<p>Which of these would be best for an electrical engineering major?</p>
<p>Wouldn’t think that too many peoplehave really compared these two schools. They are on opposite sides of the country.</p>
<p>One quick comparison, Cal Poly is a much bigger school just based on the number of students. Overall test scores are about the same but that can be quite missleading. Cal Poly admits by major and the engineering majors are among the hardest to get into.</p>
<p>Agreed, not many people would compare CPSLO to Bucknell, maybe to Lehigh. Bucknell is a small liberal arts college, in a rural part of PA with a strong engineering school but the draw is that a student desires going to a LAC. I guess the fact the the emphasis is on undergrad engineering is the overlap. CPSLO is a state school about 3 times the size and is much cheaper if you are instate to CA. I think comparing Cal Poly to Rowan might be a closer match since they are both supposed to be very hands on programs.</p>
<p>You may want to consider what your post-graduation goals are. Both schools have career surveys:</p>
<p>Bucknell: [Post</a> Graduation Report || Bucknell University](<a href=“http://www.bucknell.edu/x3099.xml]Post”>http://www.bucknell.edu/x3099.xml)
Cal Poly SLO: [Graduate</a> Status Report - Career Services - Cal Poly](<a href=“http://www.careerservices.calpoly.edu/content/student/gsr_report]Graduate”>http://www.careerservices.calpoly.edu/content/student/gsr_report)</p>
<p>Note that job destinations tend to be rather regional (Bucknell graduates frequently go to jobs in PA, NJ, and NY, while Cal Poly SLO graduates frequently go to jobs in CA).</p>
<p>Of course, net cost after non-loan financial aid should be considered.</p>
<p>Thank you everyone for your input. My son is from California but is open to attending school and working on the east coast. We’re looking for the best, and of course the best value.</p>
<p>Hard to find any flaws in the engineering program at Cal Poly SLO. For California state residents, if money is a critical factor the higher cost of an out-of-state engineering college may not be justified.</p>
<p>The scholarship and aid my son was offered by Bucknell makes its cost competitive with Cal Poly SLO even though we are in California, and a Bucknell engineering degree only takes 4 years to complete.</p>
<p>And, you should also figure in the additional year of earning potential by graduating in 4 years from Bucknell.</p>
<p>I am new to this, so hope this is answered. My son got into the Cal Poly SLO Eng program, but we are out of state and dont know a lot of the ins and outs. He did get some aid making money not a big part of the equation. You said the Bucknell prog allowed you to graduate in 4 years. Can you not graduate at Cal Poly in 4 years??</p>
<p>Yes, Cal Poly recommended schedules are set up to graduate in 12 quarters (4 academic years). However, for some majors, the average number of credit units per quarter is 16-17 instead of the more usual 15.</p>
<p>Actual four year graduation rate is rather low; you may want to ask on the Cal Poly forum whether that means taking extra quarters in school, as opposed to shifting the 12 school quarters beyond 4 calendar years due to a co-op job. If it means taking extra quarters in school, try to find out whether that is because students find the workload too high and take fewer than the recommended number of credits per quarter for their major, or for other reasons.</p>
<p>Note that taking more than four years may mean one or two quarters extra, not an entire year extra.</p>