Cal Poly SLO: Business Administration

Colleges and Universities A-Z Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
1

<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. 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>

2

<p>Your teacher is right when he says that it doesn’t really matter where you go for undergrad if you’re aiming to be an accountant. For accounting it seems having a high GPA matters more for securing an interview. Cal Poly’s business is sought out by employers due to the learn by doing philosophy. The Big 4 actively recruits from SLO and correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe they labeled SLO and "key recruiting campus. While SLO may not be on par with UCLA (Anderson) and UCB (Haas), I think it is better than any other UC when it comes to business/accounting. Additionally, you would definitely NOT miss out on the “dorm life” at SLO. It’s a college town with a very active campus. Obviously, I love Cal Poly and I would definitely recommend attending as you’re very fortunate to have been accepted. However, if you feel like you cannot settle for anything below UCLA/UCB, then go to CC. You’ll do best with what you feel most motivated to do.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the reply solestee. I really appreciate it and I am slowly changing my mind about SLO. It’s just that my “Asian” parent are giving me a sense that I’m a failure because I can’t even get into a decent UC. My dad didn’t even think of Cal Poly as anything at first, he thought it was just like a regular state school. To be honest, I was extremely ****ed when he said that because it showed his lack of knowledge with colleges and he’s just joining the bandwagon of going with the UC’s. Now he changed his mind supposedly because my mom did more research and showed it to him and probably because I didn’t get accepted into any mid-high tier UCs. </p>

<p>Another set-back is that I’m Asian and it seems like Asians only represent 10% of the whole school. I’m just having a bit of trouble accepting it because I come from a high school that’s 80% Asian, lol. I guess I’m just going have to man up and step into reality, because when i go out in the real world, stuff like this is definitely going to happen.</p>

<p>Oh and if any more people can chime in, I’d really appreciate it.</p>

4

<p>While Asians are a minority at Cal Poly, unlike at your high school, they are definitely the largest minority group on campus. You’ll definitely meet others. Cal Poly is quite good for business, especially accounting. The big four recruit for jobs and internships. Summer internships with an accounting firm can pay pretty nicely too.</p>

5

<p>I really recommend you visit the city/campus if you haven’t already (if you can). It will really give you a feel for the school. As soon as I visited, it became my first choice. Even though I went in the summer, the city was full of life with young people walking the streets. Very, very clean and the people were full of joy. It was contagious to say the least. </p>

<p>I applied to UCSB, UCI, CP SLO, SDSU and my local CSU as a safe school. I was accepted to all except UCSB. I chose CP SLO for Business Administration because of the city/environment, campus, smaller class sizes(vs. UC), and distance to home (only 4 hours). The high job-placement-after-graduation rate also helped with the decision. I’m Mexican and CP is only 13% hispanic, I believe. I’ll deal with it. </p>

<p>UCB and UCLA do have better business programs, and as solestee stated, “if you feel like you cannot settle for anything below UCLA/UCB, then go to CC. You’ll do best with what you feel most motivated to do.”</p>

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<p>@NTKS17
I agree with you, haha. I’m pretty extroverted, so I should be fine. Thank you for the advance. </p>

<p>@slimsta
Awesome, haha. I’m going to visit it soon. I hope I get the same vibe as you did. When you say, “I’ll deal with it”, does that mean you’re going to be a freshman? Oh and where did you find information about SLO’s high job-placement-after-graduation rate for business? </p>

<p>Thanks again everyone for chiming in. If any more people can chime in, that’ll be awesome!</p>

7

<p>nuitari, I’m also Asian and going into Accounting lol. I can assure you that you won’t feel out of place at Cal Poly. When I visited, I was not seeing too many other Asians but I felt welcomed by everyone. I’ve talked to a couple of my upcoming classmates and they all seem extremely friendly. I have a choice of either UCI, UCSB, or Cal Poly for accounting, and I’m definitely choosing Cal Poly. Initially my parents were really pushing me to go to UCI until I showed them the university rankings, job placement rate, and salaries of Cal Poly graduates.</p>

