I know I am probably a bit off on this, but I am getting the impression that a lot of CSU school admissions are “computer generated” in that they are looking at gpa ranges and just inviting certain numbers of students from different ranges(at random). They don’t really have much to get to know students with no essay requirements. I feel it is a more sterile hands off process and is up to a bit of “luck of the draw”. I am seeing (anecdotal) very different admissions between UC schools and CSU schools. the CSU admissions, imo, are a bit all over.
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I think the CSUs do want a well rounded student population. Imagine if they ONLY accepted 4.0+ students. The population would be very different in all ways. So in some regards, I do understand why mine was rejected and others with 3.5 were accepted. Cal Poly is an amazing school and I am so lucky I got to graduate from there. It definitely changed my life and trajectory. Holding out hope that my girl will land where she is meant to.
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wow…can you check what was previous data for that school? or you can post school name here ( or message me) I can check. ZERO from a large public school is insane
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A 4.0 (or any gpa) from one HS does not equal a 4.0 from another HS. Even two 4.0s from the same HS may have been with different levels of rigor. And, as has been mentioned before, one can’t compare two applicants who are applying to different majors.
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If that was the case they would have design their application so that we can show their non academic work. The way they have their application as of today, there is no way to talk about your extracurrilcular. It sounds like its all about GPA>
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Actually, that makes us feel better. We are OOS from an incredibly rigorous high school (that IYKYK but does SLO know?) and have heard nothing also.
We’re in the same boat. SLO has many events that weekend. Their Admitted Students’ Discovery Day is actually on the 12th, Friday. We’ll go to that and then head down to SDSU for theirs on Saturday, unless my kid gets into Cal. https://orientation.calpoly.edu/open-house/featured-events
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Haven’t heard from SLO yet. Safe to say it’s a no go…
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I’m wondering the same thing. I applied as an oos business admin with over 33 years of credits, 7 DE classes, 2 aps, and all honors for core curriculum. I understand that there are over 78k applicants, but we as students are on a shrinking timeframe.
He applied to general engineering somewhat to game the system as it had a higher admit rate than aero at the time and we knew from taking with the dept that intra engineering major changes were easy. He was at Cal before they had an aero major but he did do the aero concentration with mech-e. He has a job waiting for him at NASA after grad from his masters. Have your daughter checkout the NASA pathways program - it’s amazing. It has very weirdly short application windows and it took him 3 tries to get in but so worth it! Good luck to your daughter. Hoping some aero acceptances are still to come out!
Same. But waiting for the curtain before we leave the theatre.
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If they only invited the best students. wouldn’t they be doing their job? Your daughter sounds like exactly the kind of student who should be admitted to Cal Poly. This holistic approach doesn’t really make sense to me. They’re not putting together an NBA team where chemistry matters, or even an office where you might need different perspectives and talents. School is supposed to be about educating students, and colleges used to be about educating the best students you can enroll.
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As a parent of a kid at slo I want to offer up my observations
1st. The big admit wave is the bulk of it. In fact my daughter was a recruit athlete. The process was she had to apply just like all other students. If she didn’t get in then the coach had to go to admissions to pull her in. For her class there were 10 recruits. He said of 10 usually 2 get in. He has to fight for all the rest. My daughter did not get in even though she had top stats but it’s slo and it’s competitive. So he sent her an email on admit day that said “ you didn’t get in. I will go to admissions for you”. However some of her friends ( non athletes ) got accepted in March. My daughter didn’t get the official notice until mid April. Even though she was recruited as a junior. We were nervous bc at that point of the coach was unsuccessful she would have went to her second school UCD.
So watching the process it appears most admitted have already been notified. Barring waitlist and coming off. I think the athletes that didn’t get in went waitlist then got a spot as one opened up. But I am not sure.
Housing: as an athlete she lived on campus for two years. On campus housing is expensive.Last year she had her own room in a 7 room house. She pays 1125 per month plus another 100 per mon for utilities/electricity. Etc. it’s far cheaper than 15000 for 10 months dorms plus she has more space. She is also walking distance to school.
