Cal Poly vs UC Davis vs UCSB

r77r77
Tue, 30 Jul 2013 05:46:17 +0000

I can’t speak for UCSB, but here are CPSLO and davis:

Engineering: CP being a Polytechnic school provides more of a focus on engineering. While both schools overall are about equivalent on admission requirements, CP’s engineering departments are significantly harder to get into.

CP is a hands on school focusing on vocational experience and “learn by doing”. Davis is more theoretical. CP students work in the shop all 4 years while davis students only work for 2 years in shops.

Dorms:
Davis being a UC school has more funding and provides nicer dorms. CP students are often crammed into triples in smaller rooms. Although CP has the advantage of a more “outdoorsy” feeling.

Food:
CP food is pretty poor, Davis on the other hand has a huge dining center. CP food has a limited selection.

Campus:
If you hate bikes don’t go to Davis. Every kid has a bike. During passing time CP students walk between classes, Davis students ride bikes. At Davis you will almost be trampled by a sea of bikes if you don’t ride one yourself. Davis has 35k students while CP has 18k.

Parties/social:
Both schools are in small towns. Davis is slightly bigger, but both school are almost 1/3 of the population of the entire towns. Davis has a quieter downtime (in my opinion). It has cute little shops and a very warm and welcoming feeling. Definitly the college town experience. Davis has lots of diversity. CP has a similar feel as it is located in San Luis Obispo (SLO). There are plenty of jokes about he SLO pace of life. Similar to Davis, SLO has small little shops and restaurants in a closely knit community. Every thursday there is a large farmers market in downtown SLO where many locals and CP students come to eat, and enjoy some entertainment. It’s not uncommon to see CP students hanging out with their SLOmies. Oprah Winfrey said that SLO was the “happiest town in america”. Without a doubt, SLO inhabitants are some of the happiest and most outgoing people you will meet. Although the town is mostly Caucasian, they are welcoming to all races.

Transportation:
Davis students have access to the YOLO bus (named after yolo county) which can help them get from place to place. SLO has a bus system.

Internships:
CP does a good job of hooking students up with internships and jobs. Almost all the students have access to internships. Davis having more students leads to more competition. The admissions office stated that about 50% of students get internships, but you must apply ahead of time.