Cal Poly Regular Decision Thread 2016-2017

I have a question…Where does it specify major that a student is accepted for…SJSU had alternate major too. It just says intended major.

@Awakened I see that you also posted your question on the SJSU thread…that’s the best place to ask it. I don’t know the answer since my D didn’t request an alternate.

THIS IS THE 2016 THREAD.

If you take a look at the opening post of this thread you can see it was started in October 2016 for discussing freshman application process. It is current although the thread name is confusing. Perhaps it should be renamed to show 2017/2018?

It’s the 2016-2017 application season for Fall 2017

Yep–this is the thread for those who began their senior year of high school in 2016 and will graduate in spring of 2017. It probably should be renamed “Cal Poly SLO Class of 2021”.

Yes as long as it shows it’s for applicants and not just for discussion of admitted students. It’s brought us this far. Hopefully it will be clear enough for future reference.

I think it’s typical to either do "…class of " or "….

To distract ourselves from the torture of no portal decision updates, curious how many are planning to accept if admitted?

@lynn121936 lol “torture” is right.

I’m OOS for biological studies, 100% planning to commit the moment my portal is updated, if I get in. Cal Poly-slo is my #1 choice and I have no other schools that I’m even remotely interested in. If I don’t get in (KNOCK ON WOOD!) I plan on going to my cheapest instate option then transferring as soon as possible.

Same here! My top choice 100% since I was little. If I get accepted I’ll say yes before I even hear from any of the UC’s! Are we for sure decisions are gonna start coming out on Thursday? I’m a little anxious!

Good luck @kylieb317. My daughter checks the portal about 50x per day. I don’t think I am exaggerating. She has an excellent back up option but Cal Poly is really where her heart is. She will accept and apply for housing within minutes if she is fortunate enough to be admitted. She is OOS business with a 4.17 gpa but a slightly lower than average ACT for the major.

Cal poly’s also my top choice, very anxious to hear back. With my major, I’ll probably be one of the last ones to hear back if I do get in.

Is anyone majoring in kinesiology?? looking over previous posts I see that those decisions will probably come out last

I plan on commiting and applying for housing right when I get in so I get my top choice! I might go to ucsd if I get in but probs not cause I love cal poly!

If anyone has any questions, I am a freshman Business Admin major here at Cal Poly and I’d love to answer anything. Just as a prerequisite, I love it here! But first off, I’d also like to dispell/confirm some common rumors about our campus.

