Accepted to UCSD... Aerospace Engineering

inigo88

inigo88

Composite-lover
I just accepted the admissions contract tonight, so I think it's safe to say that I'm enrolling at UC San Diego this fall for my B.S. in Aerospace Engineering.

I've spent the last couple years at a community college in the SF Bay Area building up my pre-reqs in math, physics and engineering, and I'm coming in as a transfer student. I'm still in shock that I got in, got the major even though it's impacted, and got the residential college I wanted. I was so sure back in high school I was bound for collegiate aviation, yet changing priorities (and reading JC) has led me down this totally different and equally exciting path.

It's going to be hard, but I can't wait to get started. San Diego here I come!

:nana2::beer::nana2:
 
Congrats! Keep up the hard work and keep us posted on your progress!

Cheers
Sunny
 
Sweet, glad to see another Triton on here. I'm also a transfer student, a third year Economics major at UCSD. My college is ERC.

Congrats

Edit: I just read your first post in the Member Announcements from 2009. Funny you wanted to go to Cal Poly SLO and now you're going to UCSD. I did the EXACT same thing. Went to a city college, wanted SLO, but got rejected by SLO and somehow accepted by UCSD.
 
Thanks for the kind words guys!

TXTBOOK said:
Edit: I just read your first post in the Member Announcements from 2009. Funny you wanted to go to Cal Poly SLO and now you're going to UCSD. I did the EXACT same thing. Went to a city college, wanted SLO, but got rejected by SLO and somehow accepted by UCSD.
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Haha that's awesome! CalPoly just has some crazy pre-reqs (practically would have been another year). My dad's side of the family lives in San Diego so I already know my way around, so accepting UCSD's offer was kind of a no brainer. I got into Warren, and "The village at Torrey Pines" (which still shows up as a parking lot in google maps) sounds pretty inviting. :)

Hope to see you around!
 
Definitely. I debated on whether or not to live at the Village... decided against it... That may have been the wrong choice, though. Living off campus doesn't help with the relatively dead social life here.

I actually had 100% of the prereqs for my major at the time (Biz Admin) for SLO and still got rejected. Must be the economy.......
 
TXTBOOK said:
I actually had 100% of the prereqs for my major at the time (Biz Admin) for SLO and still got rejected. Must be the economy.......
Click to expand...

They said they had 41,000 applicants this year... for 4,000 spots. So I wasn't that offended. :crazy:
 
Congrats Buddy,

That's great! I started off as an Aero Eng major at Maryland...but I am gonna give you the same piece of advice that a former supervisor gave me 13 yrs ago when I was an intern at NASA. Pick a major that doesn't pigeonhole you into a single industry.

After that, I switched over to Mech Eng and never looked back. As I'm sure you know, you gotta keep yourself flexible as possible. With Mech Eng, you cover a lot of the same material, but are not tied down to one particular industry. In the end, you can still work an aero job (as I currently do), or when they are not available, you can (more easily) transition over to a non-aero engineering gig (which I have done also).

Anyways, take it for what its worth...good luck!
 
Thanks Dilla, I appreciate the honest advice. I was surprised how different schools approach the material differently. Calpoly had their own 4 year curriculum of AERO classes, where as UCSD's is the department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, and the majority of the classes are shared between the two majors until senior year. I originally saw this as a downside but in light of your advice it sounds like it might not be.

Ultimately I'm just going to try and make the best of what I got. :beer:
 
No problem buddy...a school with a Mech/Aero depart is good deal....you could major in ME and possibly take AE courses as electives or minor in AE (just guessin'). In the grand scheme of things, you cant lose out with an engineering degree...study hard, but have fun too!!
 
Congrats, I graduated from UCSD a few years ago. San Diego is an amazing place to go to school, its only a 10 minute walk to the beach from campus, but don't be afraid to venture out and go outside of La Jolla. The toughest part of school was staying focused, its much more fun to spend your days surfing, scuba diving or taking in the view at the beach. The engineering programs there are top notch, I have lots of friends that left there with great jobs or into great masters programs. Montgomery Field is a great place to fly out of too. PM me if you want any details.
 
Dilla said:
Congrats Buddy,

That's great! I started off as an Aero Eng major at Maryland...but I am gonna give you the same piece of advice that a former supervisor gave me 13 yrs ago when I was an intern at NASA. Pick a major that doesn't pigeonhole you into a single industry.

After that, I switched over to Mech Eng and never looked back. As I'm sure you know, you gotta keep yourself flexible as possible. With Mech Eng, you cover a lot of the same material, but are not tied down to one particular industry. In the end, you can still work an aero job (as I currently do), or when they are not available, you can (more easily) transition over to a non-aero engineering gig (which I have done also).

Anyways, take it for what its worth...good luck!
Click to expand...

I got an undergrad in AE, but I am doing my masters in ME for this reason! It seems to be the best decision I've made....best of luck!
 
For what it's worth, I was at the UCSD Spring Job Fair and I'd say at least 30% of the companies there were hiring aerospace engineers.

Edit: For interns, recent undergrads, and grad students.
 
Congratulations and good luck!

I got a mechanical degree undergrad and then went to aero grad school to learn more and become better connected with the aerospace industry.
 
Also, there are a surprising number of engineers on this forum who have helped me out a lot either through advice or networking. Don't forget to keep us posted of your progress.
 
Thank you guys so much for the support! I'd be incredibly grateful to have access to the resident Jetcareers aerospace engineers down the road for advice and networking opportunities. :)
 
Word of warning. When you start getting into compressible aerodynamics, just go with it. Accept it...and realize that there is a certain amount of mathematical magic that takes place!
 
WAY hotter chicks in San Diego vs San Luis Obispo.

Unfortunately, you'll have to compete for their attention with all the Marines down there, most of whom are probably more buffed than you.
 
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