Cal Poly SLO Class of 2029 Freshman Discussion Thread

Are these kids comparing their SLO GPA?

Just wanted to point out in the Fall 2024 estimates, Biological Sciences projected 4,787 applications for a target of 159 spots. So, if you assume a 33% yield, which means they’ll accept 477 FTF (first time freshman) students. That’s an acceptance rate of about 10%.

The three (3) most popular majors at SLO:

  1. Business Administration 8,136 applications
  2. Computer Science 6,304 applications
  3. Biological Sciences 4,787 applications
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Likely reflecting signifcant differences in the process, most obviously essays and for the privates, the fact that SLO is test blind in admissions.

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Have there been many Computer Engineering acceptances? I only saw one in the thread, but many others such as mechanical etc. Could there be more to come?

kids receiving B’s with fewer AP v. 4.0 UW with more AP
not sure what the actual SLO GPA is but would be hard to imagine the SLO GPA being higher with B’s

Yes, there have been Computer Engineering admits posted on several social media sites. You have to remember not all admitted students will post on CC or other sites.

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Cal Poly recomputes GPA based on courses taken in 9th - 11th grades, with a capped maximum of 8 weighted semesters (honors / AP). Because weighted semesters are capped, a student with a high number of courses taken can end up with a lower capped weighted GPA, even if they took a lot of AP courses, etc.

Here’s another thread with some discussion: Cal Poly SLO Capped GPA - calculate

Cal Poly doesn’t yield protect. However, it can sometimes appear that way to applicants, because a “high stat” student might not have the highest SLO GPA.

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actually, that can happen. Capped GPAs are affected significantly in the negative direction by the number of approved courses taken. Course rigor (more courses and more AP/honors/DE/etc) significantly impacts (negatively) a capped GPA as soon as there are 1 or more B’s (which is an increased likelihood with course rigor). There is a thread on this for UC-capped GPA (which is similar)

My daughter was accepted on Friday oos to Environmental Management and Protection program.
4.41 SLO gpa, 8 APs, lotta work and CS hours.

She’s so excited as it’s her dad’s alma matter and for everything she hears about this program, the place, reputation, etc. Though much less costly than the UC’s, it’s still v expensive oos. Does anyone have experience with oos kids receiving merit or need-based aid at SLO? I know CA publics reserve nearly all of that for in-state, as it should be. But many public flagships use merit discounts to lure higher paying oos families and help balance their books. Any insights are much appreciated.

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The application gives them so little information, so results are bound to appear random. Is someone with “leadership” the secretary of a small club, or the student body president? Is a candidate a national robotics or scioly tournament winner? They have no idea. And they will be balancing across high schools and majors. Once you meet a GPA threshold in a particular major, it’s very close to a lottery depending on the space available and number of other applicants, and how many apply from your school or area.

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Capped GPA is not really an issue for the UCs, since they use all three GPAS (unweighted, capped weighted, and fully weighted). It’s just the CSUs that do not use a fully weighted GPA and only use the capped GPA.

Most CSU programs are not highly impacted so it doesn’t have a big impact on admissions, but it does affect admissions for Cal Poly and for certain other highly impacted CSU programs (such as CS and related majors at SJSU).

OOS students are not eligible for need-based aid other than any Federal aid if eligible. Most need-based aid is California State aid such as Cal grants and Middle class scholarship or Blue and Gold Opportunity plan.

Merit aid has been given for National Merit/National Recognition scholars at $3K/year. All applicants are automatically considered for other merit scholarships and enrolled students can apply to several scholarships.

In general, OOS students should expect to pay close to full fess to attend.

SLO is definitely selective. What I find odd is that CSUs don’t ask for recommendations, test scores, or even essays. So the decision is solely based on GPA, ECs, Awards. Maybe that is bad, maybe that is good. But it makes SLO unique relative to other increasingly selective schools (public or otherwise)

Will do. Let me know if your daughter hears back

Doubtful that SLO capped GPA was the issue for my kids. Both had straight As and way more than 8 APs. Some may think SLO’s process shows that they are “selective,” but there is ample evidence over the years to show that the process is anything but transparent or rational. Like I noted, both were admitted to much better schools so it wasn’t an issue for us, but I think it’s disappointing that this is the process at supposedly the best Cal State campus.

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yes, to clarify, the derivation of a cap is similar- how CSUs and UCs use the capped GPA vs other GPA forms may be different, but arguably CPSLO places more relative importance on the capped GPA than some UCs

Not sure what you mean by “more relative importance.” CPSLO places 100% importance on the capped GPA, because that is the only GPA they use.

agree. Basing admissions on objective data should make this process more transparent but it still seems to be a black box. Anyway, S25 is happy with his current options and so it worked out for us and hopefully another child who really wanted to go to SLO.

GL everyone!

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this is definitely true. because, unlike a UC, CSUs don’t have other data points to weigh against (e.g., PIQs). It’s non-transparent but it’s also not hard to figure out: they can only weigh an application on the data they collect. I just find it weird that they can make these hard decisions on the limited data points they have.

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has anyone gotten in since friday?

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