<p>I found this statement over in the UCSD forum regarding Cal Poly SLO vs. UCSD. So what say all of you engineering experts? Does a UC have a considerable edge over a Cal Poly SLO degree for graduate school? When I visited Cal Poly many of the engineers were either in graduate school there (at Cal Poly) or were going on to get graduate school degrees at other universities. The tours guides said that graduate schools love Cal Poly graduates. Is it true that UC students have a considerable edge? Is Cal Poly giving out misinformation?</p>
<p>Here is the statement made in the UCSD forum by Peppers:</p>
<p>"One thing to consider is that a salary from an undergraduate engineering degree is likely to peak in ~5 years. You may come out with $52K a year, but 10 years from now, that will be ~$65K, with probably at best adjustments to account for inflation. My suggestion is to definitely keep the Master's option open, whether its in engineering, or anything else. An engineering degree opens a lot of doors, since the rigor of an engineering curriculum is well known to graduate schools. An engineer can expect to compete and likely be admitted to medical school, business school, even law school. These graduate schools know that engineers work hard, and that they have the diligence and devotion to succeed. </p>
<p>While by no means am I saying that CP SLO is going to deny you these options, what I would have to say is that CP SLO's teaching technique gears its engineers towards work directly out of college, with provisions towards even higher education not nearly as emphasized as UCs. UCs tend to focus on the "book smarts", not so much the practical application of skills such as CP SLO. When coming out of college, its true, SLO engineers know what they're doing. But when it comes to graduate school, a UC degree will have a measurable edge compared to a SLO degree."</p>
<p>If one gets a 3.5 at Cal Poly SLO I tend to think their chances of getting into graduate school within CA are good. Beyond that it is harder, I would guess. The difference between CPSU & UCs is the lack of research opportunities as undergrad. I can only speculate that there are a lot less. For someone who doesn't want to research, like myself, this was totally an acceptable option. I doubt the emphasis between theoretical and practical is of no-issue between CPSU & UCs. Lectures still exist and they are still extremely theoretical. The practicality of the educations is done through labs, which CPSU has proved to be superior in almost all respects. I highly doubt that any edge which an undergraduate UC degree confers in doing graduate coursework is actually due to the degree. It's simply due to self selection and higher admission requirements (at least for UCB, UCLA, & UCSD).</p>
<p>I believe employers prefer Cal Poly grads over comparable UCs (UCSB/UCD/UCI), at least in ME (my major). This assertion is due to the volume of recruiting that comes to Cal Poly.</p>
<p>I expect that a higher percentage of UC engineering grads go on to get advanced degrees (particularly PhDs) than Cal Poly engineering grads. You would get more exposure to theoretical academic research at a UC, and the faculty and the advising system are probably more oriented towards prospective graduate students at a UC. The UC name would be more recognizable at most out-of-state graduate schools than the Cal Poly name, and this advantage would grow with increasing distance from California. </p>
<p>So I think that UCs could have an edge for graduate school in some situations. The advantage would be strongest for PhD and out-of-state programs; it would be less significant (perhaps insignificant) for MS and in-state programs. </p>
<p>If "graduate school" means an Ivy League PhD program, then a UC degree might be better than a Cal Poly degree. If "graduate school" means an MS from a UC or CSU, then there probably isn't much of a difference.</p>
<p>I am a Cp grad and have many friends working in engineering. The salary range Peppers showed is rather low, from my experience. My friends were offered anywhere from 55K-65K plus bonus, starting. I also know of at least one Cp grad who makes 100k after about 5 years experience. </p>
<p>It seems that most of my friends were planning on grad school after working for a few years. This way, their respective companies will pay for their grad school. This is certainly my plan, even though I'm not an engineer.</p>
<p>Lastly, I'd like to say that Cp is well-known for undergrad research. I've seen two lists put out by USnews that list top schools for undergrad research, and cal poly is on both of them. There aren't many grad students on campus, so that increases opportunities available to undergrads.</p>