So I understand that Cal Poly is a public school and therefore has preference to in-state, but I was wondering how hard
it is to get into the school out of state for GPA and SAT wise
It depends upon your major since you do have to declare a major for SLO. SLO has been admitting an increasing number of OOS (extra tuition money) so depending uon your major and Stats you could have a good chance for an acceptance. Some majors like dairy science, earth science have an approximately 60% acceptance vs. CS or ME which is around 10%. Here are stats from last year’s class. http://admissions.calpoly.edu/prospective/profile.html
They kinda like OOS students, cause you pay 3x as much, so they get more money. I think you’re held up to pretty much the same standards as in-state students though, GPA and SAT wise at least.