My DS got into both UW and UCI for engineering. He is OOS and got scholarships for both so the cost is about the same. He is from Hawaii and wants to leave the islands and is okay with the weather from both areas. His brother goes UCLA and he has family in Seattle. Which should he go to and why? Thank you in advance for your suggestions.
If he wants a true four year experience, UW. Irvine has suitcase aspects to it.
Both are great though and he can be within an hour or so of his brother. So that means something too.
One thing is UW is not direct admit to a major whereas UCI is. Both are in the quarter system.
No wrong choice. Good luck.
1 Like
If the target major is known you can see the 4 year study plan to see if there is something that stands out. The weather is much nicer in orange county, but uw-seattle has much better sports. Seattle comes with the problems common to all big cities, but orange county is more spread out and irvine a much better planned city.
Overall there is enough difference between the two that after a visit, only one will stand out.
1 Like
What specific engineering major, and how decided or undecided is he?
University of Washington starts engineering students undeclared and requires them to go through secondary admission to get into their majors. It looks like aerospace, bioengineering, mechanical, and maybe electrical/computer are the more competitive ones, according to Placement data | UW College of Engineering .
UCI lists change of major criteria for engineering majors at Change of Major .
1 Like
He wants to go into mechanical engineering. He is undeclared engineering at UW and mechanical engineering at UCI.
That would indicate that there is some risk of not getting into the major at Washington, versus being in the major at UCI.
2 Likes