Cal Poly Architecture Program

Applying to College
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Looking for insight into the Cal Poly Architecture program. Specifically regarding admission. My daughter is currently a junior in high school and is very interested in architecture. Her school offers an architecture and design program - she will have 3 years completed by graduation. She’s earning dual credits (not in California). She has high grades, extracurriculars, etc.

I’ve read that Cal Poly’s architecture program is very competitive to get in to. We visited the school in March and learned about Cal Poly’s admission process - quite interesting. We’re hopeful that Cal Poly will see that she has a deep passion in architecture.

Any input is greatly appreciated! Thank you in advance!

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Which Cal Poly? SLO or Pomona? Both have competitive Architecture programs.

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Good question! I meant SLO. But please give me information on either school. I read somewhere that Pomona is mostly a commuter school. Is that correct?

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Majority of the Cal states are commuter schools since they were established to educate local students but due to location SLO and a few other CSU’s are more residential than the rest.

Cal Poly Pomona is in a suburban area of Southern California about an hour away from Los Angeles.

All Freshman outside the local area are required to live on campus.

Here is a link to the College of Environmental Design: ENV Virtual Brochure

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SLO Freshman profile 2022:

College of Architecture & Environmental Design

|SLO GPA|4.04 - 4.25|
|Number Applied|3,031|
|Percent Accepted|29.7%|

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Do you have any insight into their admissions criteria (specifically SLO)? I hope that her 3 years of architecture and design program in high school will make a positive impression. However, I’m not sure how this would be accomplished with the Cal Poly application process. Also, do you know if the architecture admissions department reviews the applications, or is it done by the main University admissions department? Thank you.

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Here is the SLO selection criteria and the applications are reviewed by admissions and not the academic departments. SLO is mainly stats based using an algorithm. GPA 9-11th grades for the CSU a-g course requirements is heavily considered along with bonus points for rigor ie. # of semesters of Math, English, Science, Foreign Language, Visual/performing art courses taken. EC’s are not listed in detail, only hours per week are submitted and extra points for major related jobs/work and leadership are considered. Freshman can submit an optional portfolio for the Architecture program which I would be assume be reviewed by the department. No essays, no LOR’s are considered.

History/Social Sciences (Area A)

Two years of history/social science are required, including one year of world history, cultures or historical geography and one year of U.S. history. One-half year of U.S. history and one-half year of civics or American government is also acceptable.

English (Area B)

Four years of English are required and five years are recommended. Five years can be achieved by taking two eligible classes during one academic year or taking a college course. Eligible classes include courses in language, composition and literature; they must integrate extensive reading, frequent writing, and practice listening and speaking with different audiences. Students may only use one year of ESL/ELD English.

Mathematics (Area C)

Three years of mathematics are required and five years are recommended.

Algebra
Two years are required. This includes both Algebra 1 and Algebra 2. Cal Poly will give consideration for coursework taken in seventh and/or eighth grade.

Geometry
One year is required. This will include two-and-three dimensional geometry. Cal Poly will give consideration for coursework taken in seventh or eighth grade.

Advanced Math
Although not a requirement for the CSU, Cal Poly recommends applicants complete two years of advanced math courses such as trigonometry, pre-calculus, calculus or statistics for greater chances of admission.

Lab Science (Area D)

Two years of laboratory science are required, including one year of physical science and one year of biological science. Four years are recommended. Classes must provide fundamental knowledge in two of the following: biology, chemistry, or physics. A yearlong interdisciplinary, or integrated, or earth and space science course can meet one year of this requirement.

Language Other than English (Area E)

Two years of the same language, other than English, are required and four years are recommended. American Sign Language is acceptable. Cal Poly will give consideration for coursework taken in seventh and/or eighth grade.

Visual/Performing Arts (Area F)

One year is required and two years are recommended. Courses can be chosen from one of the following categories: dance, music, theater, interdisciplinary arts, or visual arts (e.g., painting, web/graphic design, film/video, inter/multimedia arts). Two one-semester courses from the same discipline is also acceptable.

