A quick hello

Colleges and Universities A-Z Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
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<p>Hey everyone! </p>

<p>I used to be very active on this forum. It made the entire application process a lot more bearable! I’m going to be a freshman Recreation Parks & Tourism major with a minor in Law & Society this fall, and if there are any parents who have questions about the application process, SATs, ACTs, majors, colleges, housing, meal plans, or any of that stuff that kept me tossing and turning through the night, I would be happy to answer them for you! </p>

<p>I’m very open about my obsession with Cal Poly and my complete adoration for the location, the campus, the programs, and the ‘learning by doing’ policy. So if you have aaaany questions, please don’t hesitate to ask! :)</p>

<p>Go 'Stangs!</p>

<p>Alicia</p>

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<p>Hi Saabicia/Alicia,
I really enjoyed reading your posts along with others last winter, very enlightening! I was so happy for all of you who made it! My son is applying e.d. as a arch. major for fall '09. His numbers look good but we are well aware it's tough to get in. He is also applying to Notre Dame, USC, UCLA, and others. He is spending the summer getting all of his ducks in a row, including an internship with a local Arch. Firm as well as 2 other part time jobs.
Thank you for the offer to lend a hand, I'm sure we will have many questions as we get further into the process. Good luck this fall!
Thanks, verdimom</p>

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<p>Thank you! I don't think any of us knew that other people were reading what we wrote, at least Jack and I didn't, so it's cool to know that we may have helped people out!
You're son is very smart to get an internship related to his major. This is a big plus for Cal Poly and makes your application stand out far more than the ones that can't check that box. Especially since the application doesn't let you list all your EC hours and such, and also since Poly relies so heavily on the game of numbers. Your son sounds like he's in good shape! I'll see him in '09 it sounds like!</p>

<p>Best of luck!</p>

<p>Alicia</p>

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<p>Hi Alicia,</p>

<p>Thanks for your offer of help. My son is considering applying early admission to Cal Poly as it's his top choice. He's a rising senior with ok but not stellar grades and SAT scores. His weighted GPA is 3.66, SATs are 800 math and 570 CR. He'll have some hours of work unrelated to his major (unless you count being a counselor at a robotics camp related to an engineering major?) and a fair amount of EC hours (marching band and FIRST Robotics). Do you see any pros or cons to applying EA?</p>

<p>He wants to major in electrical engineering.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

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<p>Hi vballmom!</p>

<p>In my opinion, there are no cons to applying early; however, there is something worth noting. There is a difference between EA and ED. Early Admission is non-binding while Early Decision is binding. At Cal Poly, it's ED so if you are admitted early, you have two options: accept or decline before the ED deadline. If you apply ED and are rejected, your application is simply put into the pool of regular decision applicants. So basically you get a second chance! It's really great. And it doesn't really matter that Cal Poly has a binding system because if you're applying early, that usually means that Poly is your #1, as you've previously stated. </p>

<p>As for your son's numbers, here's the average stats of the engineering college for fall 2008:
applied: 7,793
accepted: 3,364<br>
avg gpa: 3.93
sat: 1312</p>

<p>Just because his GPA is a little lower than the average, I don't want you to be discouraged. His SAT is right on par and I definitely think that you could count being a counselor at a robotics camp as being major related. I even asked three engineering buddies and they all agreed. Besides, something I learned is that a good chunk of people applying to these tops colleges smudge the lines of what's morally right at some point in their applications (ie lying in essays, "accidental" unearned self-merits, EC hours on steroids...), so truly, I believe that he is close enough to say that his work was related to his major. As a side note, they never follow up with verification that you were being honest with your answers so it's just a matter of whether you feel comfortable with it or not. He's close enough in our opinion!</p>

<p>Having work related to your major is actually a great leg up on the competition, so if there's any chance for an applicant to check that box, I say go for it.</p>

<p>This was my Poly Plan: Apply ED. If rejected, wait for RD. If rejected from RD, apply summer quarter. If rejected, SF State then transfer! :)</p>

<p>Hope this was helpful.</p>

<p>Here's the new/almost finished stats from Fall 2008 for prospective fall '09ers:
<a href="http://www.ess.calpoly.edu/_admiss/Pdf/Profile09.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.ess.calpoly.edu/_admiss/Pdf/Profile09.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Alicia</p>

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<p>Hi Alicia,</p>

<p>This was helpful, thanks. I wasn't sure about whether my son's counseling job (it's actually at a Lego Robotics camp) would be major-related, but his years of building Legos, Mindstorms, K'Nex, robotics kits, etc got him the job itself, so it does show a certain amount of technical interest and expertise.</p>

<p>I meant ED because as you pointed out, Cal Poly doesn't have EA, thanks for catching that. My son is pretty sure Cal Poly SLO is his top choice, but we've got a couple of other college visits to make this summer still. I'm assuming that once he applies ED to Cal Poly SLO, he can then immediately apply RD to Cal Poly Pomona or other Cal States via the CSU Mentor online application, and it will be obvious that only one application is ED?</p>

<p>Your plan about applying for summer quarter is one I'd heard before. So for my son, that would mean applying for summer of 2009, if he wasn't accepted for fall 2009, is that right?</p>

<p>Thanks again!</p>

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<p>If your son applies for ED at Cal Poly SLO, he can definitely apply to other schools for RD. I applied to Poly for ED and UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara, SF State, and Chico State as well. It's very obvious when you fill out the applications how to designate whether or not you want it to be ED or RD. I think you have to click on the semester and year you're applying for before you even type in your name. Don't worry, it's very clear and nothing to worry about. </p>

<p>And if your son applied for fall 2009 and didn't get in, he would reapply for summer 2010. Summer 2009 will have passed when he is filling out his application for fall 2009.</p>

<p>His major-related work sounds like a blast! I wish I could've gone to that camp. :)</p>

<p>Alicia</p>

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<p>Thanks again, Alicia!</p>