I think the admit process is different at the UC campuses - not saying better or worse, just different, which would account for different kids getting into those schools. I also know several kids who got into many UC campuses and CP.
I have heard from many people (including an admissions officer at CP) that they do have another “measure” for admittance that allows kids to tally points in other categories they deem valuable, and that is combined with your GPA for an overall point value for admittance. In some cases having many extra AP classes doesn’t help in that calculation at all - you don’t get extra points for that. You do get extra points for hardship, working, volunteering, etc. So, technically a kid with a 3.9 could accumulate a lot of points in these other categories and end up with more overall points. I don’t know all the particulars but I do believe there is another measure out there. They do mention it on their website but not in great detail.
Yes, but I question who writes these essays? Many people in my community hire people to write them. It’s absurd to say the least. So how valuable are they really?
Same situation here in my community. Not sure how the schools can combat against.
This is the old MCA information from 2013. Since SLO is test blind and we know the SLO GPA is no longer capped at 4.2, this is only for reference only. They may still be giving extra points for additional semesters of the a-g course requirements but how much of this old MCA is still used is unknown.
Academic MCA:
The maximum GPA they will use is 4.2, even though you can have a higher calculated CP GPA. A 4.2 is worth 2250 MCA points. Thus, multiply your CP GPA by 535.7 and you’ll get your MCA points for GPA.
TEST BLINDThe next biggest thing is test scores. The odd thing, likely because they wanted it to total a nice round number, is that the max score is 1650, even though the max SAT score is 1600. Multiply the total of your best SAT CR and your best SAT math by 1.03125 to get your MCA test points. If you took the ACT, they convert and vice versa.
The third largest section is the class rigor score, worth 750 points. In this section you get zero points for meeting the minimum admission requirements and adders for more than the minimum. The bonuses in order of power are (min semesters/max total semesters/bonus per extra semester/total possible bonus): math 6/10/125/500, lab science 4/8/50/200, English 8/10/50/100, foreign language 4/8/25/100, visual performance 2/4/25/50, no bonus points for social sciences or electives. As with GPA, you can actually score higher than the maximum, but 750 is the most they will count.
Finally, work and ECs, worth 350 points. Work (hours per week/bonus): 0/0, 1-5/20, 6-10/40, 11-15/60, 16-20/80, 21+/100, add 50 points if work is major related. ECs (hours per week/bonus): 0/0, 1-5/30, 6-10/60, 11-15/90, 16-20/120, 21+/150, add 60 points for leadership role.
There are also other Non-Academic Bonus Points:
CA vet/701, Hayden Partner School/700, faculty/staff dependent/700, service area of CP/500, either parent with some or no HS, but who DIDN’T GRADUATE FROM HS/300 (per parent).
Yup, same for my son.
That is a concern, but it applies to all the ECs as well. I suspect the people in that same community claim their child is shadowing doctors and lawyers who are friends of family. Check the box that says part time job, schools are not checking those, they are not calling Chik fila. There likely are issues with it.
Yes :). the calculations used to be transparent, but now CP just references the MCA calculator under “Other Variables” and doesn’t list what those might be or what value they have. So, it’s hard to know how that can/does effect admissions
Yes. I know several kids who listed themselves as captains of sports teams, varsity sports, club founders, volunteers, etc when none of it is true. Their reasoning? “The schools will never check”. And yes, some of those kids were admitted to CP (and UCLA, UCSB, etc). It’s an honor system. I believe on karma 
Can we please move away from speculating what others might or might not have done?
This is the SLO Class of 2028 Freshman thread. If you would like to discuss CSU admissions or UC admissions, please start a separate thread.
Another slo admit today, 3/20, a friend’s child got in for graphic design.
Amazing! Do you know what time that admit came in?
Our son was accepted but “St. Fratty’s Day” news last weekend about the extreme vandalism to the dorms (that the parents have to pay for) and the neighborhood next to campus has us considering other options. You can Google it to see the unbelievable damage. Cal Poly President sent out an email, too. President Armstrong sends email in response to widespread residence hall damage - Mustang News
Biology histically has been very difficult to get into at SLO. Like 4 percent of applicants have spots. So assuming 30 percent yield them likely 10-12 percent admission rate. It’s just a tough major to get into based on availability of spots and number of applicants. It’s harder than many of the engineering majors if you look at the numbers.
I wouldn’t let that one event sway you away from CP. That event is not the norm. CP is in a great area and is a great school.
This was students from a neighboring UC apparently. Cal poly is open about happenings on campus. These things happen on all campuses. My kid attends there. It’s a great school.
My daughter’s friend had a 3.5 GPA unweighted . She had some poor grades her freshman and sophomore years but had a weighted GPA of 4.3. She got into every UC including LA SD/SB/Davis but rejected from the CSUs. Why? She has an amazing back story showing perseverance and improvement.
I do agree that the essays likely helped her at UC bc she could explain what happened when she was doing poorly and how she overcame.
This is why UCs use holistic review.
I bet you are correct for your kid as well. It’s hard to stand out with pure numbers when everyone has similar numbers unless you have an essay to speak to the reader about how you are awesome.
Did any studio art majors get in today? If so, will today be the only wave for acceptances?
My D24 applied as microbiology no decision yet & haven’t seen in this thread or other SLO threads of acceptances for microbiology. But, at this point she is feeling when she does receive the SLO decision it will be a rejection.
Thankfully, she has been fortunate to have been accepted into to some smaller private colleges as well as UCLA, UCI, UCSD, & UCSB.
I don’t think it is any worse than something that has happened in the past at say UCSB. I went to SDSU at the height of the party days in the mid to late 90s and I am not a party person at all and I made it through okay. I was never involved in large party like that or anything that happened like what happens in UCSB, but I was able to be successful and really SDSU is what you make of it. I am sure Cal Poly is the same. I hope those people involved somehow get everything cleaned up and learn from their lessons that hard partying does come with consequences.
Mine was rejected from UCLA (public health) and is still waiting to hear from UC Berkeley (public health), and Cal Poly SLO. She only applied to those two UCs. She has been accepted at Long Beach, and SDSU. At SLO, Long Beach, and SDSU she applied as kinesiology which at SLO only accepts 75 first time freshman and TBH had I known the number was that low I would’ve told her to apply as another major. We are going on 10 days of waiting now (since the first admits were announced on 3/11) and it is kind of annoying, and I am honestly not expecting an acceptance at this point.
We are in state, she has a 3.97 UW, 4.29 W (I can’t remember her CSU gpa), has decent extra curricular activities, and goes to a small school so despite these great grades is ranked outside of the top 10% of her high school. I know there are many other kids out there in her same spot so I am trying to stay positive.