Electives (Area G)

One year is required. Electives can be taken any year but must fall within the following subject areas: Visual and Performing Arts, History, Social Science, English, Advanced Mathematics, Science and languages other than English.

Seventh and/or Eighth Grade Coursework (if applicable)

Cal Poly accepts coursework taken in seventh and/or eighth grade for Mathematics and Language Other Than English (LOTE) on the application. This coursework must be entered into the seventh and/or eighth grade coursework section of the application.
In order to receive consideration, the same course cannot be repeated in ninth grade; you must continue on in the course progression. For example, if an applicant takes Algebra 1 in eighth grade, they must take Geometry in ninth grade in order to use that Algebra course.

GPA

For the purposes of your application, we’ll consider your 9th-11th grade weighted GPA. That number is calculated from college-prep coursework as designated on your application. Weight is granted for courses designated as “honors,” “college-level,” “advanced placement” or “international baccalaureate” for up to eight semesters.

Extracurricular Activities and Work Experience

Cal Poly takes activities such as work experience, internships, volunteer programs and extracurricular activities into consideration. We are also interested in any leadership roles you may have held in these activities.

Other Variables

Cal Poly is an impacted campus and admission is competitive in all majors. While GPA and test scores (when applicable) are important, it is impossible to predict a candidate’s chances by looking at these statistics alone. We consider other factors for admission deemed important to our campus. All candidates are objectively evaluated by the cognitive and non-cognitive variables under our faculty-mandated Multi-Criteria Admission (MCA) process. We encourage students to apply to the program they feel best fits their academic and professional goals.

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I have one suggestion that might seem off topic but I don’t think it is. I would strongly recommend your daughter get a job on a construction site. I’m a structural engineer who works with architects a lot, and a surprising number of them have no field experience. They are excellent at the art part of the job but clueless when it comes to construction. There is so much to learn about how a building is put together. It’s not just drawing pretty pictures on Revit. Your daughter would have a huge head start if she had construction experience and I think schools would look favorably on it. She can’t learn everything she needs to know in a classroom.

Good luck to her! I’ve enjoyed working in the construction industry. My husband is also an engineer and we’ve run our own firm from our house for 23 years. :slightly_smiling_face:

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I don’t know that Cal Poly will care about demonstrated passion in the same way as other colleges because they don’t do a holistic review with essays and letters of recommendation, as @Gumbymom noted.

For Cal Poly, grades and course rigor will reign supreme. Bonus points for a job related to major.

I know a student admitted to Cal Poly’s architecture program in 2021. I don’t know what his portfolio looked like. He would have had only one architecture class on his transcript because no others were offered, but had 11-15 AP classes, extra years of math, science, and language, and graduated in the top 5% (probably 2-3%) of his class. I don’t believe he had any work experience related to major, but I think that would have enhanced his application.

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@CMA22 is also correct that demonstrated interest in the school is not a consideration for the selection process and being in the design program may not be advantage for admissions unless many of those specific courses meet the CSU a-g course requirements.

For Cal Poly Pomona, they calculate a CPP index for admission based on the CSU A-G GPA (capped weighted only 10-11th grades) plus some Multifactor criteria points, then they list a minimum threshold for each major and will admit based on this index.

CPP unfortunately does not give the point values for the MFA criteria and meeting the minimum thresholds also does not guarantee admission since they can change from year to year.

Admission Category Attribute Scoring
CPP Applicant Points (“A-G” GPA X 1000) + 450
Local Area
Veteran/Military Military Status of Active Duty, National Guard, Reserve, or Veteran
First Generation Parents with: no high school, some high school, high school graduate and 2 year college graduate
Youth Services Ward of the Court, Foster Youth or Unaccompanied Youth
Campus Partnerships RISE, Project Camino’s, The Wonderful Company
Extra-curricular Activities Student government, Athletics, Leadership, Work Status, Volunteer/Community Service, Clubs, etc.
Educational Programs AVID, Gear Up, Upward Bound, etc
Program (Majors) Local Non-local
Architecture* Impacted 4408 4408
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Does anyone happen to have the MCA calculator? I saw it somewhere, but can’t locate it now. Thank you.

