Ask a Recent Cal Poly Transfer Anything!

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

<p>I am a Transfer Student at Cal Poly (transferred Fall 2013). This board was a valuable asset to me while I was prospecting schools to transfer to. It provided me with a lot of useful information that I couldn’t find anywhere else, so I would like to give back. I’ll start by writing about my experience (you can skip that part and jump right to your question(s)).</p>

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<p>I attended SOAR (Summer Orientation Program) before I started in the fall. Honestly, it wasn’t that useful to me. Their focus was on getting everyone registered for the Fall Quarter, helping students make their schedules, providing tours, and having awareness assemblies. I had my class schedule planned out prior to attending SOAR, I could’ve registered at home, and the awareness assemblies contained a lot of warnings and information that I already knew about (although I understand why they make us sit through them). Overall, I recommend attending SOAR if you have no idea how to schedule your classes and register. You can come to socialize, but WoW is the more opportunistic program for that.</p>

<p>WoW (Week of Welcome) was actually pretty fun. You are assigned to a group for the week. These are the people you will be spending all your time with, so your experience will differ depending on the personalities of the individuals. like anything, it’s really awkward spending time with strangers at first, but if you give it time and effort, you can all become really good friends. I really recommend trying, especially if you’re a transfer; the students that have been at Cal Poly since Freshman year have had years to get to know people, and transfers are just starting out. Your WoW group will be the first people you meet and get to know at Cal Poly, so make the most of it.
Your days are usually packed for WoW, starting early in the morning (around 9am or so) until late at night (11pm to midnight). This is simply because they don’t want you to party while you’re participating in WoW. Most of the activities are actually fun. They have laser tag, canoeing, farmer’s market, BBQs, hikes and more. You will always have to attend your specific college’s events. For example, as a business student, I had to attend their “open house.” It was pretty cool. You get a lot of free stuff, the opportunity to speak to clubs and Greek life (they set up booths), and learn more about the different concentrations that are available. You must also participate in awareness assemblies (even if you attended them in WoW). The topics range from alcohol and suicide to sexual orientation and ethnicity. I really recommend going to WoW if you’re a transfer. Hopefully, you’ll be put in a good group and make your connections. </p>

<p>Overall, I am really glad I chose Cal Poly. There are so many resources to help you accomplish any goal you have. Mustang Jobs is a job listing website specific to Cal Poly. There are resume building sessions, interview technique sessions, clubs that have recruiting firms speak to everyone, free tutoring, peer advisers, etc. Job placement is one of my most prominent objectives, and I feel confident that I’ll be able to receive an internship due to the resources I have at my disposal. Socially, there are a lot of parties, and downtown is really buzzing on the weekends. Classes are, as always, a hit or a miss when it comes to content, but the student-to-faculty ratio has been excellent so far. The registration system sucks, as with most universities. The campus isn’t the most beautiful, either. However, the negatives are greatly outweighed by the positives. </p>

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<p>If any of you have any questions (that are not RATE MY CHANCES) questions, please feel free to ask. </p>

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<p>First off, I want to thank you for taking the time out of your day to give back to the transfer students who I’m sure have many questions regarding Cal Poly.</p>

<p>I’m a Fall 2014 transfer student and have a few questions. I’ll continue to put them into this thread periodically if that’s alright with you. My first question- how is the housing for Transfers? I’m assuming you live On-Campus. Which transfer building do you prefer, Poly Canyon Village or Cerro Vista?</p>

<p>Thank you,
Mark</p>

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<p>What’s your major?</p>

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<p>I was also a transfer student and I graduated from Cal Poly last June. Should you decide to live on campus, they will most likely assign you to Cerro Vista for the first year then PCV the subsequent years. Campus housing wasn’t cheap, but you get the convenience of walking distance to everything on campus. </p>

<p>PCV is located out of nowhere, so you will have a nice walk from there to the library/lab/halls. I like PCV because it has its own parking structure where the R lots next to Cerro Vista is like a Ford truck dealership lot and the spaces are tightly drawn. </p>

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<p>@MarkBoogie How many points did you calculate for the MCA that got you accepted. I calculated mine and I got 5490 points. Is it safe to say that if you get over 5000 points are you in? or did you calculate your points close to 5000 points?</p>

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<p>@Mark, I live off-campus because I own a dog. Sorry, can’t help you with this one. I’ve been to both housing complexes, and PCV is the better one in my opinion. The rooms are better and I like the way the buildings are designed. They also have shopping, food/drink places right in their little area.</p>

<p>@Roys, I’m a business major with a concentration in accounting. </p>

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<p>Hello! I’ll also hopefully be attending for fall and I was wondering did you get your financial aid plan after committing to the college?</p>

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<p>So if I can’t attend SOAR, where can I find the info to register for classes and create my schedule? Do people get priority registration or something if they attend SOAR? I won’t be able to attend SOAR because I’ll be out of state :(</p>

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<p>SOAR is essentially another campus tour that lasts a whole day. Not really worth it in my opinion. On the other hand, Week of Welcome is totally worth it. One of the best weeks you will spend here, it’s good for meeting a bunch of people even before the school term starts.</p>

