Cal Poly Luis Obispo for OOS Student

State Forums
1

Hi all. I am a bit concerned on my chances of getting into Cal Poly Luis Obispo. I am an out-of-state student. Here are my stats:
9th-11th grade (I’m a rising senior): GPA of 4.00 based on the CSU calculator. But I’m unsure of this a-g honors courses stuff. So I am not sure I calculated it correctly.

9th grade: Honors English 1 - A, Honors Social Studies 1 - A+, Health 1 (1/2 semester)- A+, Gym 1 (1/2 semester)- A, Spanish 1- A, Honors Algebra 2- A+, Honors Geometry- A, Honors Earth Science- A, Intro to Business- A.

10th grade: Honors English 2- A, Honors Social Studies 2- A, Spanish 2- A+, Honors Trigonometry- A, Visual Basic (1/2 semester)- A+, Honors Biology- A-, Honors Chemistry- A-, Business Law- A+, Piano Level 1 (1/2 semester) - A+.

11th grade: Honors British Literature - B+, AP Microeconomics- B, Health 2 (1/2 semester)- A, Spanish 3- A, AP Calculus AB- B+, AP Chemistry- A-, Honors Anatomy- A-, Gym 2 (1/2 semester)- A+.

In addition, my SAT score is, when superscored, a 2170 (760M, 730W, 680CR).

Is the GPA based on 9th-12th grades, or 10th-12th?

And I would like to major in computer science there. I’m alright when it comes to ECs.

What do you guys think of my prospects of getting in, early decision?

2

You are a strong candidate but CS is so competitive, As an OOS applicant, I give you a 50/50 shot. Perhaps 60/40 ED. Be sure to apply elsewhere.

Good luck

3

@NCalRent Do you know if they look at senior year at all? And I’ve heard that the ACT is preferred, so should I try taking that in September to try to get a top score?

4

They make their ED decision before your first semester Sr grades are posted so, they can’t factor them in. A stellar performance won’t help but, a significant drop off will cause a them to withdraw your acceptance.

Senior schedule is included in their course rigor weighting.

They use other factors but, as you can see from this link, the avg GPA for Engineering is 4.13 - that’s where you are short.
http://admissions.calpoly.edu/prospective/profile.html

At 1490/1600, your SAT is pretty solid as is - well above average for CP SLO’s engineering program. Taking the ACT won’t hurt but, even a perfect score won’t change your chances much.

If CP SLO is your dream school and you can afford it - apply ED and see how it goes. If you are deferred in the first round, you can change your major for the RD round.

Good luck.

5

@NCalRent Do you think that the SAT will help overlook my slightly less than par GPA? Thanks for all the help. I really appreciate it.

6

Can you afford the Cal States? This is a California taxpayer-funded school. Priority goes to state residents.
So, you will be paying -$37k without financial aid for 4 years.

http://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg01_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=1121

7

@“aunt bea” That is fine by me. I am just looking to go to a change of scenery with a good engineering program attached.

8

The 37k is not an issue.

9

Hi, my son applied to Cal Poly ED for fall 2015, major in computer science. He was accepted, and begins in just a few short weeks!
I’ll briefly describe his stats and his experience applying, but we are in-state, so there will be differences.
First, congrats on selecting a magnificent school to apply to. I’d originally thought of Cal Poly as a safety school - oh, was I a fool! It is so competitive for their engineering dept, and it rivals the stats from the Ivy’s and other top engineering schools - and my son got into many of them too.

Here are his stats:
Applied ED
GPA 3.9
Weighted GPA 4.3
ACT 31 with a 33 in math
SAT math I I Single subject 780
SAT bio single subject 740
Eagle Scout
100+ hours community service/volunteer work
Robotics club - went to world, 2 yrs treasurer position - 3 years total
Member NHS and CSF - 3 years in each
Department awards for bio, engineering, economics
Won student recognition award two years running - CADD category and built a musical instrument and a flying drone
Hispanic

I think that’s it. I may have missed a few things. We feel extremely lucky to have had him accepted at Cal Poly, he’s over the moon!

The engineering stats are the highest ever for Cal Poly engineering for the fall 2015 start date, with an average GPA of 4.13. Computer science is the most competitive, we calculated our sons acceptance to be about a 3-4% chance based upon number of applications for cs vs. number of spots available.

Two of his good friends got in also, one in ce, and the other in se. We do not know of any other cs kid from his high school, but many others got into other schools of Cal Poly - agriculture, me, ce, bme, etc.

My sons high school was extremely competitive, and his GPA was ‘average’ for the student body there. A lot of kids had 4.5+ GPAs. Many kids with better stats than my son were declined from Cal Poly and their engineering programs.

My son also applied to 5 UCs - Berkeley, LA, SB, SD, and Davis. He put down his major as either computer science or computer engineering, at all the UC’s depending upon the degree offered. He was waitlisted at Davis and SD. Rejected from the other 3. However, he was admitted into several elite schools on the East Coast.

Overall, we are thrilled he’s going to SLO. It’s an amazing place to live and explore. I think applying ED helped as the applicant pool was significantly shallower. We count our blessing each day.

Good luck to you!

10

My son also had many honors and AP classes - Cal Poly have reviewed his transcript and awarded him 54 units of credit for his AP scores. So he can graduate early if he gets the classes he needs when he needs them!
We do know of one student whose admission was rescinded due to them not completing senior year with C grades or better.