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The MCA calculator is not updated since SLO went test blind and there is no MCA data posted since going test blind. I have the original MCA calculation information posted in 2013, but there are many changes so again not valid if you are using it to gauge admission chances. Cal Poly SLO does refer to the MCA but no longer gives the point values.
One example of this is the GPA maximum which is listed as 4.2 but the Freshman profiles for the last several years have shown GPA’s greater than the 4.2 maximum.

Here it is in all its glory but left out the test score information.

Academic MCA:
The maximum GPA they will use is 4.2, even though you can have a higher calculated CP GPA. A 4.2 is worth 2250 MCA points. Thus, multiply your CP GPA by 535.7 and you’ll get your MCA points for GPA.

The third largest section is the class rigor score, worth 750 points. In this section you get zero points for meeting the minimum admission requirements and adders for more than the minimum. The bonuses in order of power are (min semesters/max total semesters/bonus per extra semester/total possible bonus): math 6/10/125/500, lab science 4/8/50/200, English 8/10/50/100, foreign language 4/8/25/100, visual performance 2/4/25/50, no bonus points for social sciences or electives. As with GPA, you can actually score higher than the maximum, but 750 is the most they will count.

Finally, work and ECs, worth 350 points. Work (hours per week/bonus): 0/0, 1-5/20, 6-10/40, 11-15/60, 16-20/80, 21+/100, add 50 points if work is major related. ECs (hours per week/bonus): 0/0, 1-5/30, 6-10/60, 11-15/90, 16-20/120, 21+/150, add 60 points for leadership role.

There are also other Non-Academic Bonus Points:

CA vet/701, Hayden Partner School/700, faculty/staff dependent/700, service area of CP/500, either parent with some or no HS, but who DIDN’T GRADUATE FROM HS/300 (per parent).

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https://mca.netlify.app/

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I appreciate @Gumbymom’s explanation of Cal Poly’s complex point system for evaluating applicants. How this byzantine weighting of attributes results in a vibrant and talented class of future architects is beyond my comprehension. :slight_smile:

Since Cal Poly SLO does manage to matriculate, train and graduate top notch architects and is consistently rated highly in Design Intelligence surveys there must be something more going on. Perhaps more behind the scenes involvement of the architecture department than is apparent in the application rules and regulations?

One point that I’d like to understand better is Cal Poly SLO’s policy on architecture portfolios. They state clearly on their website that prospective students are not required to submit portfolios. What I can’t find on their website is an indication that portfolios may be submitted, and that they will be reviewed by the architecture department. Could anyone explain how this works? (The Art & Design department notes that they may request portfolios but A&D is part of the College of Liberal Arts, not CAED.)

All accredited BArch programs follow general curriculum guidelines set by the architecture board; however, the overarching flavor of each school varies from more tech/science to more design/art to an equal balance of both. BArch programs have notoriously high drop out rates, I think because they’re either too design focused or too tech focused depending on the student’s point of view. Schools of architecture obviously want to retain their students, which is where admissions criteria like prior exposure to the industry, portfolios and interviews come in handy.

The CAED admit figure of 29.7% covers all 5 of its departments/majors: Architecture, Architectural Engineering, City and Regional Planning, Construction Management, and Landscape Architecture. Considering the reputation of Cal Poly’s B.Arch program, the admit rate for architecture is probably lower than 29.7%.

I would think that @Larchitecture’s daughter would be a strong candidate for any BArch program, but in any event, she should build a balanced list of reach/match/safeties. She might also look at BS+MArch programs as offered by several prestigious schools of architecture.

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Thank you for the response. And I appreciate @Gumbymom’s responses also. I, too, couldn’t find anywhere that said freshmen can submit portfolios. That would be great if they could!

