CP SLO vs UCLA DECISION!!

Mallen640
Mon, 14 Mar 2011 03:33:51 +0000

Hey alving017, I’m in the exact same position as you are (minus the ED, but I’ve always been set on Cal Poly until now, and I’m a mechanical engineering major). Either way you choose, you will be going to a great school, so congratulations on being accepted to both.

I myself don’t know which one I’ll end up choosing (especially since I never really considered UCLA since I doubted my chances of getting in), but I’d like to offer you my list of pro’s and con’s that I’ve come up with for myself after talking to a few people in industry and students at each schools (I have visited both), along with research on this site and on each school’s respective site.

Note: These are tailored to my individual preferences and this is what I have gathered from different sources, so not all of it may be the exact truth, just what I read/heard/infered. Also whenever I say Cal Poly, I mean SLO.

Here we go with the list:

Cal Poly ~ Pro’s

[ul][]The hands on way of teaching ~ students I talked to had multiple lab classes each semester, something I really didn’t hear from UCLA students. The student who gave me the tour said she turned down Berkley because of this.
[]There seems to be a strong industry link to Cal Poly. Every student I talked to (about 5) that was an upperclassman had an internship or is scheduled to have one in the summer. The career stats that is on SLO’s website also shows this link after graduation. I also talked with a hiring manager at a major company who praised cal poly grads, putting them in the top-5 as far as undergrads from any school goes. However, he himself was a Cal Poly grad, but nonetheless he was a hiring manager for a major defense contractor. I’ve also heard this from other people in the industry (there are a lot of engineers in my community).
[]The location is beautiful. It was about 15 minutes from the beach and surrounded by mountains. Definitely an outdoor lover’s dream.
[]The engineering facilities by far were the nicest on campus, as they seemed the newest
[]The classes are generally taught by the professors, and kept to a smaller size. I also met one of the professors, and he seemed very proud and enthusiastic about the school.
[]It has a D1 (not FCS though) football and sports. Plus a band and a multitude of clubs.
[]There seem to be countless engineering clubs like concrete canoe, baja, etc that really give you that building experience. This seems really cool
[]The total cost/year is lower by about 7-8 thousand/year.[/ul]

Cal Poly ~ Con’s/Neutral

[ul][]The location. It really is in the middle of nowhere. The town is nice, but small. I grew up in New York and San Diego, so this would take a little bit of getting used to.
[]I am neutral on the party/social scene. It doesn’t really matter to me that much, but I heard it’s pretty decent, and there is always something to do, despite the small town.
[]The Campus is quite meh. It doesn’t really have a centralized theme, and it’s a lot of concrete (and a lot of old concrete).
[]I’ve heard the food is quite horrid. I like to eat, so yeah…
[]It seems to be difficult (but not impossible) to switch majors. Also, cal poly isn’t really known for anything besides engineering, business, architecture, and agriculture, so it’s not the best place if you aren’t positive about your major. I’ve heard all other programs are quite average too.
[]The demographics are neutral for me, since I’m a white male, but they are very skewed towards white, and it is something like 55% male.
[li]The 4 year graduation rate for engineers is is something like 20%, so expect to be there 5 years. [/ul] [/li]
UCLA ~ Pro’s

[ul][]It’s UCLA. There is a bunch of prestige associated with the school, and it is way more well known to the commoner (from my experiences) than Cal Poly. I guess 61,000 applications can speak for themselves also.
[]The campus is absolutely amazing. It really has that college campus feel that I felt Cal poly was sort of lacking.
[]The surrounding area is pretty interesting and seem to be a fun place to be. A lot more alive than SLO, but also very different since it’s part of LA. It has that big city feel that I’m used to
[]UCLA is top ranked for a lot of its programs, so switching majors would not cause trouble in the long run. I also haven’t heard any horror stories about trying to switch majors, so that’s a plus.
[]The engineering department seems well regarded in terms of ranking, and my friend in the program speaks very highly of it.
[]The school seems less vocational and more like what a college is stereotyped to be. Just my opinion.
[]I heard the food is great.
[]It has the big name in sports - Basketball, football, and pretty much every other one. The students also generally have a big sense of pride about their school…
[]There are many Nobel recipients at the school who would potentially teach your classes. That’s amazing to think about.
[]It is a research university [/ul]

UCLA ~ Con’s/Neutral

[ul][]Neutral: After speaking to the people in industry, including my hiring manager friend, UCLA engineering doesn’t seem to have the recognition that SLO has.They didn’t say anything bad, they actually spoke very highly of it, but it didn’t seem to have the same stigma attached to it. I attribute this to the fact that SLO teaches practicality and teaches its students to be in the industry, rather than preparing them for grad school or research.
[]A lot of the students are there to go to grad school, and the undergrad education doesn’t seem to be as stressed compared to SLO which solely teaches undergrads/master degree students.
[]There don’t seem to be as many hands on clubs as at SLO.
[]The class sizes are a lot bigger, especially in the lower division courses. My friends have had enormous lectures, but they do have the additional classes it seems with a TA
[]There aren’t as many lab classes.
[]The 4 year graduation rate is bit better I believe.
[]It costs a lot. ~30k per year, but that’s what loans/scholarships are for, right?
[]The housing situation seems to me like you are almost guaranteed a triple room. Could be a pro or con. I personally don’t mind.
[]The demographics are much more balanced, and are more like my current high school. It seems to be about 35% white, 40% asian, and the rest mixed.
[]The party scene seems to be good. There also seems to be a lot of things to do in the city of LA also. Again, this is neither a pro nor a con for me.
[li]It’s in LA…yea, not the prettiest or cleanest place around.[/ul] [/li]
Ok, well that’s it, so hopefully it has been a help to you. You should really look into the schools and visit each one before you make your decision, and make sure to try and get as much info as you can, whether it be from adults in the industry or from current students. Trust me, you learn a lot from that.

As for your ED predicament, well I advise you to contact Cal Poly admissions. I thought it was binding, but you never know. Just make sure to be positive about your decision before you try and back out of it, because you never know how well that will turn out.

Good luck, and maybe I’ll see you at UCLA or at Cal Poly next fall!

/Wall of text