UCLA vs. Rose Hulman - Engineering

[modern iron]

Schools: UCLA vs Rose Hulman
Intended major: Computer Science & Engineering at UCLA / Mechanical at RH

Similarities: Both are strong Engineering schools

• UCLA: ~$45k/year
• RH: ~$45k/year

UC Los Angelos - UCLA

School 1 Pros:

• Stronger research/faculty
• Higher ranking school overall
• Better location (Los Angelos)
• Better weather

School 1 Cons:

• Big school, less personalized attention
• Less help getting first job
• Professors are researchers first, teachers second
• Don’t really care for large cities

Rose Hulman

School 2 Pros:

• Small school w/ personalized attention
• Easier to change majors
• Publishes salary/employment data
• Lots of help landing first job
• Engineering / STEM focused school
• Professors are teachers, not researchers

School 2 Cons:

• Significantly worse location and weather
• Much further away from home

Tiebreaking considerations

• Potential to play varsity soccer at RH
• Internship fast track for honors student potential at UCLA?
• Access to internships / getting first job is most important

[inner steeple]

CS and mech aren't the same
Do you want to get into research?

[modern iron]

Will likely switch out of CS into a “more hands on major”. Not really on the research front.

[forest magnet]

I would try to figure out what the career fairs look like at each school.

If you want to do a co-op (work for class credit), see what that options looks like at ucla vs rose.

But honestly most internships you can access by just applying online. The career fair is helpful as another more direct option though.

[spare estuary]

How feasible is that at UCLA? MechE might be impacted there

[modern iron]

Good thing to check. Thank you!

[inland hill]

UCLA in my opinion is a better option for overall experience Ik how Rose Hulman is number one for undergrad engineering (without doctorate) but ucla has a global name and prestige which is unbeatable no wonder why they are considered the best or even the second best public school in the country after Berkeley. Rose Hulman does have some pros like it offers great ROI and smaller classes but I must say the curriculum there is extremely rigorous from what I heard.

I hope you make the best decision

[willow iron]

Uclaaaa

Our Eng dept is insanely strong

[spare estuary]

I think Harvey Mudd is #1 for undergrad only engineering

[modern iron]

It's not really that important, but US News has RH at #1 over Mudd.

[modern iron]

thank you

[viral tartan]

UCLA also publishes salary and outcome data btw

ucla compe salary vs rose hulman meche salary

after 4 years

here's UCLA meche if you plan on transferring

[modern iron]

thank you so much @viral tartan

wher are these published?

[viral tartan]

college scorecard

it’s run by the Dept of Education and captures incomes after 4 years for those that receive financial aid (usually a better indicator of outcomes IMO because it removes connections from the equation)

[vernal creek]

I’d choose UCLA (I might be biased bc I’m from CA). I think UCLA being closer to home and having better weather will heavily outweigh the concerns about there being less attention— your mental health will be a lot better. That being said, it might be harder to find a job in CS later on. Idk take this with a grain of salt. Also academically they are both good, but UCLA is great

[modern iron]

Wow. That UCLA Compe salary is a real outlier. I wonder if it's a small sample size with one or two very unique situations.

[inner steeple]

Hard to know. I'd look at outcomes by career instead of by school.

[viral tartan]

SWE and EE jobs pay well nowadays

stock options!

[modern iron]

Feels like SWE is taking a hit due to AI. Not sure about EE

[viral tartan]

If EE takes a hit the entirety of engineering is cooked

[modern iron]

Thanks everyone. Decided on UCLA