Hiring from CSU Vs. UC

[Nik's Mom]

This is where he truly wants to go to. Cal Poly is only about 5 hours from our house so it would be close to us too Though it is a state college I think it is one of the popular ones that many want to attend.

We had a chit chat last night and for now he will continue to study for SAT and apply to Cal Poly and the State colleges that specialize in engineering. In the meantime we still need to research more so thank you for all who posted.

Sometimes as a parent I feel like I need to step in and help but then he is going to be an "adult" soon and he needs to do some of this on his own. It's a hard line to walk.

Deb

I'm sure he will be happy at Cal Poly Pomona. My Dh was very happy with his education there. He was a mechanical engineer major. What field is your son interested in?

 

[dairyou]

I'm sure he will be happy at Cal Poly Pomona. My Dh was very happy with his education there. He was a mechanical engineer major. What field is your son interested in?

He was thinking science or civil. He thinks civil has more job availability. That's part of the research we need to continue on. He would love Cal Poly. Now..will Cal Poly love him

Deb

 

[minniecarousel]

I would have your son check with his guidance counselor or college & carreer center at his HS. They can give a little insight as to which majors would be better from a CSU vs. UC. Some college's engineering programs are better (& more prestigious) than others.

 

[studentmom]

You've gotten some great advice so far!

I went to community college and then transferred to a CSU. If I had it to do over again, I would probably just go straight to the CSU or UC and than take some lower division classes at a JC. You do have to get permission from the school, but it's usually granted. I'm going to be taking a class at a jc this summer. Because of budget cut-backs, my school isn't offering as many classes as they did before. I think that had I went to a csu or uc right off the bat, I would have been more motivated to finish sooner, since it costs so much more per class.

Like the other posters have mentioned, some schools have certain specialties. I've heard great things about Cal Poly and UC Irvine, but I'm sure there are others. Those just came to mind right away. HTH.

This is where he truly wants to go to. Cal Poly is only about 5 hours from our house so it would be close to us too Though it is a state college I think it is one of the popular ones that many want to attend.

We had a chit chat last night and for now he will continue to study for SAT and apply to Cal Poly and the State colleges that specialize in engineering. In the meantime we still need to research more so thank you for all who posted.

Sometimes as a parent I feel like I need to step in and help but then he is going to be an "adult" soon and he needs to do some of this on his own. It's a hard line to walk.

Deb

I think it's great that you are helping your son. The choices can be so overwhelming, especially when you are still in high school.

 

[Tink33]

I am not sure who is getting into UC schools this fall. My boss' DD has a 4.2 GPA, 1900+ SAT, AP and honors courses, years of ASB, drama, dance and an internship in her course of study. She didn't get into the 2 UC schools for which she applied.

And that "guaranteed" program from CA state Community Colleges to State or UC schools is not really guaranteed either. A coworker's boyfriend was just denied admission to SDSU with a 3.8 CC GPA.

My own DS with 3.8+ GPA and years of AP/IB classes did not get into a state school for the fall semester.

 

[Nik's Mom]

I am not sure who is getting into UC schools this fall. My boss' DD has a 4.2 GPA, 1900+ SAT, AP and honors courses, years of ASB, drama, dance and an internship in her course of study. She didn't get into the 2 UC schools for which she applied.

And that "guaranteed" program from CA state Community Colleges to State or UC schools is not really guaranteed either. A coworker's boyfriend was just denied admission to SDSU with a 3.8 CC GPA.

My own DS with 3.8+ GPA and years of AP/IB classes did not get into a state school for the fall semester.

I think that the Universities have lowered their admissions numbers to deal with the budget cuts they are facing. It stinks that some very worthy students are being turned away.

 

[Uuaww]

Make sure your son applies to the real Cal Poly (Cal Poly SLO) and not Pomona. SLO is a much much better school for engineering, agriculture and basically everything that doesn't fit into liberal arts... Pomona takes that.

 

[Nik's Mom]

Make sure your son applies to the real Cal Poly (Cal Poly SLO) and not Pomona. SLO is a much much better school for engineering, agriculture and basically everything that doesn't fit into liberal arts... Pomona takes that.

Not trying to take away from SLO because it is a great school. But, Pomona is also highly respected for engineering. And it is the real Cal Poly Pomona.

 

[Disneyluvr81]

Make sure your son applies to the real Cal Poly (Cal Poly SLO) and not Pomona. SLO is a much much better school for engineering, agriculture and basically everything that doesn't fit into liberal arts... Pomona takes that.

I was actually going to suggest looking in to San Luis Obispo over Pomona as well. SLO has always been an extremely difficult school to get in to though and I can't even imagine how bad it is now with all of the cuts! I would pick the town of SLO over Pomona any day. I went to Cal Poly Pomona my freshman year and there was actually a transient murdered at the very edge of campus, near the freeway. The campus itself is nice but you go a couple of blocks in the wrong direction and its a little scary!

My brother graduated last year from UCI with his Bachelor's in Chemical Engineering with a minor in Material Science. He went straight in to the accelerated Master's program and will be done in June with his Masters. It was so hard for him to make the decision to stay on for his Master's when he had classmates who went straight to $75k+ jobs after graduation but he will now be 23 years old with a Master's and I couldn't be more proud of him!

