D21 is in CAFES, so I can’t speak to internship connections in COSM, but my speculative guess is that SLO is located in Central CA and those internship and job connections are either in the SF Bay Area or Southern CA.
The long story short, between COSM and CAFES, she’s gotten LOR’s from her professors, she’s gotten paid on-campus jobs with COSM, spent her junior year in a SLO research project and has also gotten employment opportunities just because employers know SLO.
D21 just submitted an application for an internship last week, so she’ll hopefully hear about that one in the coming weeks. LOR’s were required and she got a great one from one of her COSM professors. She will be getting that professor and another COSM professor to give her LOR’s for grad school.
To borrow a well-worn expression, one just has to “make their own luck.”
Many of students go on from Cal Poly to grad school. My eye doctor went to Cal Poly undergrad and UC Berkeley optometry school. My dog’s vet went to Cal Poly and then to UC Davis Vet school. My next door neighbor’s daughter went to Cal Poly and is in med school at UCLA. This is just in my circle.
Those all make sense with the learn by doing model. My son wants to be a theoretical physicist, it is hard for me to see how Cal Poly would prepare him better that any of the mid tier UCs he was accepted to. Though I do think the smaller class size and access to the professors at Cal Poly are a huge draw. He is also deadlocked in his decision, the pro and con lists of all are pretty equal.
I agree that the smaller class size and access to professors are a huge plus. There is a reply in this Reddit thread (second one in from SLOtown) that you may find beneficial as well.
So a word of advice from a School Counselor. When pros and cons are deadlocked, next is “feel”. Where does your student feel good? Which place felt safe and like a place they can grow and thrive? We are so focused on rigor etc, we often forget this very important detail to college success. If necessary, take a second trip back and see how they feel on that campus.
Does anyone have inside info regarding how the switch from quarters to semesters in fall of 2026 will be implemented? D25 is thrilled to be admitted, but a little worried (a) about the intensity of the quarter structure, and (b) about possible messy transition to semesters second year. As a secondary worry, how well-known is Cal Poly SLO outside of the West Coast for people not in engineering who might want to spread their wings after college? Here, everyone believes Cal Poly is the greatest thing since sliced bread. We know all about the Forbes ranking too, but believe that considers outcomes heavily (aka starting salary - and those salaries are also inflated because of high cost of living in Cali). Just looking for a little perspective from anyone. Thank you!
We have been to a few events and when asked about the switch they admit it’s been challenging. However they are the last cal state to switch and will do so as you say in fall 2026. They said in the fall of this year they hope to have flow charts for the freshmen for their four year plans. The summer after freshman year will be short to accommodate the date changes. Cal Poly Engineering appears to have a fabulous reputation outside of California. Hopefully others can confirm.
Thank you very much for responding. My D25 also found the place on the SLO website that talks about the transition. She’s now okay with it, and simply exploring how easy it can be to change majors, if she decides to try to do that. She is hearing mixed reports from friends with siblings there saying they had no problem changing, and alternatively that the change wasn’t possible for them. Luckily, she is not in engineering but agriculture, CAFES, which closely aligns with many of her interests. Thanks again Threescompany (a favorite sitcom from the 80’s).
I currently have a second year at SLO. Although it’s hard to find general details about how the quarter to semester transition will go down, I think that’s because every major will have their own plan. My son’s advisors in his department have been helpful with planning out his course selections for this year and next so that when the transition happens his senior year, he will be in good shape. Also, I think freshmen get blocked in to most of their classes first year by their department which is super helpful.
My son was able to successfully change his major his freshman year. The major change also involved switching colleges. There were a lot of steps involved in the process but after watching him go through it, I think it was a good thing. The whole process helped him to focus on what he really wanted to do. There are, however, a few majors you cannot switch into. I think that changes from year to year based on enrollment though. They also check to make sure you would have been eligible to be admitted to the new major as an incoming freshman.
After hearing from the department chair, I’m not concerned about the switch to semesters in Fall 2026. He essentially said, they have taken the time to devise a smooth transition for students and has no concerns about the incoming freshman. He did say it will be slightly more challenging for juniors who will be seniors in Fall 2026, but they are managing each student’s situation. As far as how well known Cal Poly SLO is, in my work experience, I have found that once you land the first job, no one really cares where you went to school. And internships will help with landing the first job out of college.