Question0

Is it possible for an engineering student to get straight A's all four or five years at Cal Poly? My friend says that it is almost impossible and the only chance is during your freshman year. Do you think this is true?

vballmom

If you're really interested in engineering, my son says it's possible to get straight As. He has nearly all As in his major classes, but less than stellar grades in the GEs that he's taken.

CharCalPoly

Is there a reason why you must get all A's? Cal Poly is a top engineering school. Admission is tough enough so you're studying along with other top students taking challenging classes. Grad school is important for many but getting a 4.0 should be less of a concern than WHAT you're getting out of your classes. Professors are excellent and you're studying again in a top engineering school. GPA in college is not nearly as important as what you're walking out of your class with in your head that you will use your entire life. As long as you're passing and understanding the material, I wouldn't focus on the A.

Question0

Ok thanks, it is just curiosity. I mean, I hear about people who get in the 2. Something or for gpa or close to academic probation when they use to get A's in high school.

CharCalPoly

there is a huge difference between straight A's and academic probation. The bad thing about Poly is that a B- calculates as a 2.7 so it is best to just try as hard as one can. See this page for more on GPA calculations.

Grading Symbols - Office of the Registrar - Cal Poly

Doing well in every class should be a priority and students are always encouraged to meet with professors and form study groups. The best thing about Poly is that the faculty and TA's are very approachable and I have found much more success being proactive as early as possible and getting help/asking questions and going to office hours. Blending in and becoming a number makes it easy to get lost in the shuffle. I would encourage any incoming student to attend the many success seminars Poly holds and to not freak out, but be prepared to be challenged. The quarter system is fast but if you start out organized and constantly review and form friends with good study habits, hang out at the library, success is pretty achievable. It's the partying and procrastination that gets students in trouble when they are not used to being on the quarter system and taking college classes. The pace is fast and falling behind is not an option.

atbui92

I just finished my first year at cal poly, and from what I hear, less than 10 people out of every graduating class have a perfect 4.0, meaning that they have gotten above a 93% in every single class they have taken in their college career.

But as noted above, if you spend your entire career striving for that, you're missing out on all of the leadership opportunities that the campus has to offer and employers are looking for.

OsakaDad

My son just finished his freshman year and maintained a very high GPA at Cal Poly in engineering. While academic performance is very important, what it took to achieve a near 4.0 GPA was not worth it.

Real life requires you to fail. College is your last chance to learn, experiment and fail with limited consequences. You will never have this level of freedom again.

Be keenly aware that the next few years in college will be your life. How do you want to experience it? It can be a blur of focused study and wasted anxiety over maintaining a 4.0 GPA. Or you can make it one of the most memorable learning experiences of your life. I suggest that you strive to learn the value of team work, networking, relationship building, having fun, laughing and enjoying the most formative academic years you will ever have.

Employers and grads schools expect good academic performance. However, in addition to brains they want mature, well-rounded human beings that know how to fail gracefully and how to learn from that failure.

The new goal should be the acquisition of applicable knowledge and human experience. Something that Cal Poly is uniquely qualified to offer compared to other schools.