UCSD vs Cal Poly SLO vs UCLA

knovoselic
Thu, 23 Mar 2017 02:32:00 +0000

Hello everybody,

I am a prospective mechanical engineering major and I’m having a difficult time deciding which school to attend of those mentioned above. I got accepted into Warren at UCSD for mechanical engineering, into Cal Poly SLO also for mechanical engineering, and I got waitlisted at UCLA for mechanical engineering. I’m still waiting on Berkeley, but I don’t think I will get in or attend if I do. I understand that getting into UCLA off the waitlist is a long shot.
Let me tell you about myself and also about my current impressions of these schools based on research and internet surfing. I’m currently a senior in a northern CA high school. My academic stats are as follows: GPA (weighted): 4.5, GPA (unweighted) 4.0, SAT: 1490 (760 math, 730 English), ACT: 33 (superscore 34, highest subscores are 36 english, 35 math, 32 science & reading), and finally SAT II Subject tests: Physics: 800, Math 2: 800. So I’m no slouch, and I was highly disappointed to see myself get waitlisted at UCLA, but let’s ignore that for now. I’ve applied mainly for mechanical engineering, but what I really want to do is nuclear engineering, thought this is incredibly difficult to get as an undergrad as you all probably know.
Let me start by saying that I couldn’t give less of a sht about a school’s name recognition. My impression of Cal Poly SLO is that everyone really likes it there and that professors actually care about their undergrads (a real problem at the UC’s according to my brother at UCI). My main concern, however, is that of classes being impacted and the average graduation time, *especially because my goal is to graduate in 2-3 years if possible (I have a ton of AP credits). Also it seems as though nuclear might become a major in the next few years? Anyone know about this?
As for UCSD, it’s nationally ranked and whatnot (not sure of the criteria for this), but it appears to me that everyone who goes here is simply miserable. The location obviously speaks for itself, but the campus is just awful (drab cement everywhere). It almost seems like the UC Merced of Berkeley and LA: a dumping ground for the UCB and UCLA rejects. They have a large endowment (compared to Cal Poly), but apparently the professors don’t care about undergrads (as with a lot of the other UC’s) and none of the money is actually spent for a Freshman’s benefit.

I hate to be so negative, but I reiterate that these are just my own impressions.

So, given my scenario and my potentially inaccurate impressions, which of the schools do you think is best and why? Also, if I were to by some miracle get into LA, should I choose this over the other two?

Please don’t just say, “choose UCSD, because I [went/am going] here!” or “choose UCSD because a group of pretentious journalists with esoteric criteria ranks it higher on the charts,” because I see this a lot on these forums.

Thanks in advance.