My daughter plans to major in chemistry with a minor in physics. Her ultimate goal is to obtain a PhD in chemistry. While I have been nudging her in the direction of Case Western, she really doesn’t want to leave California, which leaves Cal Poly SLO and UC Santa Cruz.
Any thoughts or insights would be greatly appreciated.
Cal Poly SLO is such a gem. Have you visited?
We are driving down for the new student open house next week. The Cal Poly campus looks beautiful but so does the Santa Cruz campus.
It is a beautiful campus and a beautiful city - it’s a great beach town. One thing that might be worth considering is that housing can really be tricky in Santa Cruz. Definitely look into that and ask how students handle it.
You can’t go wrong, really - these are great options to have.
You may already be planning this, but just in case it wasn’t obvious already, you can visit both schools’ open houses on the same weekend. You will get a lot out of visiting SLO on Thurs night and Friday, and then if you like, you can skip the Saturday part of SLO’s open house and head over to UCSC for banana slug day instead.
Thanks Tamagotchi, that’s precisely what we are doing.
I dont know the schools per se but I have a chem background and we went through this process for my S18 in Chemistry
Looking at the sites and NCES college navigator, there are some differences between the programs. Depends on what you are looking for.
Cal Poly SLO chemistry dept is a decent size but about half the size of Santa Cruz. It is only BS/MS with no PhDs. They also have an option take a LA path which more than a TA and is a semi-Formal prep for future teaching. Grad students have to teach so that might be interesting. But overall, it seems like a mid size program that is laser focused on training undergraduates including UG research, some of whom will go on to grad school.
UC Santa Cruz is larger with a fair number of doctoral students. Here there might be more professors, and broader/different opportunities for research but perhaps less focus on the undergrads.
So, what are you looking for ??
I would also have a backup plan. My S18 was 100% PhD but didn’t like the research so wound up with a BS in science. I would recommend a dual major or minor or some kind of certificate that would allow teaching or data analytics or some other desireable skill
Thanks BoroDad, This is very helpful.
At this point, she want to be a research chemist in the pharmaceutical industry, but who knows how she will feel in a few years.
The emphasis on polymers at Cal Poly is kind of interesting. It’s very specific, but may be an interesting career path in Silicon Valley.
What schools are you son considering?
Funny…I used to run a chemistry and engineering research group in pharma… haha. DM me if you want.
My S24 is not science-y. All humanities. All east coast.
I was thinking similar things to you. There will be opportunities for undergrad research at either school. SLO will be entirely focused on undergrads, and probably more nurturing. If my kid was sold on grad school that would be my recommendation since I think there’s great value in undergrad-focused teaching.
But a PhD isn’t something to be approached lightly, and exposure to graduate student culture in a lab and within the department at UCSC could be important for someone who is unsure about grad school. There will likely be less personal attention from professors, however.
My spouse attended a LAC and teaches chemistry at a LAC. A close friend during grad school did his undergrad in chem at SLO and loved it (and has had a super successful career in industry). My spouse and I both think the teaching is better at primarily undergrad institutions, but there is also value in having exposure to the big leagues as an undergrad (that was a good path for me).
Either school will prepare the student well. It will come down to how the student vibes with the schools and what her priorities are (should I mention that Case is kind of the best of both worlds? 
). Rest easy though because I don’t think the student can go wrong here.
ETA: If the student likes SLO, she could attend there but do at least one summer of REU at a big school so that she get exposure to PhD life.
And to add for the OP, if a SLO Chem LA, then you get 1st “dibs” on class registration. A huge bonus if you apply and are accepted as a Chem LA at SLO.
Prior to your visit to the open houses, look up the professors at each school to see if there is undergraduate research of interest for your D24 and if the professors’ webpage indicates how to join the labs.
A agree with you that Case Western offers the best of both worlds, but she is determined to stay in California.
I appreciate your observations and advice.
@fgc Did the Open Houses help your daughter with her choice?
Thanks for following up.
She loved the whole Cal Poly SLO experience. The students seemed genuinely enthusiastic about being there and she liked the campus. What may have closed the deal for her was the Chemistry Dept. tour and Q&A session with the Department Chair and a few professors. The classrooms and research facilities are new and very well equipped. It’s a relatively small department allowing lots of interaction with professors and opportunities for research, both of which are very important to her.
The UC Santa Cruz event was marred by a cold rain, forcing them to cancel some events and move others indoors. It was also disappointing that prospective students were not given access to any of the academic buildings so she didn’t have a chance to see the chemistry labs or other facilities. Of course, that beautiful campus is a huge selling point, even in the rain.
FWIW, D21’s favorite professors thus far are two of her chemistry professors. I’m told they’re really pleasant people to speak with on a variety of subjects, funny, and of course, are great chemistry teachers.
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