Son wants to study physics and eventually go to grad school for PhD. We live in California and would not ever get merit aid. Cal Poly SLO offered him the new $20,000 per year Frost scholarship. Tuition is only $9,000 so would be almost free to attend. Believe he will also get into Cal and UCLA because he has 35 on ACT, 4.9 weighted GPA, ECs, was offered to apply for some Regents/Alumni scholarships, etc. He really liked Cal Poly campus when we visited two years ago and is very impressed by/appreciative of this scholarship offer. We could pay about 20 of the 30K UC cost, but he’d get loans for the remainder. Free is fantastic, but should he give up the UC prestige?
I don’t understand why you say you would never get merit aid at the UCs. That is what Regents’ and Chancellor’s scholarships are all about. S1 was accepted to Berkeley and UCLA with no scholarship offers, but was offered Regents’ at several other UCs without even applying for it. ( I think at UCLA and Berkeley (Cal) you have to be invited to interview for it and be selected from a group of candidates.) The amount offered from each campus varied considerably, with lower ranked campuses offering the most, none of it need-based. I remember UC Davis was very generous. My son would have gotten much more if we could have demonstrated need.
CP SLO is prestigious in its own right. And nearly full-ride would be tough to turn down - particularly if he loves the school! The prestige factor gets dulled considerably when making student loan payments in the years down the line. Most physics majors move on to graduate degrees - if this is your son’s plan, why not save the big $$ for grad school? And yes, if he get Regents at the UCs, there is some significant money there as well. Congrats to your son - that is an excellent “problem” to have!
Just found this discussion and thought it might be helpful.
SLO is a wonderful college town which, for me, would be a huge plus.
I think the OP may have meant would never qualify for Need Based aid.
OP, Cal Poly has a great program. I doubt going to a UC will give that much of a boost for a PhD program.
I’d take the beach and the money any day. But, he should see what the other schools offer. No need to decide until all offers are in.
I’d pick the school he really wants to attend. I don’t see any increased prestige in Cal or UCLA for physics over CP. EECS at Cal, maybe, most other stuff, no. Have you been to Cal? Kids either love it or hate it. My S got into EECS at Cal but just didn’t like the school. Others love it. Your son will know - the environment, climate, demographics, how many giant lectures you have, and surrounding neighborhood at each school is really different. Don’t fall into the California trap of doing what others think is better/cool. Financially, CP is amazing for you. He should go where he wants to go, the difference in academics between them is negligible.
My mistake - I did in fact mean to say “would never get need based aid.” He will certainly wait to see what all the responses are from the schools, but our understanding is that even the regents scholarships at UCLA/CAL are only about two grand, so not a significant portion of the cost of attendance.
Thanks for all of your responses. I tend to agree with you that Cal Poly would be hard to turn down.
Thanks @BunnyBlue. I actually was on that string trying to figure out what tha OP decided.
Wow, OP, congratulations to your son on that great scholarship! I’d follow the money for sure. OTOH, he should not make a decision until his financial aid packages are all in front of him. You and he might be very happily surprised by the UCs. He has until May 1st; no need to rush at this point.
My understanding of being admitted to doctoral programs, is that it is important that yyou have the opportunity and have done research as an undergraduate. If he can get that at Cal Poly, I say go for that. Free is pretty hard to pass up! Although doctoral programs are usually fully funded with a stipend as well to live on.
CPSLO and UCB have career surveys showing post-graduation destinations reported by graduates.
https://careers.calpoly.edu/search.php
https://career.berkeley.edu/Survey/Survey (“What Can I Do With a Major In …?” links)
Graduates of both schools’ physics majors do go on to PhD programs. UCB sends more than CPSLO to PhD programs, but that is partially due to the physics major being much larger at UCB than CPSLO (94 versus 35 in 2015). (Also, the number of responses in the UCB 2015 physics major survey appears incorrect – it says 14 responses (out of 94 graduates), but the number of job titles and graduate school destinations is obviously more than 14.)
Regents’ scholarships at UCB and UCLA are not that big for no-financial-need students. The honorarium amounts are $2,500 and $2,000 respectively. They do come with other perks. But, for UCB and UCLA, it looks like (Regents’ scholarship or not) he would have to take a federal direct loan (up to $5,500) and contribute some work earnings if you can only contribute $20,000, unless he gets other scholarships.
Assuming that there is no need to decide until May 1, he should wait until all results for admissions and scholarships are in before deciding.
UCSD Regents’ also only provides $2000 per year if there is no financial need. Some of the other UCs like Davis and Irvine offer larger amounts. However, UCSD Regents’ also offers the opportunity to do research with a professor mentor, which I don’t think is included with any of the other UC Regents’. Sometimes this research work is continued beyond the Freshman year.
At UCLA, Regent scholars are given a mentor/professor from their major who meets with them regularly or at least they did in the last few years. I don’t know how often it evolves into research, but the school does offer a great deal of support to their Regent scholars. But, like others have said, unless there is financial need, students receive a $2000 honorarium. For those with great financial need, it is quite a substantial amount.
@Fenbru, what I love about Cal Poly SLO, and what entices a lot of students to their STEM programs, is their hands-on approach to learning. My children’s friends who graduated with engineering degrees from the school are sought after by the same firms as the Cal and UCLA grads. The only drawback for some students is that the area isn’t near any major cities, and is rural. But the small town/college campus vibe is pretty awesome, too, and the town is lovely. And, it is really easy to get to the Amtrak station!
Everyone who applies to Cal & UCLA is invited to apply for an Alumni scholarship, so that tells you nothing. OTOH, if he is was invited to the Regent’s interview day, then he is in.
I’ll disagree with the others. Academia is one field (like Wall Street and government) where prestige matters.
Part of that, of course, is that the top testers tend to matriculate to “prestigious” schools, and fewer ‘800’ physics students attend a Cal State. So, self-selection plays a part, perhaps a big part.
But, on a % basis, the Cal States just do not have a really strong track record of sending students to top grad schools, or even med schools (another prestige-focused industry).
My D, who is in the midst completing a grad app cycle in Neuroscience found that her competition – those invited for on-campus interviews – all attended the usual undergrad suspects desired by cc. (She attended a top ~30 Uni, and was from the lowest ranked school. The only person from a lower ranked school had just completed a MA from Oxford.)
Or, take a look at Philosophy grad admissions. This, from a Philosophy Prof a UCR:
http://schwitzsplintersunderblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/applying-to-phd-programs-in-philosophy.html
Sure, not physics, but IMO, these examples reflect the competition for grad programs, particularly top grad programs. And, my opinion is that attending a CSU over the two flagships is career limiting for a potential grad student. Of course, there is no guarantee that a 22-year old will still want to apply to grad school.
Finally, check out the grad rate of Cal Poly: 36% in four years, but only 70% in six years. Yes, some of their students delay to complete a coop or internships, but still…
@bluebayou when did med schools become prestige focused? That seems to contradicted by many posters on this site and most things I have read about med school admissions.
The student can only take $5500 the first year (then about $27K total for the 4) without a cosigner, FYI. So he’d need help to even borrow the $40K you are projecting.
Re #16
What you say appears to be generally true for CPSLO for most majors (few to PhD programs), based on the career survey, but physics seems to be at least somewhat of an exception there.