Housing in SLO is tight but it’s doable However you must look for housing a year in advance so Nov of your freshman year you should start looking.
It’s a great school. Small classes. My daughter has been doing research since her freshman year ( no grad students so there are options if you seek them out). My daughter is now one of the leaders of the research lab. She even helped recruit a new freshman to the lab. She also got to do the frost research grant after her sophomore year.
The classes are hard and fast. This is not an easy A. They told her that if you are used to As in HS expect Bs. My daughter has made 1 B and a few A minus’ ( A- are 3.7 not 4.0). The school is focused on getting jobs not getting into grad school. My daughter is trying to go to grad school so she has busted her B trying to be competitive. She has a 3.9 GPA and has created a good pathway for herself.
Changing majors is doable but difficult. Be aware of that going in. If you get into engineering and do poorly and try to change majors you may be stuck bc other majors won’t take you with bad grades. It’s a catch 22. It’s not uncommon to have a bad grade and have to repeat a class even if your kid was straight As in HS. Physics and chemistry are notoriously hard. Go to office hours. Every single one. The teacher will work with students who are on the cusp of a grade if they have showed up to office hours. My daughter had a B+in one class and she got an A- on the reported grade. She contributed that to the teacher liking her. It’s also how she got her research spot. The office hrs made the professor like her.
We are grateful she had the opportunity there. She has tried to maximize her opportunities.
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congrats! i’m a third year polisci student. let me know if he (or you) have any questions about the major, department, school, etc! 
Cal Poly SLO Server is currently down. I wonder if that means updates tomorrow?
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I believe the SLO server is usually is down on Wed nights for maintenance.
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There are actually 23 csu campuses, probably 18 of which could be safeties plus uc merced, so… not really true about California having no safeties
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Major: Statistics
SLO GPA: 4.12 (decreased due to extra courses taken outside of school)
Number of UC approved Honors/AP/IB or DE courses: 11 AP’s, 3 honors, 4 DE
Work: 6-10 hours
EC hours: 16-20 hours
In-State/OOS/International: In-State
English - 4
Math - 10
Science - 5
Foreign Language - 3
Social Science/History - 2.5
Visual/Performing Arts - 1
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One theory that is strongly backed up by statistics is that a strong student from a public school has a far better chance of getting into and Cal Poly SLO, UCLA, UCB than ones from a private school. It makes sense because:
- Public colleges exist to serve the general public - not the elite, and they are aware that kids from private schools have a lot more advantages than most public school kids and are more likely to have hired private college advisors who have guided their HS academic and EC choices and assisted them in writing their essays. In other words private school kids are not really the population these schools were established to serve.
- Kids from private high schools who are used to getting a lot of attention and white glove treatment will likely have a tougher time being successful at a large public university than those who know how to make the most out of what was available to them in a no frills public HS environment.
- Kids from private high schools are more likely to be able to afford private colleges so if they were to get into a private and public college of equal caliber, they will most likely pick the private college to get smaller class sizes and better advising - which they are accustomed to.
I think the parents who put their kids in private high schools believing that they would have a better chance of getting into a top Public school like CP SLO, UCLA or UC are sorely misguided. Since they are used to paying top dollar for tuition, it will just be more of the same. NBD.
In the large public high school my kids went to, many were accepted to Cal Poly, UCLA & UCB, whereas not one student in either of the two prestigious and expensive private schools in our community were accepted into UCLA, and two got into Cal Poly. However they did get several kids into the obscenely expensive USC. Why? because both UCLA and USC know their target demographics. Public colleges get funding from the state and want resourceful smart kids, who can succeed without any handholding. Private colleges get money are funded by wealthy students and alumni and want kids from families who can support their school.
The UC’s publish extensive statistics - and CP SLOs stats probably match up with the top tier UCs.
here is link to the 23 admit stats that just came out today
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#2 tracks with not a single private HS I’m aware in my area. The curriculum, rigor and competition at the top private schools is pretty intense. There is no “white glove treatment.” And FWIW of Cal Poly’s top 10 feeder schools at least one is a private HS in the Bay Area.
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