<p>@tigerash
If it is your first term at cal poly, don’t worry about registration. They will make you a schedule for first term if you’re an incoming freshmen.</p>

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<p>@ellad22,
I committed to the college right away, so I did have my financial aid plan afterwards. They show you the dates your aid will be disbursed to you, as well and the amount per quarter.</p>

<p>@tigerash
I agree with r77 about SOAR; not really worth it. They give you special times to register. All you really have to do is press a button.</p>

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<p>I am also a transfer student for fall 2014 as a philosophy major to the liberal arts college and have a few questions.</p>

<p>I know the school is mainly focused on science and engineering, but I was wondering if it is worth attending as a liberal arts student?</p>

<p>If I decide to switch majors for science or engineering do you know if it is possible to do so once enrolled into a specific school at Cal Poly?</p>

<p>Is there much of a campus life?</p>

<p>Is it difficult to get classes? How about a job?</p>

<p>I have heard only good thing about the school, thanks for your input!</p>

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<p>@sur4cry,
You’re correct about the school’s main focuses, but a large number of the student body are Liberal Arts majors. For the 2012 Student Profile, Liberal Arts majors were 3rd in number at 2,623 (behind Engineering at 5,007 and Agriculture at 3,644). They actually surpassed Science & Mathematics majors (2,575). As to if it’s worth attending, I really have no idea. Cal Poly is, by and large, considered the best CSU University. I’m sure you could get a great education here, as well as other schools.</p>

<p>It’s definitely possible to switch majors, but from what I hear, it’s pretty difficult. I only have one friend who changed concentrations in the same college (college of business), and that process was easy. Maybe someone who has switched majors to completely different colleges could chime in on this one.</p>

<p>I’m not exactly sure why you mean by “campus life.” If you’re talking about school events, there are tons; sports, concerts, clubs, presentations, employment briefings, etc. Socially, a lot of it will depend on whether you live on or off campus, how close your WoW group is, your own social skills, and other considerations like that. As a transfer, I definitely encourage you to get involved ASAP; you only have 2 years as opposed to the students who have been here since Freshman Year. Join a club and actively participate, talk to other transfers, talk to people you don’t know, attend events, etc. </p>

<p>Classes can be very difficult to get in to, especially if it’s impacted. Luckily, as transfers, we have 2 priorities to use and only 2 years of undergrad left. My suggestion is to use your priorities when you’re near last on the registration rotation, and also be sure to take the most impacted classes at this time. That way, you’ll get the most out of your priority. </p>

<p>If you mean jobs out in town, I have no idea personally, but many of my friends work and go to school. I imagine there are a lot of jobs for students. There are also many jobs available on campus. If you mean jobs specific to your major, Cal Poly has their own job listing website called MustangJobs. Fill out your profile, find a position you’re interested in, and apply. This site is how a lot of my friends attained internship for world-renowned firms during the Summer.</p>

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<p>How many weekly hours did you say for out of school service / sports / extracurriculars ?</p>

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<p>@Sur4cry‌ I was able to change majors very easily from Business to Biology. They were very accomidating.</p>

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<p>Hello! So grateful to see information from a transfer student. You were a Business student transfer correct? I applied for their business program but am nervous about getting in due to my GPA and I didn’t finish every required course they want to be considered “competitive” did you finish every course they wanted??</p>

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<p>I have been a cc for about 4 years now… On and off with classes… Finally decided to buckle down and focus and really want to attend SLO for kinesiology. I have a 2.8 gpa right now but am going to be applying next fall so my GPA will probably be around 3.1 AT LEAST. i have had a bad academic record in the beginning where my GPA was at a low of 1.8 but you can tell that i got serious enough to care about my grades as i progressed. </p>

<p>Anyways my question is, Do i have a chance to get in? I was going to go to sac state in Fall 2015 but i did not want to settle for 2nd best. I know im smart and I know i can get the grades to get in. I have all my IGETC done and will have all but one or two required classes and 1 desired class incomplete by the time i apply. I am from Sacramento and am wondering if i have any advantage at all considering the time i spent at a CC and having most requirements already fulfilled. Thanks</p>

<p>I figured i would apply for 16 fall even if all of my required/desired courses were not done… & if i got denied, i would apply the following year and have more require/desired courses done hopefully increasing my chances.</p>

<p>I also work about 25 hours a week. I’m really active with sports & love working on the human body. As for EC, i do not have anything REAL that’s documented but am looking at a few PT offices in my area to start while I wait till the next application time!</p>

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Hi! I was wondering if anybody knew what the statistics are for transfer admissions in the biology area?

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The handout I received when I visited slo broke it up into colleges. Assuming it is under science and math…
1,140 applied, 188 selected, with an average GPA of 3.42.

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Preliminary Fall 2015 transfer admission stats for the College of Science & Mathematics:

1,134 applied, 238 selected, with an average GPA of 3.35.

http://admissions.calpoly.edu/prospective/profile.html

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I’m a transfer from CC and I got conditional accepted for city and regional planning. I failed one of my course (Calculus 3) that I have listed on my application, but that course is not required for my major. Also I dropped a course that is a major desired. Would I get rescind from admission?