UCSD vs Cal Poly SLO vs UCLA

eyemgh
Fri, 24 Mar 2017 04:22:04 +0000

I have no idea why UCSD would be any better than Cal Poly to get into a nuclear engineering graduate program. Sure, there’s more research going on there because they have a doctoral program, but it won’t be relevant to nuclear any more than what you could do at Poly.

UCB does have nuclear as does the flagship north, Oregon State.

As for why you won’t get out in two or even three years, it has nothing to do with the inability to get classes at Cal Poly. It has everything to do with the fact that you have to take classes in order because they build on one and other. If you’ve taken differential equations, three classes in college level physics, statics and dynamics in HS you could get out early, but if you’re like most advanced students, you haven’t.

Here’s how you can figure it out. I’ll use Cal Poly as an example, because they have awesome flow charts with prerequisites listed. At other schools you’ll also have to reference the course catalog to find prerequisites. I picked Mechatronics, because you can see courses filled in, but it isn’t the concentration classes that are the rate limiting factor. It’s Senior Project.

Print the flowchart and AP chart linked below. Cross off every class you’ll bring in credit for. With Calc BC you can go directly into Calc III. Physics 1 and 2 get you nothing. You can move into Physics II only with Physics C Mechanics. A 5 on the Chem AP will get you out of half of your chem. Etc, etc. If you have dual enrollment credit, it can be more powerful. My son transferred credit that completed his full chemistry requirement.

Now go to ME 428, Senior Year, and look at the prerequisites. Draw lines from that box back to those classes. From those classes, trace back to their prerequisites. Now do this for every class with prerequisites in the whole flowchart. Colored pencils or markers help. From there, you can plot best case scenario.

What you will find is that every school that is ABET accredited, and all you mentioned are, have minimum course guidelines. You have to have a certain amount of physics and calculus before you take statics. You need statics before dynamics. You need dynamics before thermo, thermo before fluids, then there’s advanced courses in each. There are things like Materials, that you can take out of order, but for the most part, it’s like climbing a ladder and you can’t skip a rung, no matter where you go.

If you are absolutely intent on minimizing your time in undergrad, you should do this for every school you’ve been accepted to and see if there’s even a possibility of accelerating.

Alternatively, you might want to call Oregon State Admissions. They have rolling admissions and are still taking applications. You can see if they have any engineering slots open.

http://flowcharts.calpoly.edu/downloads/mymap/15-17.52MEBSU.MCMEU.pdf

http://content-calpoly-edu.s3.amazonaws.com/registrar/1/Degree_Progress/articdoc/APCRED2016.pdf

Lastly, some important humble pie. You’re stats are strong, but you’ll be surrounded by roughly 200 ME freshmen with nearly the same stats. You don’t get into ME at Cal Poly unless you are that strong. Don’t overestimate your ability based on your high school record. Engineering is hard…WAY HARDER than high school. The further you get into the curriculum, the harder it gets. I say this not to demean your achievements (you’ve done great and should be proud) or to scare you, but so you’ll know the reality of what is in front of you…lots of hard work, no matter how easily it might have come to you so far.

Good luck. I’m sure you’ll do well no matter where you land.