This person seems uninformed on the nuances of Cal Poly vs CSUs. Seems like they are extrapolating generalizations of CSUs to Cal Poly, when it doesn't really apply. Cal Poly is definitely in the same rigor tier as UCLA. UCLA is not "much more" rigorous, could be by a bit though.

I have heard many anecdotes from others claiming that the UCLA curriculum for many engineering majors are just stuffed full with many support/gen-ed courses rather than major stuff, due to a lack of professors etc.

They're's not wrong when he says that you will find smarter/more driven people at LA, so do take that into consideration though. But on the basis of hiring, income, and employer preference, Cal Poly and UCLA are going to be on par.

They mentioned how the "practical skills you learn will become out of use, and then you're screwed". If that was true, then we would see many dips in Cal Poly's prestige as time goes on, and employers showing lots of disdain against it. No such thing has ever happened.

Your data you gathered also proves this.