  1. One of the most common rumors about CP is that the “on campus food sucks.”… this is only partly true. As a freshman, the food is actually quite good because since you are forced to pay between $1,100 to $1,500 per quarter onto your meal card you are essentially able to buy whatever you want. Since we don’t have “swipes” (only food covered by dining plan on campus is buffet style) like most other colleges, this means that you can spend this money freely on whatever you want: from a dozen eggs, to an acai bowl, to condoms, to Jamba Juice, to Einstein’s bagels, to pots and pans for your kitchen, to Cal Poly-made Ice cream, to sushi, to Subway (open 24 hours), to expensive health drinks, and even daily food trucks that offer gourmet hot dogs and Mediterranean food-- this gives freshman TONS of freedom to buy whatever they want… HOWEVER, once you are a sophomore and beyond, your dining package is not included/mandatory and Cal Poly’s on campus dining appears very bland compared to that which is offered at other schools, especially since the food is marked up significantly. Luckily, there are very good restaurants RIGHT off campus, like Taco De Mexico (good priced and tasty Mexican), Blaze pizza (amazingly priced and amazing tasting build your own Pizza), Fattoush (great Meditarreanan place), Taco Bell (terrible but cheap), and many others. Also, downtown has AMAZING food but is further and more expensive than the stuff off of Santa Rosa.
  1. Another common rumor is that first year housing sucks. This is slightly true, but not if you play your cards right. There are 4 different dorm buildings offered to Freshman: Towers (the "social dorms") Redbricks (the "academic" dorms"), North Mountain (motel style larger dorms for Engineers) and Cerro Vista (the apartments.) Each have their downsides, but if you choose the one that is right for you, you should have a pretty good experience. I'll give you a quick lowdown on each dorms' pros and cons, and then I'll let you decide which one you think is best for you: First, THE TOWERS are the "social dorms" because each floor is coed and not major specific which thus leads to a louder and more exciting environment. The towers overall (unless you are in tower 1 or tower 0) are relatively further from important areas of campus than the other dorms are. Also, they are ugly as fuck. Vile 1970's brutalist architecture makes them look like prison cells. The towers have rooms with 2 people as well as 3, yet the size of the room does not change and thus a 2 person is much more preferable. These rooms can comfortably fit 2 people, but fitting 3 is a bit of a stretch. Next, THE REDBRICKS are known as academic because each dorm delegated for one of the 6 colleges here at Poly. Also, each floor is either male or female in order to prevent loud nights of tomfoolery as much as possible. The Redbricks are the closest dorms to the main campus and the parking lot is right behind them. It is also easy to find study groups since people are usually in very similar majors. However, for what the RB have in convenience, they lack heavily in quality. The rooms in these dorms are definitely the smallest. While a double in the towers would be relatively comfortable for 2 people to live in, a double in the red bricks would be pretty cramped. Thus, a triple in the Redbricks is by far the worst housing available. It is dangerously crammed and essentially a cesspool for diseases. Next, NORTH MOUNTAIN are dorms that are specifically for Engineers, but many non-engineers live there as well. These dorms are motel style so they have no hallways which reduces noise but also social activity. These rooms are ALL triples, but the room size is huge. Imagine the size of a living room of a generously sized house except 2 bunkbeds (one with a desk underneath) taking up some of the space. Definitely very livable. Also, each of these buildings has a well-maintained lawn out in front that you can play a variety of games in. Plus many bbq pits. North Mountain are the 2nd closest dorms to the center of campus. Definitely a good bet, but if you do not like being surrounded by engineers, or really do not want to live in a triple, or want to have a hallway, not the best option. And finally, CERRO VISTA. The apartments. Where I currently live. Objectively speaking, Cerro are the best dorms. They are BY FAR the newest, they have personal heating (and some units are rumored to have air conditioning, both of which is not offered in any other freshman dorm), it's right next to the parking lot,close to all of the hiking trials, it has the best views you get on campus without hiking, and are by far the most private dorms. Cerro has two different set ups: a 6 person apartment with 2 bathrooms, a kitchen, a living room, 3 bedrooms, and a study. And a 4 person apartment with 2 bathrooms, a kitchen, a living room, and 4 bedrooms. The 6 person apt is the least expensive housing option on campus, and has many more perks than the more expensive ones (like guaranteeing only living in a double, having a kitchen and living room, a study room, and only sharing a bathroom with 3 people) while the 4 person apt (while being the most expensive option on campus) allows you to bring all of your electronics and clothes up to Cal Poly since you can lock everything up and prevent any of your stuff from being stolen. Plus you get the ultimate privacy. This is a must have for anyone who is going to be in a relationship here at Cal Poly. Also, it's harder for RA's to get jurisdiction to search your apartment than your dorm room. The only downsides to Cerro are that it is the furthest from campus (other than a select few group of Towers that are almost at the entrance of campus), and the lack of hallways makes the environment less social. If I had to rank the housing experiences personally, this is how I would rank them 1. 4 person apt Cerro... 2. Double in towers.... 3. 6 person apt Cerro... 4. North mountain.... 5. Double in Redbricks.... 6. Triple in Towers... 7. Triple in Redbricks. DO NOT BE CAUGHT IN A TRIPLE IN THE REDBRICKS. Best value, go for a 6 person apt in Cerro. If you are VERY social and don't care about personal space THAT much, go for a double in the towers, and if you are anything else, get a single apartment in Cerro. A single apt in Cerro is actually an amazing quality of living for ANY college's standards. Pretty much the best place to live as a freshman in any college to be honest.
  2. Another rumor is that the wifi sucks. This one is true, but what makes up for it is that Cal Poly also offers the best wired connection that I have used in my entire life. While sitting right next to a router the best internet speeds you will get are 50 mb/s up and 50 mb/s down. This is the upload/download speed. In comparison, if you plug a cat6 ethernet cable into your wall/router in your dorm you will be getting speeds of around 700 mb/s up and 700 mb/s down. This is literally 14x faster internet, and much faster considering that wifi is very spotty and will almost never be as high as 50 up/down. The wifi is definitely an issue in some areas of campus, but in all the places that you will actually be studying: like class, the library, and your room, the wifi is pretty damn good. Also, we are one of the few universities that get free HBO accounts which is pretty awesome.
  3. I was gonna talk about the major switching thing, but I'm getting a bit too tired. Let me know if you have any questions on that, though.

Hope I was able to help someone!

@Dankiel Thanks for the amazing info ! I applied as a business administration major !

@Dankiel if I get in I want to live in Cerro Vista 6 person apartment! Thanks for the info

@Dankiel thanks for all the info! I just have one question…why can’t upper classroom eat at all the same places as upper classmen? And do upperclassmen live on campus? About what %?

@jjmama Sorry, I don’t think I explained that well enough. The freshmen eat at the same places on campus as the upper classmen, but these places overall become less optimal than the options at other campuses once one is not forced to pay for a dining plan. Since people are forced to pay for $1.5k (for anywhere but Cerro since Cerro has a kitchen) or 1.1k (Cerro) per quarter for freshman year for dining, Cal Poly is great for freshman year because unlike other schools with dining plans that only allow for entrance to their buffet style eateries, students are able to choose where to go. However, a lot of other colleges have much better food chains to choose from on Campus. Once you are not forced to pay for the dining, the dining seems very mediocre. For example, UCSD. UCSD has Indian food, Boba, Rubio’s Mexican, Mediterranean food, and Panda Express, and more all in their UU. As a freshman, this food is not a part of their meal plan, so they have to purchase it if they want variety outside of their designated “swipes.” But as an upperclassmen when they are not forced to pay a joint housing/dining plan these options become a lot better than what Cal Poly has on campus, because they have more options and it won’t matter that it isn’t on their meal plan. As for upperclassmen living on campus, there are apt dorms about a 1/4 of a mile downhill from Cerro Vista called “Poly Canyon” that has an overpriced General store, Einsteins Bagels, Post Office, parking lot, community pool, and Jamba juice. Only upperclassmen can live here, and while it is still considered on Campus, it is a far walk and uphill walk to the places that matter. They have enough space for (I think) all of the sophomore class (just as a number, any upperclassman could live there.) Off campus dorms are actually much closer to important academic building like Business and Engineering and better off campus food, but these places usually take full year leases and the wired internet is not as good as Cal Poly’s godly wired internet. Hope I helped!