e30070

UCSB or CAL POLY?
I was accepted to both under mechanical engineering major what should i doooooo? I love both schools the engineering at cal poly is supposed to be great but the lifestyle at santa barbara is awesome.

collegemom16

Lifestyle at Cal Poly is awesome and so is the engineering program. If it were chemical engineering I'd say SB, in this case CPSLO.

toscani

I applied a year ago and got in but decided to work a year and not go. This year I applied in Business and got in and I am strongly considering it. How does Cal Poly's business program compare to others?

renee

Any Opinions ?

Sora000

For Psychology Cal Poly for sure. Wouldn't you rather learn by doing it, not learn about the theory of it.

For Business I say Cal Poly UNLESS you want to minor in a language and study abroad. Cal Poly has a lot of study abroad programs but they only teach German, Spanish, and French. If you want to learn, say, Japanese, and SB offers that language a study abroad in Japan, then SB is a better choice. Other than that its Cal Poy.

Quite honestly, I have not figured out why people like the life style of UCSB. I think it is more of a steriotype that SB is really fun and blah blah blah that the SB students have perpetuated. I personally think the life style of Cal Poly is far better. You get Pismo for the beach, lots of hiking and forrests for the campers/hikers, You get a very nice town, with a wonderful farmers market.

UCSB, the beach is a little closer. It's a bigger town (I think thats a neg, but you may think its a pos.) You get the "UC" name.

In my head it's Cal Poly all the way from a life style perspective. If you add in how good your education will be, then it's not even a contest. Cal Poly is far superior. Some people hold Cal Poly in their minds as "It's the best Cal State school. But it's not a UC". These people love their name brand products. They don't look at the quality of the students being produced, they just care about the "Cal State" vrs. "UC" names.

In the end it obviously your choice. Just don't let opinion skew fact(Obviously I am biased toward Cal Poly)

renee

I agree, however was rejected by Cal Poly in Psychology. They had 44 spots with over 1,400 applicants. I am debating whether or not I should go to UCSB, or work for a year and reapply. I already live in SLO..and really have no desire to go to a UC. I only applied as a back-up (ELC)

joshbjones

I agree with Sora000; one of the reasons why you may be considering UCSB is because of the "UC" title. If CAL POLY was a UC, it would no doubt be one of the top UCs and you wouldn't think twice about attending CAL POLY. I would go with CAL POLY for the engineering program. Plus, UCSB is not that far from CAL POLY. You can definitely gather up friends and go on a road trip to UCSB in less that two hours. Just FYI, I have never been to CAL POLY nor UCSB.

Sora000

Renee: The choice to take time off, go to a UC, or go to a community college, definitely rests on you. Even if Cal Poly was your first choice, most people end up completely happy with where they do get accepted and attend. UCSB is by no means a bad school. Did you apply/get accepted anywhere else?

renee

I was also accepted to UCI.. I have 2 brothers at Cal Poly and really thought I would be accepted. I should have done more research as to the number of students they admit for that major. I would have been happy with any of the Liberal Arts majors since I really don't know what I want to do..however leaning towards Psychology. I could always transfer !

That1TallKid

I'm trying to decide between Cal Poly and UCSB Electrical Engineering programs. UCSB has a lot more intern ships and I think the graduate program for EE is pretty good. anybody have input about the two programs?

Sora000

Renee: UCI was actually my number 3 behind Cal Poly then Cal. I'd say go there over UCSB, but then again I really don't like the atmosphere of UCSB and many others really seem to like it, so I may be biased. You should go check the schools out in person. Academically, they are probably about the same, so it's really a choice of your personal preferance.

That1TallKid: Do not base your undergrad college choice on your graduate choice. Going to UCSB as an undergrad gives you no better chance to get into their grad program than if you go to Poly. An example of this is that UCLA undergrads actually have a lower admissions rate into the UCLA med school than students from other schools. I realize this is not med school we are talking about, but there you go. Cal Poly is ranked very highly in the engineering department for a reason. Cal Poly pushes the hands on experience, and they have many intership opportunities, so, if you are motivated, in sure you will not have too big a problem getting an intership. Number one piece of advice is to go visit the campuses and see what you think of each.

any1can

UCSB and Cal Poly are like comparing apples to oranges. Both have good but different business programs , my advice is to do your research, make a list of +'s and -'s and go where you feel the most comfortable. Grad school is within reach from both schools if you do well at the school you attend. Grad schools for a business MBA generally (not always) like to see a couple of years of work experience before you apply anyway. An internship through either program is always a + for grad school and/or a job. Good luck.

Ohnonomiss

well, at which school do you feel there are more opportunities for internships?

That1TallKid

Ya I liked both campuses a lot, but I think I'm going with Cal Poly because it offers so many other highly ranked programs that if I feel like changing my major then I'm still going to be in a good program

who8me2k7

Its very hard to change your major at cal poly.