<p>So pretty much, I'm choosing between these two schools for electrical engineering.</p>
<p>I've heard good things about both schools. I'm a CA resident so SLO is definitely cheaper (although money isn't an issue for me). For SLO, I know they are VERY respected for engineering in terms of finding jobs after graduation. How is UW for job offers after graduation? Personally I LOVE the city of Seattle but I HATE the weather. At SLO, I LOVE the weather and the beach but I'm a little turned off by the small town and the distance from a major city. </p>
<p>In terms of a social life, I do enjoy partying but not too much. I'd have good high school friends at both schools so that's a plus too. UW's PAC 10 athletics is a plus too. Also, I do plan on playing intramural sports (soccer. not to sound cocky but I want a higher level of soccer. I chose to focus on my education over playing college soccer, but I still want to play somewhat competitive soccer.) so if anyone has any information on how challenging the soccer teams are then I'd appreciate it.</p>
<p>I'd appreciate any ideas or thoughts on what I should choose.
Also, if I'm missing any info then just ask.</p>
<p>My family just got back from the Cal Poly SLO Open House and loved every moment of it. We experienced the highest level of school spirit of all the schools we visited. We saw several kids in soccer gear. In fact, our tour guide played on the college team and he had great things to say about it. Both schools are great and you have outlined all the pros and cons of the two with regards to weather, etc. I love Seattle too, but the weather is pretty harsh in the winter and I am sure that you would have more playing days at SLO. For us SLO was the natural choice. My kid never considered out of state schools but chose SLO over UCLA, UCSD, etc.</p>
<p>The most important thing is where you want to study to be an EE major. The labs and facilities at SLO were amazing with the many of them being new and state of the art. SLO takes the “Learn by Doing” motto very seriously and we saw students so engaged in projects it made our heads spin. We saw nothing of the sort at any other campus. What we really loved about SLO was that the professors were adamant that their passion was teaching our kids how to be engineers in the real world. The other schools were passionate about their research and a hands on education was not a priority.</p>
<p>I know nothing about the EE program at UW. I’ve been to the campus and it is beautiful. Seattle is a high tech center on a global scale. But any other comments about their EE program would be speculation.</p>
<p>Cal Poly has a tremendous reputation nation wide. As an alum (biochem '87) people recognize the school even in the north east. From an engineering standpoint, it is one of the top 10 undergrad engineering programs in the country.</p>
<p>SLO is a great town–so wonderful and you can’t beat the weather and the nearby beach. I can’t imagine choosing Seattle over SLO especially since its cheaper too!</p>
<p>The kids that go there are great too. They are really good students, but they like to have a good time. I did not find that there was a lot of excessive partying there like you find at some of the other CSU campuses. </p>
<p>The profs are really strong too. Engineering there will be challenging but in a good way. </p>
<p>And, the Learn by Doing philosophy at SLO is really key and a primary reason why graduates get jobs. I got my first job in a biotech lab with my BS degree and was hired over 2 people with masters degrees. I got the job because I knew how to use all of the equipment in the lab–because at Cal Poly we Learn by Doing!</p>