<p>I’m a junior in high school and i’m seriously considering to applying to Cal Poly SLO early decision next year. My grades are near flawless (like a 3.933 Unweighted GPA), my Sat scores are a little below par (1230/1600), but I plan on taking the Sat again, as well as, taking the ACT to see which one I do better at. But for my question, considering my current stats, would taking the sat subject tests benefit me? The subject tests are in june, right with the ACT test; so I will have to study for both; but if I drop the subject tests and go study straight on the ACT, I will probably get a higher score.</p>
<p>Also the only subject tests that I would take, and only ones I would get a decent score on, would be the Math and the Chemistry tests. I plan on becoming a civil engineer and I haven’t seen any posts about the competition in that field of engineering, so i’m not even sure if the subject tests would benefit me.</p>
<p>Also, the GPA is all advanced/honors/AP classes. I also plan on taking AP Cal. AB, and AP Stats next year.</p>
<p>Cal Poly does not use the subject tests for admissions as far as I know, I did however read on the website when my daughter applied, they preferred the ACT over the SAT. My personal belief is you should study hard for the SAT and ACT rather than do the subject tests. Your two AP math classes will also be good on your application.</p>
<p>These days Cal Poly is competitive and there is no guarantee that any particular student can get in. So, make sure that you apply to at least 10 schools broken down between safties, matches and reaches. It appears that Cal Poly SLO will be a high match for you and probably a better match after you take the SAT again and ACT. Cal Poly SLO does prefer the ACT. My kid took both and only submitted the ACT. He got it just fine.</p>
<p>Cal Poly SLO does not require the subject tests. There isn’t even a way to upload them to the CSU Mentor system as far as I know. Nevertheless, you may want to take the SAT2 subject tests for any other schools that my require them. I believe that the UC’s no longer require them, however you need to check this. Many private schools still do.</p>
<p>@OsakaDad: Thanks for your input; i’ll probably still study/take the subject tests in case I want to go to another school.</p>
<p>Also this question is kind of out there, but how good is the civil engineering at Cal Poly SLO? I hear everyone saying that Cal Poly SLO is a good school for engineering overall, but more specifically, I rarely see civil engineering coming up in these discussions. So is it competitive or easier than most engineering majors?</p>
<p>Thank You OsakaDad. You are our resident expert and we appreciate you.</p>
<p>My daughter only took the SAT but her score was very high and she is not a stem major. Since CP was her first choice, knowing full well they prefer the ACT, she did sweat a little during the wait.</p>