My son got off the waitlist for aerospace engineering on Tuesday the 29th. He’s in-state, not local area.
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My son also got off the waitlist for Aerospace Engineering on Tuesday, March 29th.
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We just finished a tour of Cal Poly Pomona. We were blown away! My son was so impressed with the campus, the game room, the engineering dept, etc. Our tour guide mentioned that it is a “commuter school” and my son wants the whole college experience. Has anyone had their son/daughter live on campus and is willing to share their experience/thoughts on it? Thank you in advance.
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This is my concern as well. We walked around campus on Friday, and I found it depressing. The few kids we saw were headed to parking lots. I expected to see groups of kids lounging around or even just walking in and out of dorms/buildings but it felt like a ghost town. I was not feeling optimistic at all. After the tour on Saturday, I felt better about things, but I’m wondering how much of the excitement and enthusiasm was due solely to the Open House? We are from the east coast so my kid will arrive there with no friends, and no family nearby. I worry about what the overall experience will be.
The experience will be the same at most of the cal state schools as they are largely commuter schools. The housing is usually filled up. So there will be plenty of people around in the dorms and on campus during the week. The weekends tend to be quiet, as a lot of kids go home that live in the dorms.
Of the cal states that my kids go to, i can tell you that dorm life isn’t what it used to be. IMO, the issue is the RA’s are not active in the dorm life at all. They have one floor meeting at the beginning of the semester to go over the rules, and then the kids are on their own after that. They make zero effort to force kids to otherwise come out of their rooms and socialize. With the state of technology these days, unless forced to do something else, they will sit in their rooms with the door closed, and on their devices/computers with their headphones.
You have to be proactive in trying to meet people.
Joe
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According to the CDS for CPP, 44% of Freshman live on campus. Cal states were designed to offer a quality education for local area students, that is why most are commuter based schools. The CSU’s that are more residential are usually due to location such as Cal Poly SLO, Chico state, Cal Poly Humboldt. There are exceptions such as San Diego State which requires non-local students to live on campus for 2 years and most move off campus within close proximity of campus so it still feels more residential.
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My daughter is currently a freshman at CPP and from what I can tell, if feels like the campus is still coming out of quarantine. There are still several online and hybrid classes keeping students off campus. Many activities, as well as services, are just now slowly returning to in person. I am hoping things open up 100% for Fall '22.
From what I understand the new dorms opened in the spring of 2020 with an expectation to begin moving CPP away from its “commuter school” reputation. Covid obviously disrupted those expectations. We’ll see what fall brings.
Note: My daughter does not dorm as we only live 7 miles north of CPP. She does, however, spend a lot of time on campus. She works on campus, participates in band, study groups, clubs, and has made several friends who do dorm. Now that the quarantine has lifted she and her CPP friends spend more time together often going on excursions throughout the Southern California area.
There’s plenty to do, it just takes a bit of effort to go out and find it.
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Thank you for the replies. We are a military family who have only ever been stationed in California and Maryland. Our home state does not have a solid program in my child’s major, and they have been anxious to return to California, which is why they applied to CPP. I do understand the concept of commuter schools, but that seems to be the only explanation offered when I ask about campus life, regardless of the forum: “It’s a commuter school!” The school in our current neck of the woods that also has that reputation has made a great deal of progress in its transition to a residential campus. Although there are only a few dorms, the on-campus community is vibrant and the kids seem very happy and engaged, with a lot of activities to get involved in. I guess I was hoping to hear from parents whose children are current CPP residents and are loving their experience. My kid will be an architecture major and is anticipating a rigorous five years of study, so a quiet campus is okay. They are pretty capable of seeking out opportunities, so hopefully the experience will be overall a positive one. Thanks again.
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My daughter is 2nd year biochem major and does live on campus. She really enjoys it and found her friend group the first week. She gets along really well with her roommate, and they did Spring break together with friends down in San Diego. Her roommate also from back East spent Christmas with us. We live about 2 hours from campus, but she rarely comes home. Prefers to stay there and study or have dinner with friends on the weekends. There are many activities and clubs to join. Something for everyone. The dorms do tend to empty out on the weekends, but she has an active social life and tends to hang out with other honors students. CPP is trying very hard to move away from being known as a commuter school.
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@list9521 Thanks for the info on your daughter. It helps to think she has the opportunity to go home but chooses to stay on campus and is enjoying her experience. My son would get so much out of the program. Unfortunately, I think he is leaning toward an out-of-state school (Oregon State) because of the fear he will not have the “fun” college experience like dorm life, football games, etc. Anything else I can share with him to help steer him toward CPP? He is not a party kid but is very social. He loved the campus and all the engineering offerings otherwise. Do the kids bring their car their first year so they can explore or are there alternative ways to get around on the weekends?
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OSU is a great school too. We actually toured OSU as well. The weather was the only reason she stayed here. She did not have her car the first year. Parking was too much and we really wanted her to stay on campus to meet friends etc. This year she started a (chemistry) research panel that takes her off campus 2x a week. So she needed her car. Last year she took the Mustang shuttle which goes everywhere. She also took the metrolink quite a bit to the beach etc with friends. My daughter is not partier either. But very social.
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Does anyone know if it is still possible to receive on campus housing if I applied and paid my housing deposit on 4-18-22, or did I need to apply earlier? I am really concerned that I won’t be able to live on campus in the fall, and I am just asking for some insight into the freshmen housing application process. P.S The reason I applied so late for housing is because I was accepted off the waitlist unexpectedly, and so I never bothered to fill out the housing application when it first opened back in March.
Kids actively avoid registering for Friday classes! My daughter has two Friday classes for the first time ever this semester…her last semester of her senior year. And only because she had no other option.
One thing that is unique to CPP that I don’t think any other school has is U-Hour. Between 12-1 there are no classes, for anyone, and all of the clubs, entertainment, lunch on the grass, activities, etc happen on campus during that time. I think this is so cool.
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I’m really surprised that the tour guide said that considering that the school has been working hard for years to move away from that, probably starting when they built the suites to house sophomores and up. Freshmen are required to live on campus but local students are able to apply for a waiver from that. But many still live on campus even if they’re local. I think I saw above that it was posted that 44% of freshmen live on campus. That’s likely a huge improvement from what it was 10 years ago. My daughter lived in Montecito her freshman year (it was the year before the new dorms opened). She had the time of her life, and she and her freshman year roommate just took their senior grad photos together on campus last Saturday! She’ll be a lifelong friend. She’s glad to be graduating but also sad that it went by so fast.
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Are you referring to SLO?
Hi,
Have you checked CPP’s subreddit r/CalPolyPomona? I’ve seen a few recent threads on housing.
I know some kids also apply to the CPP Village off campus housing as back up in case they don’t get into the dorms.
Good luck:)
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Has anyone heard of students getting offers from the waitlist at CPP? I’m wondering if they are going to offer any. CPP is my DS’s first choice and he is waitlisted.
Yes, some students were admitted at the end of March from the waitlist but that is all I have seen so far. Now the SIR deadline has passed, if there are any more spots available, they should be pulling from the waitlist.
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Thank you @Gumbymom. Fingers crossed.
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Anyone get their CPP housing - Dorm assignment?
Thanks!