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<p>I hope race does not impact your choice. Two of my sons roommates are Asian and they love it at Cal Poly. They are all very good friends. It would have been a shame if they had not chosen go to Cal Poly because of a perception that they would not fit in at Cal Poly. My son is Caucasian and I really don’t think my son or his roommates spend much time thinking about race. Try to go to Open House if you can. By the way, my son turned down UCI, UCSB and UC Davis for Cal Poly, just to name a few.</p>

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<p>I have a freshman student in business at Cal Poly. We researched undergrad business programs across the west coast. I have an ivy league MBA and attended a top undergrad program, have recruited both undergrad and MBA candidates for a F100 company and been a speaker and recruiter working with several UC MBA programs over the last 10 years. Only Haas is “better” as a public undergrad business school in California in my opinion. Haas was not a fit for my student for a variety of reasons, and did not apply. Several of the UCs do not really have a full undergrad business program, just economics and accounting. Students miss out on study of the full business discipline only offered at strong undergrad programs ( Marketing, Operations Management, Finance, MIS, Organizational Behavior) classes really needed for a rounded undergrad business experience. If not going directly to grad school (and I do not think anyone should go directly to grad school without working several years) Cal Poly is a fantastic choice. Cal Poly is also very well recruited by California’s top companies not just BIG 4. Many corporate accounting and finance recruiters go to Cal Poly because of the excellent program and have been for many years. Except for Haas the UCs have historically focused on their MBA programs, not undergrad business. That is changing a bit with UCR and UCI but they are not yet up to Cal Poly level in my opinion and this is reflected in the rankings.</p>

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<p>@solestee </p>

<p>Where did you find the job placement rates and salaries? Oh and you’re going into accounting? I thought there was only three majors in the Business School, and you pick accounting as a concentration. =o </p>

<p>@universityfreak</p>

<p>I’m definitely not worried about the race issue anymore, haha. Thanks for your input, really appreciate it!</p>

<p>@Dadfan</p>

<p>I absolutely agree with you. I’ve done my research and the only public schools that have a rank in business is Cal, SLO, and UCR. I guess all the other UC’s do not have or is not considered to be up to par with all the other undergrad b-schools. </p>

<p>If anyone can chime in, I’ll greatly appreciate it.</p>

<p>Oh and can anyone tell me about parking at SLO? I’m attached to my car, I’ve modified it to my liking and would just like to have it with me. I’m not a bike person, and I know about the permit fees.</p>

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<p>@nuitari
Yes, I’m going in as a freshman this fall! I’m really excited and I plan on attending the PolyCultural Weekend next weekend! A few months back, “collegeweeklive.com” (i think that’s what it was called) have live sessions with university spokespeople. I asked about the rates for engineering (just out of curiosity) and for business. Engineering rates are over 85% and Business is over 72%+. That’s the percentage of students with jobs before graduation! </p>

<p>Here’s this info straight off of Cal Poly’s website! This is very reassuring!
“Our graduates are in high demand in the job market, with 56 percent reporting job offers before graduation. Within three months of graduation, 82 percent had jobs, and nine months after graduation 97 percent of graduates had jobs. Of those reporting, 90 percent found jobs in their related field of study.”</p>

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<p>Haha, awesome awesome. Thanks for the information. I did a lot of research this past week and I just SIR’d to Cal Poly SLO. It’s either this or CC and I’d really like to have the social life of living in a dorm and everything. So this might be a dumb question, but am I suppose to pick my classes now? or are is SLO going to set me up with classes for my major?</p>

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<p>@nuitari – I finally get why you were so hesitant about Cal Poly. We are an Asian mixed family living in an Asian community too. When many of our friends found out that my kid was turning down 5 UC’s including UCLA and UCSD (UCB was not a fit for our kid) some people in our community thought we were nuts. One of my wife’s friends even thought Cal Poly was a trade school.</p>

