Cal Poly SLO: Business Administration

College Majors Business Major
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<p>Hey everyone. After months of waiting for admission decisions to come out, it all came down to one final school for me, SLO. I applied to UCSD, UCD, UCSB, UCSC, UCLA, UCR, UCM, UCB, UCI, and Cal Poly SLO. My goal is to be an accountant with a CPA certificate. I originally planned to major in something related to business/economics/accounting and hope to be recruited by the Big 4. </p>

<p>I've only been accepted to Cal Poly SLO, UCM, and UCR. I've been waitlisted for UCSB and still waiting for UCI and UCB, but mostly likely rejection letters anyways. Rejected by all the other schools.</p>

<p>It seems like I have no choice but to either go to Cal Poly SLO or Community College, and I'm leaning towards the CC route. I talked to my fellow teacher, who isn't a professional in the business field, but he complained about how I was complaining about how I didn't get accepted to UCSB and only accepted to SLO. He kept saying it's a fabulous school and well respected, comparable to mid tier UC's, ie. UCI, UCSB. He also told me that since I want to be an accountant anyways, it doesn't matter what undergrad school I'd go to. My friends also encourage me and envy me that I've been accepted to SLO, but I just say that it's nothing because it's not a UC. I know I'm very ignorant for saying such a thing.</p>

<p>On the other hand, I always wanted to go to Cal or UCLA. CC would be my only choice if I wanted to reach that goal, but I'd like to live that "dorm" life. </p>

<p>What are your opinions on Cal Poly SLO for Business Administration?</p>

<p>Is Cal Poly SLO well respected in the business field? </p>

<p>What are your opinions on Cal Poly SLO compared to UCs, besides Riverside and Merced?</p>

<p>What would you do if you were in my position? CC or SLO?</p>

<p>Would there be any negatives of me going to a top graduate school if I went to Cal Poly SLO compared to UCSB? to Cal? (although they are in different leagues)</p>

<p>Hope to get all your responses because I'm in desperate need for some advice and opinions on this. Thanks in advance everyone.</p>

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<p>Opinions !?</p>

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<p>If going to a UC is crucial to you, you have already achieved that goal with your admission to UCR and UCM. Why not just go there? They are fine schools. Be happy about that. Why are people so down on UCR/M/SC? I don’t get it. They are UCs too. </p>

<p>Your teacher’s advice on Cal Poly is right on. SLO is absolutely on par with the mid-tier UCs (UCD/SB/I) and in engineering and architecture, it rivals the top-tier UCs. Many students get rejected by SLO, but are admitted to the mid to top tier UCs (just read the admission thread on Cal Poly section of CC). Cal Poly’s is best known for its undergraduate engineering (ranked #5 or something in the US), architecture (#5 in the US or something), agriculture (top 5 in the US I think), and business (#64 in the US ranked by Bloomberg recently), but it has one of the top accounting program with heavy recruitment by the Big 4 accounting firms. I am baffled to why people are always stomping on Cal Poly even though it is one of the top public university in the US. </p>

<p>Also, Cal Poly is located in a superb location with great weather and beautiful beaches nearby. We are also a residential campus with great school spirit and sense of community (99% of the students live near the school and almost no one commutes). </p>

<p>My opinion is that you should be proud you were admitted to Cal Poly. Lots of top students this year were rejected and were emotionally crushed. We may have a frosh acceptance rate of 29% I think this year. And if going to a Cal or UCLA is your life long goal then definitely go to community college and attempt to transfer. </p>

<p>Also, you need to do more research on Cal Poly yourself. Don’t take my word or any other people here about Cal Poly’s reputation or anything else for that matter. I think you will find out that Cal Poly is consider a top university in many people’s eyes.</p>

<p>FYI, I am a current engineering student at Cal Poly, so I might be biased. And I suggest you should re-post this question to the Cal Poly’ thread, you will get a lot more responses.</p>

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<p>@nuitari – Wow, you were accepted to Cal Poly SLO for accounting! You are one of the luckiest people that I know. It might just surprise you that there are many kids that would kill to be in your shoes. It is actually more often the case that kids get reject from Cal Poly SLO and accepted to several UC’s. My kid was accepted to and turned down UCLA, USCD, UCSB, UCI for Cal Poly SLO.</p>