Unfortunately, all of the schools my daughter is looking at are considered reach schools. And based on everything I read, it seems that all college architecture programs are difficult to get into. At least accredited programs. If you have any recommendations of ones (perhaps as you note above) that might not be as reach as others, please let me know. She would love to be on the West Coast, however, I think she needs to consider schools outside of the West Coast.

I had no idea how difficult this major is until we started college tours. Definitely scares me a bit. However, she is not going in blind since she’s been in the architecture classes - her teacher keeps it real.

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Architecture admit GPA for Cal Poly Pomona 2021 was an average CSU capped weighted GPA of 4.09, so the mean is slightly lower than the SLO Freshman profile.

Have you tried calculating your D’s GPA to see how she compares? GPA Calculator | CSU

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Not on the west coast, but there are a couple of less reach-y options that your daughter might consider.

Samford (AL) is undergoing the accreditation process and will be doing a B.S. & M.Arch, I believe.

U. of Louisiana - Lafayette offers a B.S. and then the M. Arch, with only 45 credit hours needed for the M. Arch after doing its B.S. There is a review process at the end of the first year with a positive recommendation to continue in the program, but with your daughter’s experience, I’d be surprised if there was an issue. Students also need to have at least a 2.4 GPA and no grade lower than a C in classes required for the major. And ULL offers very generous scholarships as well, most of which include an out-of-state tuition waiver.

Louisiana Tech also offers a B.S. and then the M. Arch. It’s on the quarter system and students can do both the B.S. and M. Arch in 5 years. There are also nice scholarships available here.

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@Larchitecture There are many paths to becoming an architect, and discovering which is best for your child is definitely a learning experience. :slight_smile:

(You don’t mention finances. If you need – or want – financial aid, either need or merit based, now is the time to address your options.)

Schools of architecture are frustratingly evasive about revealing their actual admission rates. My suggestion is to contact each school directly and ask for this information. Some are helpful; some are not.

I would also contact Cal Poly SLO directly and ask how to submit a portfolio for the BArch.

I think your daughter will be well prepared for the BArch. There aren’t too many options on the west coast. I’m sure you know about USC and Sci-Arc. Others that are less selective, but still highly regarded are U of Arizona and U of Oregon.

Some other less selective BArchs in other parts of the country are Tulane, Penn State, U of Miami, Kansas State.

You can search all NAAB accredited programs in the US here:
https://www.naab.org/accredited-programs/school-search/

If your daughter is open to a BS+MArch, she will have many more options. Be aware that the BS+MArch route may take 6 years instead of 5. Admission to the undergraduate school’s MArch program is generally automatic, but at some there’s a separate application process.

BS/BAs in architecture are not regulated or accredited by the architecture board, and there’s a good deal of variation from program to program. You have to research each one separately.

The west coast options tend to be highly selective: UC Berkeley, UCLA, U of Washington.

In other parts of the country I would recommend researching: U of Virginia, U of Michigan, U of Cincinnati, Clemson, Northeastern, WUSTL, Roger Williams. There are many others.

In the past decade, the BS+MArch route has become increasingly common among schools of architecture, I think because the field of architecture has become increasingly more complex with the focus on computer technology, new materials, urban development and sustainability.

It’s possible to get a BA/BS/BED at one school and an MArch at another; It’s possible to work for a year or two between getting the BS/BA and the MArch; It’s also possible to get an undergraduate degree in just about anything and still get accepted to a top rated MArch program. Any of these variants may take longer and therefore cost more so you have to evaluate thoroughly.

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After a very frustrating conversation with a young architect yesterday, I would again emphasize the importance of field experience for anyone considering a career in architecture. Ugh.

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What kind of field experience would you think is helpful? Manual construction work for pay? Or volunteer work for something like Habitat for Humanity? Experience in construction management with budgeting and timelines of workstreams and how they overlap? Experience in one of the trades? Or…?

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