<p>Do not fall into the “Asian Trap” that the UC’s rule and Cal Poly is a no name Cal State. Nothing could be farther from the truth. It is an outstanding institution and for engineering it is one of the best in the country. For business, it is top ranked too. We basically did our research, set aside any community pressure and chose the school that fit our kid’s learning style and personality the best. It was the correct choice and we have never regretted the decision.</p>

<p>My kid’s roommates are all Asian or Asian mixed. Vietnamese, Chinese, Chinese/Caucasian mix and us Japanese/mixed race (dual citizenship). My kid did have to adjust a bit as his HS was mostly Asian and Latino. But, he loves it and has found compete acceptance.</p>

<p>Don’t fall into the Asian Trap and make your own mind up. You will not regret it. Go to the Open House [Orientation</a> Programs - Student Life & Leadership - Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo](<a href=“http://studentlife.calpoly.edu/orientation/openhouse/index.asp]Orientation”>http://studentlife.calpoly.edu/orientation/openhouse/index.asp)</p>

<p>It was absolutely transformational for us and within 30 min of stepping on to campus the decision was made. Congrats on competing the SIR – good job girl!</p>

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<p>@OsakaDad
Yes yes… The Asian Trap, haha. Glad my parents are accepting the fact that I’m going to Cal Poly now. Honestly, I don’t even want to go to UCSB anymore even if I get pulled out from the waitlist because UCSB doesn’t even have a business program/school. A week of research has absolutely transformed my mindset. Thank you all for your opinions. </p>

<p>I have one more question if anyone could answer, does Cal Poly choose the classes for us specific to our majors or do I need to choose classes like right now? Thanks again!</p>

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<p>I guarantee that you will love the school. As I said go the the Open House and take your folks! If you are going to this event book your hotel reservations now and plan to spend Thursday night to Sunday morning. There is an amazing Farmers market in downtown SLO on Thursday night that you can’t miss! I believe that your first quarter Freshman year your department will give you a block schedule to get you started. so, you do not need to choose on you own for the first quarter. That is what happened to my kid for engineering. You may want to double check that for the business school.</p>

<p>Parking on campus – we know all about it. My kid took his car and it has been no problem. However, the parking can be a bit far from the dorms as a freshman. As a sophomore, live in Poly Canyon Village and you can get a spot in the new parking structure. First year, expect to park outside.</p>

<p>You may still want to get a bike. You can’t drive around campus get to class. The car will be used mainly for off campus shopping and touring and to get home on weekends and for move in and move out days.</p>

<p>Cal Poly is a residential campus. Not a commuter school like a lot of Cal States and some UC’s. The dorms are nice and you will absolutely get that “college” experience. If you wish, there is a thriving Greek system of fraternities and sororities. My kid sticks to clubs around his major. Regardless, Cal Poly has a great social scene.</p>

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<p>Not to make it an Asian/minority thread but this is great. We are Vietnamese-Chinese family. Her HS here in Orange County CA is only 12% Asian. D has SIRed for industrial engineering (plus Santa Lucia/North Mountain dorms). Originally I wanted my D to do ED to Cal Poly due to their great engineering program, small class sizes (very important), college life, job opportunities… That’s how much regard I had for Cal Poly. Yes, many people were surprised that she chose Cal Poly. That is what we hear from our Asian relatives and friends! Still many are not aware how great Cal Poly is. D applied to many UCs but it came down to Cal Poly as the best fit. Excited for Open House…we have booked from Thursday to Saturday. Glad your parents are coming around. My D would also like to bring her car after the first quarter, thanks for the great tips… This has been a great resource for us. Good luck!</p>

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<p>Now that we are on the subject. Why not pursue the Asian/minority topic. ocmomfo3 – great job in breaking the conventional wisdom of the community and choosing Cal Poly! When we did our research five things completely changed my mind when it came to choosing the school.</p>

