Demographics at Cal Poly SLO

wallstreetjosh · 12-03-2007, 01:09 PM

Evidently, Cal Poly is overwhelmingly white. I've also heard that the student population is primarily comprised of white kids from upper-middle class backgrounds. Does this mean that the campus culture is purely "Anglo", and would someone used to associating mainly with Hispanic-Americans be struck with culture shock? Also, being that it's not very ethnically diverse, does this mean that there's a lot of racism among the student body?

Giants8307 · 12-04-2007, 10:43 PM

It's about 65-75% white, depending on what stats you believe. A lot of kids are upper-middle class, but I knew quite a few who were putting themsleves through school. As for racism, I don't think I ever saw it on campus.

jjsoa1 · 12-05-2007, 01:31 AM

From my experience, yes the demographics you get from collegeboard.com are true, though I heard that there is a larger amount of asians in the current first year class. Coming from a high school that was 75% Asian, I was struck with culture shock initially, but I got used to it after a while. Racism isn't a problem. There are a lot of hispanic groups on campus and if you get invited to Polycultural weekend, I suggest going.

wallstreetjosh · 12-05-2007, 02:23 AM

Thanks for your replies people!

In my case, I'm Mexican, but I have light brown hair and lighter skin than most "white" people (10% of Mexicans are Europeans), so I don't think I'll have a problem fitting in. It's mainly my cultural background that would be different.

What kind of music do most of the students listen to? What's their political orientation like? I'm thinking upper-middle class white, and I think ORANGE COUNTY, where I've gone to school before on an interdistrict transfer. And that means three things:

-Rock music
-Republican
-Preppy/surfer - A&F, Hollister wearing

Does that basically sum it up?

jjsoa1 · 12-06-2007, 02:53 AM

Those are the stereotypes, but there are many different types of people on campus and its hard to generalize for those categories you've said. Also to add to my earlier post, racism is not a problem, but self-segregation occurs a lot between ethnic groups.

jackht27 · 12-06-2007, 04:52 PM

hahah wow, i find that just a little bit stereotypical.
im white and come from an uppermiddle class family, but i don't really associate any of those stereotypes with myself or anyone i know. i do like rock though

i don't think you will have a problem, and if you are sort of shocked at first, you will definitely get used to it and probably make a lot of friends of other ethnicities, backgrounds and cultures than you originally though

historymom · 12-07-2007, 11:49 AM

my DDs are applying.

They are white but there is nothing Orange County about them. They listen to an eclectic array of music anything from 70's rock through modern country to musical theatre. They are unconcerned w/ brand names..jeans sweatshirts, t shirts and soccer shorts are the categories their clothes fall into. And, they are still in the process of forming their political outlook.

At a school of close to 20,000 students you will get all kinds. As a Californian I can tell you that Orange County is in no way representative of our state.

wallstreetjosh · 12-07-2007, 12:15 PM

Well, just to show that stereotypes don't always apply, I could actually fit number one and three, except I'm not a republican.

And Historymom,

Yes I know. I've lived all over the state, all over the L.A.-Orange County metropolitan area, San Francisco, Central Coast, you name it. I mentioned Orange County, because that tends to epitomize my image of "upper-middle class white youth".

Also, what is the general level of intellect among most students at SLO? Will I be surrouned by a bunch of average kids who were fortunate enough to have tutors help them through AP classes, or will there be a great deal of competition? I mean, afterall, it is a state school.

drj · 12-07-2007, 06:07 PM

you might want to check the GPA, SAT and ACT data on these students before you accuse them of being "average." the typical student there turned down multiple UC admit letters, and many believe this is a campus that is superior to several UCs.

wallstreetjosh · 12-07-2007, 07:47 PM

<<you might want to check the GPA, SAT and ACT data on these students before you accuse them of being "average." the typical student there turned down multiple UC admit letters, and many believe this is a campus that is superior to several UCs.>>

Woah, slow down there cowboy, and don't take offense. Aside from the engineering/architecture programs, overall, what is the general consensus about Cal Poly SLO's rank against the UCs? I've often heard that SLO is about as good as most mid-tier UCs. Would you guys agree?

drj · 12-07-2007, 09:08 PM

yep, after all both cal and UCLA are just "state schools" too.

Giants8307 · 12-08-2007, 01:23 PM

As for the stereotypes, Cal Poly does have a rep for being a bit more conservative than most California campuses, but keep in mind it's still a university, not the Heritage Foundation. I would still say most students there leaned liberal, just not by the margin that you might find at UCSB. Afterall, when I was at SLO, the campus Dems had a larger email list than the campus Republicans.

WSJ: I knew only one person at Cal Poly who wasn't admitted to a UC, and quite a few had been admitted to UCLA or UCB. In addition, Poly is notorious for grade deflation, so the competition is quite stiff.

historymom · 12-08-2007, 04:17 PM

Two bits of advice for wsh

1) Check the selectivity ratings out for yourself on cal poly's website...it gives you the admittance stats of each major

2) if you don't want people to get offended you should start editing things from your posts that are offensive, ie stereotypes about Californians and
"Will I be surrouned by a bunch of average kids who were fortunate enough to have tutors help them through AP classes"

jackht27 · 12-08-2007, 10:54 PM

A lot of people get wrapped up in the whole UC vs. CSU thing. UCs are more theoretical and research based geared towards medical, law, and other professional fields while CSUs are for a broader range of fields. Many CSUs especially Cal Poly are actually more respected depending on the professionals in the field you talk to. Like i talked to an architect in Chico about UCB vs. CPSLO and he will almost always hire CPSLO alumni over UCB alumni becuase the program at SLO prepares its students for the career much more than that at Berkeley. Partly becuase the architecture programs are so different. Berkeley's is all reserch and theory whereas at Cal Poly, the students are much more hands on and the program is much more rigorous.
So in other words, in general many UCs are just as prestigious as many CSUs..

wallstreetjosh · 12-09-2007, 01:03 AM

<<2) if you don't want people to get offended you should start editing things from your posts that are offensive, ie stereotypes about Californians>>

Oh please. For one, I AM a native californian, so please don't pretend as if I'm some ignorant outsider oblivious to social reality in California, attempting to make fun of Californians. And I sincerely hope you're not one of those obsessive PC people deathly afraid of God forbid, stereotyping!

And Drj,
It seems as if you either have a serious inferiority complex, or an untold amount of school pride, because you're sure very sensitive about any perceived attack on your school's name. Chill, after all, it is just a school.

Jackht,
I appreciate your detailed and civil reply, and I would tend to agree with you, however there are many employers out there, particularly from out of state, who naturally prefer resumes with nationally recognized big brand name schools like Cal or UCLA. I doubt I would find many people on the east coast familiar with SLO. That being said, I love the location, and SLO is definitely one of my top 3 choices, the others being Cal for biz, or UCLA for econ. I'm interested in SLO's biz-admin (finance concentration) major, with a minor in either communications or Spanish.