<p>I got accepted to both, but I have no idea how good Pacific's Engineering school is.</p>
<p>I have 12.5k in scholarship money for UoP but have to pay full tuition at UCSB.</p>
<p>Which should I choose?</p>
<p>Look at the total cost of attendance for both schools as a better cost analysis. Although at UCSB you will be paying full tuition, it’s considerably lower to begin with. Keeping your debt to a dull roar should be one of the deciding factors.</p>
<p>Both schools offer something unique. The most significant academic difference is the class size and guaranteed ability to graduate in four years at UoP. You’ll also have full professors as opposed to TA’s in many of your GE classes at SB. The engineering school at UoP tends to be more hand-on than the program at SB.</p>
<p>@hop Thanks for the input. What are the drawbacks of having TA’s in my GE classes? Hands-on is good, right?</p>
<p>My main concern if that if I go to UoP its lack of prestige and lower ranking compared to UCSB will hurt me when I’m applying med school, grad school, or even looking for a job in the future.</p>
<p>The drawback of TA’s in seminar classes depend on your learning style. If you prefer discussion-based learning, then the larger seminar-style classes for your general education (GE) requirements may prove challenging.
TA’s are not professors.
However if you’re fine with seminar-style courses, this would not be an impediment.
The only real drawback is that at the larger schools your professors will probably never know who you are, potentially (but not always) resulting in a disadvantage for research assisting and recommendations for med or graduate school.
Either school, you’ll want to check in with their Health advising to be sure that you’re taking the qualifying course work.</p>
<p>Can you give us (tuition+ R&B) - (grants+scholarships) = ?
What’s your parents’ budget?</p>
<p>@MYOS1634
UCSB: $34739
UoP: Approximately $42500</p>
<p>My parents say we can afford both.</p>
<p>Check that they don’t mean “through loans”…
it’ll really depend on what you like best: large lecture halls where you don’t have to participate a lot, or interactive, discussion-based classes? Are you good at advocating for yourself or do you prefer a more personalized environment? Do you want wild parties? A close-knit environment?
You can also ask the dept at UoP: are the first year classes “weed out” classes and what percentage students get As and Bs vs. Ds and Fs? How often do students find summer internships (and where, paid or unpaid?) How easy is it to complete the liberal arts requirements? Is it possible to have a minor (in business, in arts/science?) Ask to be put in contact with a current freshman and a current senior at both schools, so that you can compare their experience (best memory, what they typically do on weekends during the day and during the evenings, biggest regret, biggest problem at their university, nicest aspect of the gen eds, would they make the same choice again, what’s the hardest in the major…)</p>
<p>As a second consideration, be sure to get a feel for campus environment as they couldn’t be in more different areas. UCSB has a very large student body and is located steps from the beach, with a lot of activities. UOP is a beautiful campus in Stockton, a city with major financial problems. </p>
<p>Agree with @hop above - there’s a real difference in feel/style between UoP and the UCs and you have to decide what fits your style best. Not mentioned –> Co-op!! One of the biggies helping my daughter chose UoP over UCs for Engineering Physics was the Co-op (<a href=“http://www.pacific.edu/Academics/Schools-and-Colleges/School-of-Engineering-and-Computer-Science/Academics-/Cooperative-Education.html”>http://www.pacific.edu/Academics/Schools-and-Colleges/School-of-Engineering-and-Computer-Science/Academics-/Cooperative-Education.html</a>). We met a senior who after working 7 months for NVIDIA (paid!) was deciding to work or do grad school at Berkeley - he had offers for both.</p>
<p>I am a UOP grad (business administration). I just wanted to respond to your comment about the relative reputation of the schools and your concern that attending UOP might put you at a disadvantage when applying to grad schools. I went to Duke Law and was accepted at Boalt (UC Berkeley), UCLA, PENN, Georgetown, and several other top schools). After law school, I went to NYU for a post graduate degree in tax law. In my experience, UOP presented no barriers to my grad school options. I also believe I received a better education at UOP than either of the graduate schools I attended (and I liked both of them). Part of the reason for that is that at UOP, there are small classes taught by professors who really care about teaching. I flourished in that environment and suspect many others do as well. </p>