We are in the opposite situation–our (in-state) son committed to Cal Poly months ago and just got off the waitlist at UC Davis yesterday! He is struggling with the choice because, although Cal Poly checks more of his boxes overall, he is swayed by Davis’s national (v. West Coast) reputation. He is a political science major considering law school and Davis also has the proximity to Sacramento. We are going to visit Davis again this weekend, although the location definitely isn’t as desirable as Cal Poly.
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Is the waitlist ranked? Or are people getting pulled off randomly?
Just keep an open mind. My son was firm that Davis wasn’t one of his top choices. After attending Admitted Student day - he was sold. He also got into SDSU (honors college), SLO and then came off of the UCSB Waitlist in early May but chose Davis for all the reasons you stated (same major Poli Sci) and the vibe he experienced. He was really geared towards SOCAL beaches but did a complete U-turn after really weighing his options. Best of luck in your decision - it will all be good!
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My daughter was also initially enamored with UC Davis. Like you, she was impressed with its national reputation and liked the fact that it is close to both Sacramento and SF.
But then she attended the admitted students day at Cal Poly. As a chemistry major, she was impressed that she got to not only tour the classrooms and labs but also meet some of her future professors. Having taken an introductory chemistry class in a large lecture hall at a UC last summer, she loved the fact that even the first year classes are relatively small, affording students an opportunity to regularly interact with professors. Finally she loved the “vibe” at SLO.
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IMO and on paper, it looks like UC Davis would be a wiser choice for Political Science major student. Good luck either way!
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My understanding is the waitlist is not ranked. After they get all the acceptances, they look for gaps in enrollment that balance out the class.
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Has anyone else gotten the prompt on their application status page asking for an ACT score report? Kinda strange because I was under the impression that ACT scores were only used for placement in math/English classes and not heavily considered for waitlisted students.
Even weirder, I just checked my page again as I am writing this and now the ACT score item is gone. It was there just this morning with a check mark and has been there since I sent in the score… Scary stuff.
Best of luck to anyone in the same boat right now, we’ll all be okay!!!
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Because I know people will look next year to see timelines, my son was admitted off the waitlist for math this week. In state, not local to SLO.
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Hi! I am also waitlisted for Construction Management (still waiting). Don’t get stressed out. I called in a panic too when I saw this and they let me know that notification is for admitted students to submit. It’s used as a placement so they know what classes to put them in (ie: advanced math classes etc.). But obviously we aren’t admitted yet so hence the “X” symbol next to it. 
For your visit to UC Davis, just note there is another (*) UAW / Academic Workers / TA Strike that has expanded to 6 out of the 9 UCs. This UC webpage is tracking UC’s news & updates UAW news and updates | UCnet
(*) 1st TA Strike was Nov 2022 timeframe and noted at the bottom of the webpage.
For Cal Poly and the CSUs, where faculty teach courses vs. TAs, there was a 23 campus-wide strike Jan 2024 that lasted just one day. Cal State faculty staging historic systemwide, weeklong strike | EdSource
It was a real surprise that the CSU strike was so short. For the most part, the faculty didn’t want to harm student learning. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty-issues/labor-unionization/2024/01/26/why-did-cal-state-strike-end-after-just-one-day
We did our tours of various UCs in Nov 2022 and noted the impact of that TA strike in contrast to our tour of Cal Poly SLO that same period of time.
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S24 admitted a couple days ago off waitlist. He already committed elsewhere so will not be accepting.
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What major?
Anthropology/Geography
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Thanks, everyone, for sharing your thoughts. We visited over the weekend and my son has decided to switch from SLO to Davis. To put it in simplest terms, it’s the right vibe & fit for him. Hopefully this opens a waitlist spot for someone else soon!
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Any updates? My screen still shows waitlist. Should I take it as a no go? Business Admin major.
My D24 just got off the waitlist for major: Animal Science. Now stuck between choosing between UC Davis and SLO. Her first pick was initially SLO, but she is now conflicted between the two.
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She might want to look at the UC Davis Vet school application/admission stats if that is her goal with the Animal Science major.
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S24 just got off the waitlist today for Physics! (instate). He’s going to release the spot, because he’s super happy with the school he’s already committed.
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Daughter also was conflicted but choose Davis last week after we visited the campus. We are OOS so it will cost us a fortune but it’s her choice.
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