I am applying to to cal poly tomorrow (!!!) with a 30 ACT (32 superscore) and a 3.63 GPA from the best high school in the state. I am OOS. I read somewhere online that Cal Poly doesn’t even look at anything besides gap and act/sat, is this true?Also do you think I will get in? Its my dream school and lately I have been so nervous I won’t.
I have taken AP Human Geography, AP Environmental Science, AP Statistics, AP Calc AB and am currently in AP Calc BC, AP Economics, and AP German. I am applying to the animal science program.
Cal Poly considers more than other CSU’s. Check out the MCA thread at the top of the Cal Poly forum page. Look on page 4 of the the thread. There is a post that will help you figure it out.
Below is how to calculate your MCA points for Cal Poly SLO. Most of the emphasis will be on your CP GPA, test scores and HS course rigor. You only list the hours for your EC’s and leadership/major related jobs will also give you a boost.
SLO does not list average GPA or test scores by major, but by College so for last year, the average CP GPA was 3.90 and ACT of 28 for the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences.
SLO projects a 41% acceptance rate for Animal Science. Just be aware that SLO is overenrolled this year so the projections may be lower. Also make sure you can pay full fees since as an OOS applicant, you will receive little to no financial aid to attend.
MCA information:
Academic MCA:
The maximum GPA they will use is 4.2, even though you can have a higher calculated CP GPA. A 4.2 is worth 2250 MCA points. Thus, multiply your CP GPA by 535.7 and you’ll get your MCA points for GPA.
The next biggest thing is test scores. The odd thing, likely because they wanted it to total a nice round number, is that the max score is 1650, even though the max SAT score is 1600. Multiply the total of your best SAT CR and your best SAT math by 1.03125 to get your MCA test points. If you took the ACT, they convert and vice versa.
The third largest section is the class rigor score, worth 750 points. In this section you get zero points for meeting the minimum admission requirements and adders for more than the minimum. The bonuses in order of power are (min semesters/max total semesters/bonus per extra semester/total possible bonus): math 6/10/125/500, lab science 4/8/50/200, English 8/10/50/100, foreign language 4/8/25/100, visual performance 2/4/25/50, no bonus points for social sciences or electives. As with GPA, you can actually score higher than the maximum, but 750 is the most they will count.
Finally, work and ECs, worth 350 points. Work (hours per week/bonus): 0/0, 1-5/20, 6-10/40, 11-15/60, 16-20/80, 21+/100, add 50 points if work is major related. ECs (hours per week/bonus): 0/0, 1-5/30, 6-10/60, 11-15/90, 16-20/120, 21+/150, add 60 points for leadership role.
There are also other Non-Academic Bonus Points:
CA vet/701, Hayden Partner School/700, faculty/staff dependent/700, service area of CP/500, either parent with some or no HS, but who DIDN’T GRADUATE FROM HS/300 (per parent).
Lastly,
Cal Poly ACT/SAT Concordance Chart in case you took ACT (use only Math and English and figure out the two equivalent SAT scores). The ACT concordance table is not updated for the New SAT, so you will need to see if there are any changes…
ACT CR M
36 800 800
35 770 790
34 760 780
33 750 760
32 720 730
31 700 700
30 680 680
29 650 660
28 630 640
27 610 620
26 590 600
25 570 580
24 550 560
23 540 540
22 520 520
21 500 500
20 490 480
19 470 460
18 450 440
17 440 410
16 420 390
15 400 360
14 380 330
13 360 300
12 330 280
11 300 260
Here’s how it works. Cal Poly does TWO “READINGS” one of academic only and one after adding additional non-academic bonus adders. The reason I put readings in quotes is that they don’t actually READ them. A computer tallies points and then ranks students.
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@Gumbymom how do you know SLO projects a 41% acceptance rate for Animal Science? Their 2018 projections aren’t published yet, nor are their 2017 acceptances. To my knowledge the best information they publish is the number of applications and the number enrolled by major, and number of applications and accepted by college. If I make a calculation based on 2017 applications of 1217, use their target of 170 new students, and use the 2016 actual CAFES enrollment rate of 48.8 the best guess of acceptance rate would be a 29% acceptance rate. 1217 applicants x .29 x .488 = 172. I would love to know where they publish acceptance rates by major.
The 2017-2018 projections are posted so again not absolutes but gives you an idea of your chances.
What is the average score for slo?
The average SAT score and ACT score for the College of Agriculture and Environmental Science (where Animal Sciences is housed) are as follows:
SAT Score (new): 1315
ACT Composite: 28
CP GPA (9-11th): 3.90
Animal Science is probably the most competitive major in this College along with the most applied, so the averages may not be reflective of the actual applicant pool. SLO does not breakout stats by major only by College.
I meant to say what is the average cumulative points for slo
A frequent SLO poster has tried to compile MCA point data for the majors. You can search through this thread to see MCA points for accepted/rejected and waitlisted applicants. You can use the magnifying glass at the top or bottom of the thread and type in Animal Science to see any one posted their MCA point information. SLO does not publish their MCA point thresholds.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/cal-poly-san-luis-obispo/1958827-fall-2017-final-status.html
@Gumbymom - could you please share where on the new application is a place to put the number of Work and EC hours? I searched everywhere and couldn’t find it!
For the Cal Poly SLO section, there should be a few questions about EC hours and any major related work experience. Since they have changed the application, I no longer have access.
Try this link: https://help.liaisonedu.com/Cal_State_Apply_Applicant_Help_Center
@collegefind1234 you add specific CSU’s to apply to under “Program Materials” - once you select SLO and your major there will be a “Questions” tab and that is where you enter that information. Really just a few questions - I had expected many more but very basic. Good luck.