Thanks for the tips, GumbyMom and AMCDad!
I didn’t realize you could accept a school if you did not plan to go there. Once you accept, don’t you have to attend? I can’t imagine accepting a school and then later turning them down to say, ‘Sorry, got something better…’ Granted, my last school acceptances were grad school a couple of decades ago, but I would never have dreamed of saying yes to a place when I was still holding out for something else.
@mustangmom2o21 My daughter has an excellent Cal Poly application in everything except GPA. She got some Bs in 9th grade (and a couple in 10th) and so her GPA is closer to 3.75 than 4.0. Her ACT is 34, she has high course rigor, she maxes out on job experience and extracurricular hours, has leadership positions and work in her field… but because of the GPA, her MCA is about 4,600. I am faculty at Cal State, but not Cal Poly, so I don’t think that will help her. I think it’s a stretch for engineering, but she really wants Cal Poly as her first choice, so she’s applying. Naturally I encouraged her to apply, but also to think about alternates.
Her second choice is UCLA, and while the GPA is a bit low there too, the personal interest questions come into play, as well as consideration that she is at one of the top high schools in the state and the student body (and curriculum) are more intense there than at other schools. Since Cal Poly uses a straight formula, none of that would be considered. While UCLA is also a bit of a stretch, I think it’s got a bit of a better chance because of this more holistic approach.
Her third choice is Cal Poly Pomona, and she’s also applying to UC Irvine, and we’re pretty confident of her chances at those schools. So I’m anticipating that early next year we’ll hear from then, and then have to decide how long she waits for an answer from Cal Poly SLO/UCLA before committing somewhere.