<p>Just got the message yesterday about acceptance for Aerospace Engineering. Now I have to decide where to go.</p>
<p>I have a applied to UC(university of California) San Diego, UC Davis, UC LA and CAL POLY San Louis Obispo.</p>
<p>I think it is likely that I will get into all of the above schools except UCLA. </p>
<p>Which University should I attend assuming I get acceptance to all of them. I want to see opinions about these schools.</p>
<p>Do you really think there is an answer to this question without you giving us any details about what you want to do, what you like, etc?</p>
<p>Sorry for not being very clear, I am from California and a transfer student. I would like to go to a university that has most internship and research opportunities. </p>
<p>Georgia tech is very far from California and therefore I might not go there to just visit the campus.</p>
<p>UC Davis is very close from my home and they have dual degree program in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering program. UCSD and UCLA also have well known engineering program that are ranked highly. </p>
<p>I have heard CAL POLY SLO to be well known among hiring managers as they have learn by doing motto.</p>
<p>I just want to see how other students/parents compare these schools with Georgia Tech</p>
<p>So I’m assuming Georgia Tech is one of the schools you’re considering transferring too?</p>
<p>For AE, GT blows all those other schools out of the water. We’re #2 in the nation. Our AE department is very well known. Several of our professors are practically legends in their field of research. Lots of companies visit to recruit for internships, co-ops, jobs(Pratt and Whitney, Boeing, Gulfstream, NASA, Rolls-Royce, GE, Lockheed Martin, Space-X, etc.). </p>
<p>There’s also a ton of research opportunities. You just have to ask. I’m a freshman AE student, and I’m already doing research at one of the labs.</p>
<p>What are the tuition differences? It would be very hard to turn down UCLA and UCSD if they’re substantially cheaper than GT.</p>
<p>As for Cal Poly SLO, it is well known and well respected by employers in SoCal, but I’m not a fan of their education philosophy. Some schools have what’s called a first principals approach to engineering. These schools (virtually all of the top schools, including GT, UCSD, and UCLA) teach you fundamental concepts of engineering and let you figure out how to “do things” based on these fundamental concepts. Other schools have what’s called an apprenticeship approach. These schools (including Texas A&M and Cal Poly SLO) teach you how to do things, then you do them.</p>
<p>The difference is probably better explained through an example: let’s say you want to poach an egg. The apprenticeship approach would teach you “place the egg in 170 F water for 4 minutes”. The first principals approach would teach you the equations for how an egg heats, how to correct for different pot sizes, then would explain why you want to heat the egg. Then it would be up to you to calculate the time and temperature without guidance (probably on a test). </p>
<p>The first principals approach is more difficult and more complicated for students, but it pays off. Students who learn this way tend to understand the material better and have a better ability to adapt to change. Students who learn using the apprenticeship model tend to get started at a faster pace in their career, but the decreased ability to adapt or develop concepts from underlying principals usually comes back to bite them later in their career.</p>
<p>Thanks for insights all of you</p>
<p>@CFB, Since I am will be out of state and I qualify for blue gold in California (and possibly get additional cal grants) I think Georgia tech will be about 20k more expensive than here. I had not considered SLO like that, thanks for the elaborate example</p>
<p>@rawr I know G Tech is ranked highly for aerospace and I am very excited about getting a chance to go there.</p>
<p>I will have to look into my financial aid offers from all of these universities before I go anywhere.</p>