<p>Re, choice of major:
[College</a> of Engineering Advising Center - Changing Majors](<a href=“http://eadvise.calpoly.edu/dept/major.php]College”>http://eadvise.calpoly.edu/dept/major.php)</p>
<p>Read that policy. It isn’t as bad as it was in the past, but the effect still sucks. The net result is that I am not allowed to change majors. Even if I had tried two years ago, I wouldn’t be allowed to change majors. My major was my choice when I came in, but it isn’t now. So, I’m stuck. Maybe I can apply to grad school in the area I really wanted to study, but that will cost thousands and take 5 more years. All due to an advising center that would not help me in the slightest and policies designed to make it nearly impossible to change majors. </p>
<p>Why didn’t I transfer? Good question. Perhaps my parents and certain future employees are so swept up in these useless measures of academic prestige that they would be disappointed in a decision like that. Perhaps it’s the amount of sunk costs, the thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours I’ve put into this degree. Perhaps it’s the expensive 1 year lease I have to sign at an off campus housing complex. Or, perhaps I wouldn’t have the faintest idea where I should go. Sometimes it’s better to face the devil you know than face the unknown. </p>
<p>Re, getting a degree to get a job and the skilled trades:
If you are designing a 64 bit processor or a hybrid driveline or a low orbital flightbody, you are in it for more than just the money. I contend that you would have never made it that far if you were. I know I am… </p>
<p>I would say that there is a major problem with getting a degree to get a job. We are inflating the requirements for jobs. Jobs that have no reason to require a college degree now require a college degree. This does nothing but divert value to the education sector. </p>
<p>Re, thinking like an engineer:
I suspect I could have had this same experience at hundreds of universities, some of which would have allowed me to explore other engineering fields or even change major. It might have cost far less too. You get this experience in spite of industry’s involvement and the whole “learn by doing” philosophy as it is implemented here, not because of it. </p>
<p>I can’t really peg my dislike of Cal Poly on any single thing. I’m just tired of their parental attitude. I’m tired of their broken idea of ‘due proscess’. I’m tired of the People’s Republic of SLO and being treated as a second class citizen on the behest of the university. I’m tired of paying $600/month for a rat-hole apartment (which is considered a hell of a deal in SLO). I’m tired having to hunt down classes. I’m tired of being 3rd on the waitlist when the class only takes two students. I’m tired of seeing the waste and mismanagement at the top. I’m tired of special deals, copper counter-tops and do-nothing consultants. I’m tired of the corrupt and secretive Cal Poly Corporation. I’m tired of policies that require my club to pay to use their own name. I’m tired of departments that take 15% of all donations to campus organizations just for being there. I’m tired of lavish parties during a time of budget cuts. I’m tired of the ASI simply being lap dogs and refusing to take on the university when things go wrong. I’m tired of the focus on PR, on style over substance. I’m tired of the US News and World reports giving such rave reviews of the place based on what can only be described as academic brownoseing. I’m tired policies that make it nearly impossible to change major, policies that punish those who try to follow the rules. If you have seen the Cal Poly that I have seen, I think you would hate it as well.</p>