sarahjhansen

Cal Poly is also pretty good with Aerospace Engineering.
my brother goes there and just got an internship down at Edward's Airforce Base. so... just a thought : )

flopsy

I concur -- Cal Poly SLO has good undergraduate engineering in general.

saxshackdan

How difficult do you think it will be to change from a mech engineering major to EE? And which major would you recommend more highly?

flopsy

It's very difficult -- but I figure if you could get into UCLA as an engineering major you could beat the competition from the CL&S. Talk to the Office of Academic and Student Affairs, and they should advise you about whether you get any preference over CL&S applicants. I would recommend whatever major you want to pursue...

K9Unit

1. Is there anyone doing a double major within the engineering department (like EE and Comp Sci) or is that too difficult? How about also majoring in an L&S department?

2. Are there usually pre-determined cutoffs for grades or are they curved to fit a certain distribution?

3. What percentage approx. of undergrads are invovled in serious research with a prof and how easy is it obtain one?

4. In your experience how do employers view a UCLA engineering degree? I've heard from my dad that several EE majors have been jobless since June, (anectodal evidence) but that doesn't sound right.

and finally 5. Since I'm from NorCal is it worth it to attend the Open House on 4/9? Any new info that can't be found online?

Thanks Flopsy!

flopsy

1. I've never heard of anyone double-majoring in two engineering majors -- it is forbidden by the HSSEAS OASA. I know one prodigy, though, who double-majored in Computer Science and Business Economics and now works at Microsoft.

2. There are no pre-determined cutoffs for grades; the classes are mostly curved to a B- median. For example, a 90% can be an A in EE 1 but a 60% can be an A in EE 2.

3. Approximately 5%. It's difficult to get in though, because the high-profile research (mostly Electrical Engineering) require being an upperclassman with a 3.50 GPA. All I had to do to get involved with research, luckily, was e-mail a graduate student in my major and ask him to hook me up with some research that's within the scope of my knowledge.

4. It's hard to answer this question explicitly because I can't exactly go up and ask employers, but I can say that UCLA Engineers are sought after by all the big-name defense contractors and consulting firms in Southern California. One of the interesting things I noticed at career fairs is that some employers actually know the engineering faculty by name.

milesguidon

Flopsy: EE- is it one of the better eng programs at UCLA? What do you think are the top three eng programs?

flopsy

The top three engineering programs at UCLA are Electrical Engineering (11th), Aerospace Engineering (12th) and Computer Science (14th).

saxshackdan

flopsy--

if you end up going to the engineering open house on april 9th, will you agree to wear a t-shirt that says "I AM FLOPSY" in block letters?

flopsy

Yeah, sure, why not.
Don't expect me to follow you guys around for the whole day, though...

lovetocamp

Flopsy - I appreciate you taking the time to answer questions.

I have a dilema, that I am confident that you can clear up. On the one hand, UCLA's Engineering programs are highly rated (USNEWS, and other sources). Yet, when we took the student led tour, not much at all was said about the Engineering programs. And, when we walked past the Engineering Building(s), frankly they looked very drab. And, the tour did not take us inside.

I am certain that it was a bad combination of circumstances (student tour guide with minimal knowlege of the Engineering programs, and the reality of a few older buildings). I am confident that inside, there must be great things going on. Otherwise, UCLA would not have the reputation that it has.

What makes the above circumstances even more discouraging was the fact that your neighbor (USC), did put on a very good tour. I am not saying this to put down UCLA. It is just the way the circumstances played out during our trip to SoCal. They took us inside, and one of the Engineering Admissions Officers spent an hour with a small group of us (students and parents). It didn't hurt that the bulding that we were in was only a couple of years old, and very state of the art. This aspect of the school tour made their Engineering program very attractive. Again, I do not say any of this to put down UCLA or raise up USC. It is just the way the two tours played out. Frankly, I wish that UCLA had done a similar type of tour, so that I could compare apples with apples.

I ask you to enlighten me/us. Tell me/us of the wonderful things that go on inside the building. Tell me of the Labs. Tell me of the projects that you have worked on. The access to lab materials. Do you have access to Grad Labs? Are Engineering Lower division taught by Profs or TA/GSs?

I realize that if/when we come down for the April 9th tour, that we will see a completely different and better picture. I am just hoping that you can enlighten us beforehand.

Thanks much

Thanks

saxshackdan

"Don't expect me to follow you guys around for the whole day, though.. "

I would expect nothing less.

No, just kidding. I only want to put a face to the name. Then you're free to go.

mikemac

lovetocamp, usc is a private school that needs to attract students willing to pay $47K a year to attend when you can get the pretty much the same thing across town for about $23K. Second, the UC schools are flooded with top applicants and have to turn away well-qualified students. So they don't have to work too hard to convince people to apply. This isn't to say they shouldn't do a better job during the tours.

lovetocamp

mikemac - Yes, i do realize all that you typed (before you even typed it). But, I appreciate the thoughts.

I guess part of what i am asking is for someone to tell me what goes on inside - that i unfortunately did not get a chance to see. I am not doubting you. But, I need to hear some of it.

I saw, at USC, undergrad students in very sophisticated Engineering labs, working side by side with Grad students. I'm not saying that it doesn't happen at UCLA and Berkeley. I am just hopeful that someone can tell me about it.

I am the dad, who will soon by writing some very large checks, for either school. I have seen the ratings and rankings. I subscribe to USNEWS paid College statistics, and i DO know that Berkeley and UCLA are rated higher. I am mildly dissapointed that UCLA did not put on a better tour.

I guess you would have to "feel my pocketbook pain" to truly understand why i am interested more - than a putdown of USC. In fact, ironically, a good portion of the tour of UCLA was just that. The UCLA student tour-guide put down USC's athletics, put down USC Medical Program, put down USC's vicinity, put down USC's money, etc. He went into great details about how they dump paint on Tommy Trojan during the football and basketball games. That may have been comical to the touring high school seniors, but i am soon going to be writing some large checks, and I was more interested in substance, not in humor. Not sure of your age, but there used to be a hamburger commercial with an old woman who would say "show me the beef".

I AM a believer of UCLA. But, I would like to hear a few details.

j0b0sapi3n

well, since my double engineering major question has already been answered in this thread,

1) how hard is it to major in both engineering and business?
2) i was accepted for computer science and engineering, what's the diff btwn that and regular computer science?
3) is there a program similar to cal's EECS? i want both hardware and software
4) is it hard to change from CS&E to EE? i sorta just alternated btwn CS and EE for all the UC's, not sure which one i'd rather do yet (wanted to do both but i guess they don't allow it)