In terms of a Cal State or UC being more prestigious, I really believe it all depends on the field you are going in to. As stated Cal Poly SLO and Pomona (both Cal States) are well known for their engineering programs and a degree from either would be just as accepted as an engineering degree from any UC school!

Good luck to your son and definitely make sure you do campus tours!! I am so glad I am done with school and don't have to worry about college admissions! That was probably the most nerve wracking part of my whole high school career (didn't help that there was a possibility my dad was going to be transfferred to Virginia, so I was applying to both East & West coast schools!)

 

[Uuaww]

Not trying to take away from SLO because it is a great school. But, Pomona is also highly respected for engineering. And it is the real Cal Poly Pomona.

When people hear Cal Poly, they think of SLO.

 

[Nik's Mom]

I think that depends on where you live, Uuaww. I worked at a state University in Southern California and students would say Cal Poly and mean Pomona. Central and Northern California would probably mean Cal Poly SLO.

Oh, the comment about crime. No matter where you go to school, you should be careful. I had 2 friends who graduated from UCLA and one was a victim of crime. Luckily, she wasn't seriously hurt. And UCLA is in an upscale neighborhood.

Now, I went to the University of Southern California. That is a horrible area. I would not walk 2 feet off campus without a posse there.

 

[Disneyluvr81]

Oh, the comment about crime. No matter where you go to school, you should be careful. I had 2 friends who graduated from UCLA and one was a victim of crime. Luckily, she wasn't seriously hurt. And UCLA is in an upscale neighborhood.

Now, I went to the University of Southern California. That is a horrible area. I would not walk 2 feet off campus without a posse there.

You are definitely right about crime on campuses. Totally forgot but my brother had his car broken in to during his freshman orientation at UCI. There was a ring that knew when & where security guards would be and they hit about 5 or 6 other cars in the parking lot where my brother had his car. So, yeah, even in Irvine, the "safest" city in America, crime happens!

Oh my gosh, about USC though. We drove past the campus for the first time ever last summer and I was shocked. My best friend's husband graduated from there 10-12 years ago and the stories he has - I can't even imagine what its like now!

 

[tar heel]

I think community colleges work great for some majors, but I'm not sure engineering is one of them. At my son's university, you jumped into engineering courses from day one even though you didn't officially get into the School of Engineering until third semester. Some of these very specific classes would not have a counterpark at CC and even some of the more basic classes (calculus, communications) were clsses designed specifically for engineers.

My son took two electives at a community college after he changed his major within the School of Engineering, but there's no way he could have done two years and it counted for his major.

One of my other sons is working on a BFA -- the arts is another field where the major classes start on the first day and wouldn't be offered at a CC.

 

[Nik's Mom]

You are definitely right about crime on campuses. Totally forgot but my brother had his car broken in to during his freshman orientation at UCI. There was a ring that knew when & where security guards would be and they hit about 5 or 6 other cars in the parking lot where my brother had his car. So, yeah, even in Irvine, the "safest" city in America, crime happens!

Oh my gosh, about USC though. We drove past the campus for the first time ever last summer and I was shocked. My best friend's husband graduated from there 10-12 years ago and the stories he has - I can't even imagine what its like now!

Yeah, it's bad there. I was around during the riots. Luckily for me, I had taken that semester off because my Dad was seriously ill. I had friends trapped on campus for days with gunshots and fires all around the campus.
I think it was my senior year when a football player was shot during practice. It was a bullet that was fired at someone else OFF-CAMPUS! The bullet traveled all the way to the football team's practice field. It hit the player in the arm, but he did recover.

 

[hiwaygal]

Whether or not community college comes first totally depends on the STUDENT.

I went to a very small community college that had a history of "passing" some students after they had taken the class more than one time. It was common knowledge that these students were not really pursuing a "degree" per se as much as just trying to improve themselves. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

I got an AS degree at that little CC before transferring to one of the top engineering schools in the country. I got my BSCE just three years later.

Taking core classes (arts, miscellaneous electives, literature/English, communications, history, etc) at the CC level is a great way to get those classes cheaply. The university I transferred to gave me credit for nearly everything but the two higher level math courses (Calculus III and IV) and I was happy for the refresher on those! And I was ecstatic that I didn't have to take Chemistry or Physics at the 4-yr university level!!! (Civil engineers tend to hate chemistry)

Civil Engineering is a good field because it is so versatile. There are many specialties within the field that allow for more job opportunities. But there are some engineering fields that are in HIGH demand and may deserve some consideration as well.

I would also suggest that your son check out some of the local chapters of ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers) or NSPE (National Society of Professional Engineers) and see if someone nearby can 'mentor' him a little or offer some advice.

 

[Nik's Mom]

There was a list that came out a couple of months ago that listed the top fields that are doing well during the recession. Mechanical, Civil and one other type of engineering were on the list. Maybe the other was petroleum engineering? I can't remember now. It could have been environmental engineering too.

 

[dairyou]

Thanks Everyone! You are all a wealth of information.

I think he will probably go into civil engineering since it is the most versitile. He's somewhat excited now since we have a road map. I'm glad I'm a pushy mother...lol

Deb