competitive is each environment and what to you prefer? Is one more personal, what unique academic experience does each offer? Did you look at the cirriculum of CE at each school? Do they differ at all?
Socially -
How important are big time sporting events to me?
Would the college years be a good time to see “how the other half lives” and be in a new environment?
What would I miss if I went to UCLA, what would I miss if I went to SLO?
Alternatively, what would I get at UCLA that I can’t get at SLO, what would I get at SLO that I can’t get at UCLA?
If the academics were identical, which would you choose?
Sometimes students just keep collecting data and don’t spend time analyzing it. Once you have the basic info you need, it is then your values and opinions that matter in coming up with the answer. I was just at SLO last weekend and it was gorgeous. I was at UCLA about a month ago and it was gorgeous. While absolutely true, the bottom line is, that doesn’t matter, what you think does!
My son graduated in 2019 from Cal Poly with a BS/MS in ME. In all the time he was there, he was unable to get two classes that he wanted at the time (1 first year, 1 third). It was largely due to the fact that he was ahead and competing for slots with students in the cohort admitted the year prior. He simply took other courses and finished both degrees with a thesis in 5 years.
Take with a BIG grain of salt when someone proclaims one to be better than the other while offering zero evidence for the claim. One is not “better” than they other. They approach the way they educate students pretty differently. You have a solid handle on what those differences are.
The fact is, they are both respected and you’ll have good opportunities as a graduate of either as long as you make the best of your opportunities and get solid grades. Go with your gut and it will be the right choice.