<ol>
<li> We had no idea what our kid wanted to major in so we hired an outside consultant. Many people told us that this was going to be a rip off and that we should save our money. However, it was one of the best things we ever did. They tested our kid and he was so far off the charts oriented towards engineering that there was no question to what his major should be. It was so apparent that he was destined to be an engineer that my wife and I were shocked that we did not figure it out earlier. Then the consultant put together a list of schools to apply to and Cal Poly SLO was one of the top schools on the list. I had never heard of the school before and the consultant began to educate us on how great it was and how employers actively recruited Cal Poly grads. That shifted the conversation completely for me. I am a business owner and firmly believe that college should have an end game that results in a good job. I do not believe in higher education solely as an academic pursuit unless you plan to be a professional academic. College must lead to a concrete outcome such as a job or specific knowledge that will provide a career.</li>
<li>My kid clearly stated that he was sick of 12 years of book learning and wanted to physically “do something” in college. At that point we began to take teaching methodology and school culture very seriously. Cal Poly has a “Learn by Doing/Hands On” teaching methodology that was significantly different from all the schools we looked at. Cal Poly has labs for almost every subject associated with his major, no TA’s, all professors, and a true vocational focus.</li>
<li>Then we started the research and as we got deeper into it, we became more interested in the school. The national rankings were more than sufficient to satisfy my general curiosity. The school has been ranked as one of the top schools in the West for nearly two decades. It was what employers thought of the school that really got me interested. It seems that employers love Cal Poly grads. They love pre-trained, plug and play, work ready grads. I called one of my neighbors who was in senior management at Raytheon and asked him about Cal Poly. He loved the school and added that his firm’s CEO, William H. Swanson was a Cal Poly grad: [William</a> H. Swanson - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_H._Swanson]William”>William H. Swanson - Wikipedia)</li>
<li>Since my kid got into UCLA as well, I called one of my clients who heads up green technology for a large electric utility and asked him what he thought. When I told him about my kid’s choices and his learning orientation, he told me to skip over the offer from UCLA and go for Cal Poly. This is coming from an Asian guy that did his engineering BS and PhD at UCLA! He told me that UCLA was a sink or swim, mostly theory based program that suited him well because he has little patience for hands on application. My kid was the exact opposite. All he wanted was to get in the machine shop and get his hands dirty.</li>
<li>The final kicker was the Open House. It was one of the most enjoyable events we ever attended. Within a very short time of being on campus, we all knew that this was the school and that the search had ended. Prior to SLO we attended admitted student events at Cal Poly Pomona (nice school), UCLA, UCSD and UCSB. We also visited Harvey Mudd but we did not visit the other schools that he got into as the interest level was just not there.</li>
</ol>

<p>So, at the end of the day Cal Poly won out and we could not be happier with the choice. The only problem? Our relatives cannot pronounce Cal Poly (too many "l"s - ends up sounding like “karupori”) and California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo is a mouthfull for our non-English speaking family. So, it is just referred to as “his school”. Beyond that noooooo problem!</p>

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<p>Oh yeah! Go to the Rodeo at that Open House! It is a real intercollegiate championship Rodeo with bull riding and bronco riding and every possible rodeo event. You wont get that at another school. Maybe UCD but nowhere else. I loved it!</p>

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<p>@ocmomof3 : </p>

<ul>
<li>many people were surprised that she chose Cal Poly. That is what we hear from our Asian relatives and friends! Still many are not aware how great Cal Poly is - </li>
</ul>

<p>Yes, I definitely agree. My daughter is a freshman. Among Japanese people, Cal Poly is not popular, so most parents say “Cal Poly?” and “Where is it?” They fall into the “Asian Trap” that the UCs rule and Cal Poly is a no name Cal State as OsakaDad said (I like the words of “Asian Trap”). Because I answer these questions, I am now a spokesman for Cal Poly :)</p>

<p>@nuitari :</p>

<p>The more I know about Cal Poly, the more I like Cal Poly.</p>

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<p>@everybody</p>

<p>I have the same thought as NaniwaJin. The more I know about Cal Poly, the more I like it too. Like I said, I SIR’d and applied for housing already. Just not sure about the classes and stuff, a bit confused on that part. Thank you everyone who has contributed to this thread, it made me feel really good about going to SLO in the fall!</p>