<p>Now to the issue of accounting and business at Cal Poly. Cal Poly has deep relationships with all the major accounting firms and the Big 4 all recruit from Cal Poly. The school enjoys preferred recruiting status with all of them. The reason why is that Cal Poly has a hands on learn by doing teaching methodology and you are immediately work ready upon graduation unlike the UC’s where you will require significant on the job training in order to be useful. Internships and co-ops abound for accounting majors at the school.</p>

<p>With regards to business, most UC’s do not even have an undergrad business major. They teach accounting and econ, but with the exception of UCB and UCI (brand new program), undergrad business administrations degrees at the UC’s are rare. Cal Poly on the other hand has one of the top ranked undergrad business schools in the entire country.</p>

<p>I am bewildered by your comment that you would most likely go to a CC over Cal Poly SLO. Obviously, you have no idea how good a school it is and how lucky you are that you got in. Cal Poly enjoys wide recognition among employers and recruiters.</p>

<p>Like blindmonkey says, don’t believe me do your own research. In my opinion, you lucked out. You could not do better than Cal Poly for accounting. Don’t let this opportunity slip through your fingers.</p>

<p>With regards to grad school. I personally know a guy that went to Harvard for an MBA after Cal Poly SLO. You will have ZERO difficulty getting into a good grad school, as long as you qualify, after Cal Poly.</p>

<p>One more thing, I believe that Cal Poly prepares its grads better for the CPA exam than other schools. In fact, you might even pass the exam before graduation.</p>

<p>Go to the Open house in April and you will understand what we mean. A CC or SLO? Don’t even talk such foolishness… On the other hand, if you can’t appreciate the opportunity, please reject the offer ASAP so another student on the wait list desperate to get into the school has a chance to attend.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.cob.calpoly.edu/academic/accounting-and-law/[/url]”>http://www.cob.calpoly.edu/academic/accounting-and-law/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>

In CA, the candidate needs to have a Bachelor degree to sit for the CPA exam, so no one can pass even one part of the exam before graduation.</p>

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<p>Thanks a_mom! I stand corrected. I know that the school will support you in preparing to pass the exam and there is info on the web site. Also, there are special interest accounting clubs at the school as well that could help you.</p>

<p>Nuitari, I reread my posting above and I may have been a little hard on you. If you don’t know how good Cal Poly is, you just don’t know. It is not your fault.</p>

<p>We love the school and it has opened up so many opportunities for our son that we are very grateful for his experience. I know that he will graduate with a great job and he’ll look back at his years at Cal Poly with great fondness.</p>

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<p>I agree that if you were going to do accounting and pursue CPA, SLO is a very cost-effective way to achieve your goals. Most students attend instead of mid tier UCs because of the difference in costs and because of their vocational oriented programs. However this has limitations. It is almost impossible to transfer out of your major once you enroll so you must make sure accounting is what you like.</p>

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<p>May I ask what is the source of your information? I am unaware that grads of UCs like Berkeley, Santa Barbara and UCLA need more training than SLO grads and I’ve done a lot of hiring of CA college grads. </p>

<p>Majoring in Business Administration unless you have a specific focus like accounting is not a favored major among companies. It has been looked upon as a soft major.That is why most UCs and none of the Ivies have that as a major. Wharton graduates earn a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics, not Business Administration.</p>

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<p>Thank you everyone for all your replies. I’m going to do some more research. cbreeze just made a good point about how my major in Business Administration really doesn’t help in being an accountant, and I’m definitely going to do more research on this. I’m going to post this in the Cal Poly sub forum as well to hear some other opinions. Hope some more people can chime in their thoughts.</p>

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<p>@nuitari</p>

<p>Previously stated, it doesn’t matter where you go to school if you are going to get your CPA. SLO would be a great choice. But, if your dream is to go to a top UC, then I would go to CC (save $$ on tuition, rent, etc fees), and go to UCLA to minor in accounting.
<a href=“http://www.anderson.ucla.edu/programs-and-outreach/accounting-minor[/url]”>http://www.anderson.ucla.edu/programs-and-outreach/accounting-minor&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;