Son got rejected for Bio. I believe his CSU GPA is 4.11. He got into UCB today. Could care less about CalPoly and their ridiculous rollout process. Bye!!
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Also, we were HONEST about
- number of hours worked: 11-15
- major related: yes
- extra curricular hours: 21+
- leadership: yes
This also seems like an area for maximizing points, which he did not.
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S25 denied and only had 4 years of english. I think 6 years of math though. and lots of foreign language and science. Interpretation of whether due to 4 years of English complicated by CSU capped GPA of 4.13 brought down by lots of courses / rigor, and applied to Biomed. Engineering back before he decided and switched to business-related majors at some schools. Probably bit by the same bug at SDSU (waitlisted engineering). But accepted to UCSD and Berkeley where he applied business-related majors, and also where they may look at fully weighted/course rigor more than CPSLO. who knowsā¦
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Itās interesting about the extra classes. My kid comes from a school that was noted to be a feeder in the recent news article. We send a lot of kids to Cal Poly every year. Itās a block schedule school, and college prep. So most kids have many extra years of math, science and english. My (admitted) kid had 6 years of math and 7 years of science (but only 4 of english)
same exact situation for me! congrats to him! berkeley over slo any day!
Some majors at Cal Poly have lower acceptance rates than those schools. I donāt think most people know thatās the case. But your son has great choices. Good luck!
One can take a āwhackā at the way SLO handles their admissions process, but do we really have to belittle the education at SLO in the SLO thread?
As a parent of a SLO senior, for $30K āall inā or less, I personally believe itās the best value for a public in CA.
D21 has had small classes, gotten LORās, research positions, internships and jobs w/o any problem. Sheās had priority registration (1st dibs on classes and teachers) for a couple of years now because sheās been a ISA/LA.
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I read through the above posts and I donāt see anyone belittling the SLO education.
30K āall-ināā¦not sure where you arrive at that number. Per year?
SLO tuition = 13,596
SLO room and food: approx 19,000
UC tuition = 14,934
UC Davis room and food: approx 20,000
Room and food vary based on double/triple and food plan. So, to me, seems equivalent to a UC education. Both good value for public eduation in CA.
This is so interesting. There are generally lots of acceptances from the high school my daughter graduated from. No one we know had 4 years of English. All that I know of had 4 years of science. My daughter was admitted last year for architecture (but ended up at a different university). She had 4 years of English, History, Science, 3 years of foreign language, numerous arts credits, and three architecture classes from our local community college.
Deleted. Never mind. 
How are the years of math calculated? Iām doing Calculus 3 RN at community College, did Calc 2 last one. It still says I have 5 years of math though.
Oops sorry, didnt mean to make that a reply to you.
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Just trying to help future applicants understand their admission process. S25 had a rough start post covid in 9th grade and got a few Bās and we promptly took CP-SLO off the list. Luckily for him UCs do not look at grades from 9th Grade and he did well there.
The Math classes are calculated based on the number of HS classes taken starting in Middle school so if Algebra was taken in MS plus 4 years in HS such as Geometry, Algebra 2, Pre-calc and AP Calc then that is 5 years.
So what classes did you take in Middle school and now HS? If you are up to Calculus 3, you should have 6-7 years. Did you A-G Match your College courses on the CSU application?
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As the father of two CP SLO applicants I have been on both sides of the coin. My son in ā23 was rejected. He applied for a Psych major and that year it was a 2% acceptance rate. He ended up with multiple UC acceptances, so not a disaster.
This year my daughter was accepted into mechanical engineering (roughly a 5% acceptance rate), though she has not decided yet if that will ultimately be her destination.
In both cases - rejection and acceptance - the process felt confusing to me. Fortunately, this forum has helped clear up a lot of that.
The roll out of decisions by CP is messy and frustrating and I certainly empathize with many of the students and parents as they go through this process. However, the degree of, dare I say, bitterness, expressed here feels unwarranted. Especially as so many have other great acceptances.
CP is a tough get for applicants. It isnāt a sure thing by any stretch of the imagination. Some of its majors are ranked among the best programs in the country (the Comp and Civil eng are #1, mech and electrical eng are #2, among colleges without doctoral degrees,) and are thus very competitive. To assume that some faulty reasoning is at play if you were, or your child was, denied is to ignore the facts - CalPoly is highly ranked, in great demand, and has a rigorous, albeit Byzantine at times, set of admittance standards that even if met donāt guarantee entry.
No single college admission or denial is a measurement of oneās potential, so donāt take either of them too personally, or allow them to set oneās worth. It is, after all, just one college, and your success will be determined by what you do; not by where you go.
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Which program did she end up at for architecture? My student will be studying architecture as well.
Although Iām not a fan of the process or broader trends in UC/CSU over time, having grown up in SLO, I have a lot of respect for the high value education at CP in a one-of-a-kind setting!
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Every college has a page on their website with ācost of attendance.ā
You can find the SLO cost of attendance here. Undergraduate Costs of Attendance 2025-26 | Cal Poly
You can find the UC Davis cost of attendance here. Cost | UC Davis
My class schedule went:
- Alg 1 (8th grades)
- Geometry
- Alg 2
- Calc AB
- Calc 2 at community College
- Calc 3 at community
This would be 6 years right? Will they still consider my application as 6 years of math since Iām doing Calculus 3?
Yes, they will consider 6 years which includes in-progress classes for Senior year.
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