Can you apply for the honors program even if you haven’t been accepted yet?
Yes.
Why will a large number of AP credits make it difficult?
It’s what the Honors Program website says. I think the honors program courses are required and serve in lieu of some GEs. It renders placing out of GEs with AP credit useless because the kids have to take the honors classes regardless.
Info here: Frequently Asked Questions - University Honors Program - Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo
1 Like
@Momella21 I know how you feel!!! I suspect your son attends a highly competitive high school, meaning a lot of kids with perfect grades. I can tell you that my son two years was rejected from every single UC, but he got accepted in to 2 top 10 engineering schools (Univ of Illinois and Purdue) and waitlisted in another (Univ of Michigan). He got four “B+'s” in his academic career in English and Spanish and one semester of physics. He did get in to CalPoly’s engineering school (and loves it), but there is no justification for students of this caliber not being able to attend a public university in the state you reside in and pay taxes in.
6 Likes
I think the situation may be a little better for kids who are not engineering majors.
I agree. Ca residence should get priority over non Ca students at public schools. Even more so For Ca State schools. Other states give priority to their residents. Unfortunately California’s budget/debt with this matter is so poor they need the out of state and international tuition.
4 Likes
Feeling the anxiety along with everyone else for my Daughter who has heard nothing. My son who is a 4th year Mustang was accepted third week of February in 2017 but three of his friends didn’t get their acceptances until almost a month later (3rd week of March). So while I’m figuring my daughter will be rejected since we’ve heard nada, can’t give up all hope yet. I feel like this year is a crap shoot for acceptances. My daughter is ranked 3rd in her class, 4.0 UW, 4.57 W gpa (don’t know CSU gpa) - two of her friends who are lower ranked at her school have already been accepted but they are different majors. My daughter is strong in math and sciences (honors pre-calc and AP calc as a sophomore, AP stats as a junior). This is her third year as Head editor of yearbook; founded a Girl’s Empowerment club, President of Informational Technology club, president and vice-president of two other clubs. Very strong extracurriculars including leadership positions and tons of volunteer/community service hours. I’m so surprised she’s heard nothing. She was invited to apply to Regents Scholarship for UCLA and just received a $128,000 4-year merit scholarship at another university. My son loves it there but it seems like his sister won’t be joining him. Weird year for sure!
7 Likes
Is anyone familiar with Cal Poly’s honors program? I got an invite last night but I’m not sure if it is worth applying to. Most of the Reddit threads say that it’s only beneficial because of priority registration and housing at yakitutu. Are there any other reasons that it would be helpful? I’m also kind of confused about if the honors program is related to my major or more of an overall learning experience. I am a communications major if that makes a difference.
1 Like
I’ve also been dealing with sort of a false sense of security. I was waitlisted and keep telling myself that you’ll just get off the waitlist no problem. But I’m slowly coming to the realization that a lottt of people will not get off the waitlist and I probably won’t, especially since I’m on the lower stat side of applicants. Tough life…
2 Likes
For cal poly?
That’s not true. There is no priority registration, and special housing is only for the first year. See https://honors.calpoly.edu/content/benefits-program
The honors program is not related to your major, it is more of an overall learning experience.
1 Like
Priority registration is the biggest perk about any Honors College, so for me it would be a deal breaker if it is not available. Just my opinion.
1 Like
I’m so sorry your D is still waiting - S21’s best friend still hasn’t heard either, and one just got waitlisted. All high stats kids with great ECs. All of my son’s friends also got WLed at Irvine, and chose not to apply to UCR, UCM, UCSC, etc. They’re all starting to enter panic mode as their target schools are seemingly not targets this year. We were the only family that hedged our bets, assumed it would be a crap shoot, and had our kid apply to many more schools than we would have in a typical year.
The good news is it sounds like your daughter’s got a lot of other awesome options to choose from. I’m really fearful that my son’s friends are going to be left with their safeties. It’s heartbreaking.
1 Like
I think you are mistaken. If a student applies to their local CSU, it is fairly easy to get into a ‘public university’ engineering program. My son was accepted to civil engineering program at SF State in mid-January. I realize SF State isn’t well regarded by many parents, but I knew of one SF State grad at Stanford who was getting her MS in civil there, and I work with a couple of grads here in SF. They all have their PE stamp and they seem pretty like pretty good engineers to me. Did you apply to UC Merced? How about 2 CC years and then a transfer to UCB? All public school options. CalPoly can’t take them all!
2 Likes
I asked about the honors program in the Mustang parent group on Facebook and current students piped in and mentioned priority enrollment but I will check.
2 Likes
D was invited to apply for honors, but I didn’t hear any verbiage in the email that mentions priority registration.
Some colleges are still accepting applications. Example: Apply Now | Admissions | Western Washington University and Oregon
https://admissions.uoregon.edu/freshmen/deadlines
This is a weird year. The entire applicant pool shifted upwards because of test-optional, and as a result top schools are experiencing 50% more applications and bottom schools are experiencing lower than normal volumes.
2 Likes
I am really glad you added in that last part about high stat, qualified kids being left with only their safeties. It is easy to acknowledge the fact that this is happening, but it takes deeper thinking to understand how this is making those kids feel.
As another high stat (4.744), qualified applicant, the silence from all of my safe target schools such as SLO and SDSU is making me so anxious. I only applied to 7 universities, 4 of them being difficult UC schools and the other 3 being CSU’s. So far, I have only been accepted to Cal State Long Beach. While I know there must be a reason for the silence/possible rejection from SLO and SDSU, watching my hardwork and dedication crumble beneath my feet is so hard. I am praying I get in to the UC’s I applied to as I feel that I have a good chance given my involvement in multiple summer programs, great leadership positions and activities, and straight A grades. It’s hard to understand, hard to deal with the anxiety, and hard to think about when talking about admissions because to the universities we are just a number but behind the application are real people with emotions.
21 Likes
Thank you for sharing that. I couldn’t agree more as I watch my son and several of his high achieving friends going through the exact same thing you are describing, and, add this on to the end of losing their entire senior year. Heartbreaking.
I do hope it works out for you, and try to remember that your hard work will serve you well in the long run.
7 Likes