Cal Poly Regular Decision Thread 2016-2017

@jlai43 Wow, your stats are high! So sorry! By any chance are you one of the ones who didn’t include their 8th grade algebra on the application? Hope you get good acceptances from here on.

The maximum possible weighted 9-11 semesters is 8. So for example a Straight A student with 6 academic classes a year would have 36 semesters of academic classes.

(36 x 4+ 8) = 4.22

With only 5 academic classes a year you would have 30 semesters-

(30 x 4+ 8) = 4.26

So anyone who says they got more than that is not using the right numbers.

In addition Cal Poly caps GPA at 4.2 so the above two students would both have a 4.2

@VickiSoCal You are missing the forest for the trees. The fact that a 4.36 would have been capped at 4.2 really does miss the point.

So, what is the point? I guess that students with extremely high test scores and GPA’s very well may not be admitted, while others with lesser scores may, due to a number of factors.

@BunnyBlue, 4558 is well below the typical cut for CS. Its VERY competitive.

The point is a gpa higher than a 4.26 can’t be calculated using the Cal poly calculator and that’s with an unweighted 4.0 and the minimum number of ckases.* So when some posts they got a 4.45 and doesn’t understand how someone with much lower stats ie a 4.1 got in, it is likely they did their calculations wrong.

*note that the more academic classes you take the lower your call poly gpa is. See my two examples.

That is true, but in reality the reason the one student would have gotten in, and the other not, is almost certainly not due to the delta in the capped GPA, but to the other very significant factors that go into the decision.

Another element that people tend to overlook is the large number of slots in certain majors that go to OOS students. For example, according to the 2015 Fact Book, the percentage of non-residents entering Freshman school-wide was 18.9. By contrast, in the CENG, the percentage of non-residents was fully 35.5%. For liberal arts, only 6.6% were non-residents.

Your point that taking additional courses might lower a student’s GPA is so true, and not lost on the students in our very high-achieving district. That is rather an unintended consequence, I think. No system is perfect, but I do appreciate the fact that Cal Poly’s is one of the more transparent.

@VickiSoCal, It’s academic, because the MCA cuts off at 4.2, but a student can indeed have a properly calculated GPA above 4.3. In fact, my son had a 4.32 (or 4.36, I can’t remember). I think when students report their weighted GPA though, they are using their high school’s methodology. Schools that weight tend to do it more liberally than the CSU calculator.

Twin daughter #1.
Admitted during first announcements in February.
Major - Math
UW Cal Poly GPA - 3.85
W Cal Poly GPA - 4.09
MCA Scores MCA Factor MCA Points
GPA 4.09 535.7 2190.067647
SAT 1420 1.03125 1464.375
Math Rigor 10 500
Lab Science 6 100
English 8 0
Spanish 8 100
EC’s 6 to 10 60
4414.442647

Twin Daughter #2
Denied yesterday
Major - Animal Science
UW Cal Poly GPA - 3.56
W Cal Poly GPA - 3.79
MCA 4152

Great news and sad news at the same time @gradDaddy. Do your girls want to go to college together?

Mom wanted them to. I don’t think it matters. They are not so close that they have to go to the same school. Things happen for a reason, whatever that may be. Accepted one still is waiting on UCSB, UCD, UCB and UCI. Denied one accepted to U of Minnesota and Colorado State. Still waiting on UCD. So they have good choices to decide from.

We are California residents.

@eyemgh 8 bonus points divided by 30 classes is 0.26666

How would someone get more than 4.26666 if they are taking 5 academic classes for the 6 semesters included? Taking more classes just brings it down.

Rejected a few days ago- Comp Sci
GPA 4.2
SAT 1290
In State, not local

I was expecting it so XD-- waiting on UC’s

@VickiSoCal, by taking less than 30 a-g courses. Students who are advanced in math and language by having taken both at the HS level in middle school/junior high, and who go to parochial schools where they take a religion class every year are an example. I think my son had 26 semesters.

Did everyone else receive an e-mail about receiving a phone call from a CP student sometime this week?

@lkg4answers i did

@lkg4answers I got it too

Anyone else get the honors program email?

@lkg4answers Nope ???

I just got an email inviting me to apply for honors!! Does anyone know approximately how many people get invited? It says there are 80 spots.