1500 SAT
4.36 (or 4.39 not sure) CS GPA from the app
my D made bunch of mistakes (jr. High maths, EC hours, etc.) when filling out the app, so i understand why she didn’t make it. it was her first college app ever and she only filled it out 36 hours prior to the deadline so…(we stayed up all night/day working on the UC one after that ~)…she deserves to be waitlisted in my opinion.
for all the kids that are reading this for the future reference, DON’T WAIT 'til the last minute and MAKE SURE to know all the little differences between each app (UC, CS, Common, etc.). my kid also didn’t apply to any privates since she was too lazy to get teachers rec. on time (& i was too ignorant to push her for it ~)…so DON’T do that.
she has already rejected the waitlist offer since SLO was no. 7 of 7 from her wish list (location being the main reason as we’re in Socal). fortunately, she already has 2 early acceptance from UCSB & UCI (no 4 & 5 from her list) so not a big deal. we’ll see how it goes with the rest (B, LA, SD & D).
it was lot of fun reading all your posts in the past week, best of luck to all of you wherever you may end up.
Thank you, @MelloG. I was just wondering what the consequences were to accept an offer than cancel after coming off a waitlist for another school.
To add onto the previous post about the application, I was pretty confident that my son filled the application with all the maximum MCA points (jr high math and community college math, leadership, # hrs for ECs) since we called and spoke to the Cal Poly admissions office who walked us through the application! But his MCA didn’t reach the max 5000+ points, so those who were accepted must have had very high MCA scores if this is what they use?
@Slushcan@choroidal@BayAreaMom15 and @Goolia66 yes, I do know that CS is highly competitive, but just like @LvMyKids2 pointed out, how do you explain my be waitlisted with a MCA of 5527, which is WAY higher than those who have posted their stats here and got accepted into CS? Just in case anyone misinterprets what I just wrote…congrats to all of you who got accepted—your stats showed that you are all high achievers and deserved to be admitted!!!
@giddyup, @EncinitasJAK and @bogeyorpar if your assessment is correct, it is not cool that SLO would make that kind of decision for us. For some of us, SLO may be the most affordable. By puting us on the Waitlist, we will be forced to accept admission at a more expensive school since the deadline for SIR at most schools is often BEFORE decisions are made for waitlisted students. I also know that SIR is non-binding but $250 is A LOT of money to me to waste like that.
This is really upsetting because CSUs are supposed to be straightforward in their admissions criteria. Yes, impacted programs can raise the EI (Eligibility Index) or MCA needed to get accepted, but it shouldn’t be inconsistent. If SLO is implementing a more “comprehensive” i.e. “subjective” decision making process like the UCs and private colleges, then it needs to post it as such. I can handle rejections if it makes sense. For example, I don’t complain about being rejected at some UCs or privates because I know they don’t use a purely quantitative formula.
@Americanoplease are you sure you capped your Cal Poly GPA at 4.2 & rigor points at 750? Are you local & had both parents NOT graduate high school? That MCA just doesn’t seem possible.
@netflixandchillingworth wait, how did you get into Berkeley already? I have similar stats and applied to all the UCs for CS. I got waitlisted at SLO as well.
@Americanoplease your case is indeed puzzling. Can you post your ec and work hours, and the status of the leadership and in major check boxes? Also, since you got over 5000 you must have had other adder points…how many points were they worth? The only other thing to check is to go back to the csu apply site and make sure you got the right number of years for each a-g category.
It is not subjective. In fact it is the opposite and they Do post how they score. I am not buying into conspiracy theories posted here. My best guess is that not everyone is calculating mca’s correctly. The More competitive MCA’s get in for the slots available by major. Bottom line. How could that possibly be subjective?
@Americanoplease was only making an assumption - and believe me I do not agree if that is the case - it just seems that many highly qualified students are being waitlisted this year - again it is all anecdotal and based on what I an reading here. Something to consider is this: Is is certain that Cal Poly calculates the MCA score as it is stated on CC? I recall reading this was based on a presentation from years ago - is there verification that the calculations that @eyemgh has posted are accurate and up to date? Or is it possible Cal Poly has changed how they calculate MCA and that maybe some things are weighted more or less than before? CP has been under heavy pressure to diversify their student body - I am not sure how this is done in admissions other than giving more weight to the group they are trying to increase the diversity of. I also think a big issue is getting rid of early decision. Basically, ED at Cal Poly was binding unless it was not economically feasible - so if you applied ED and did not get the FA you expected or needed you were able to cancel the SIR…so I did not see this as a disadvantage to low income applicants. I see it as a big mistake that Cal Poly got rid of ED because those students who applied to Cal Poly ED were saying it was their top choice and if accepted would enroll…getting rid of that has really caused many of the admissions issues the past 2 years in my opinion.
I’m IS, not local in-service area, middleclass income, FAFSA loan eligible only.
UW 4.0 W 4.85 CSU 4.36 HS Rank #1 of 486.
Took 6 APs thus far, scored all 5’s in Calc BC, Phys 1, CompSci A, Engl Lang, US Hist, Euro Hist
In 5 APs now Engl Lit, Biol, Chem, Gov, MacroEcon
2017 SAT - 1510 (CR 710; Math 800); Essay all 7’s
SAT Math Level 2 - 800; US Hist - 770
7yrs of Math, not counting Stats taken at a c.c.
2yrs of Bio (Bio Honors and AP Bio)
3yrs of Chem(2yrs) and Physics (1yr), don’t count CompSci
3 yrs. of foreign language
Based on this I used:
4.2 GPA capped = 2250
1510 SAT = 1557
Rigor = 750
EC (40+50+120+60) = 270
Parent is CSU employee = 700
MCA Total = 5527
@slotrees I inquired about this and the admissions clerk at SLO asked me if I put my parent’s name and ID# on the Cal State Apply application and I told her yes and she said I can add 700 points to my MCA.
@Americanoplease very impressive! I don’t think CSU employee gets the added points, though, but that still gives you 4827. That may be just short for cs, idk. It may be worth your while to call admissions and ask if there were any problems with your app that maybe cost you. I’ve seen people in the sjsu thread who got rejected because their course names didn’t match what the school expected. I’m sure you’ll get plenty of great offers, but if cal poly is your first choice, an extra $250 out of $100k over 4 years is a good trade, especially if it saves you $20k vs a UC.
@Americanoplease Sorry to ask you to break it down like that, but thank you for doing so. I’ve only heard of extra points for parents employed at Cal Poly. They viewed your MCA as 4827. It’s the only rational explanation for you being waitlisted.
@Americanoplease sorry, I didn’t see your reply before posting. I think you should call admissions and see if they can provide an explanation. Good luck!
Honestly I’m more confused now. I’m seeing people with really similar stats to me(1550 SAT, 4.5 wGPA,3.9UW) but they didn’t get in. I’m thankful I got in but I wish colleges would be clear on how their admission processes work. This whole process seems to only add unnecessary stress to both admissions officers and us.