<p>I have been accepted into many schools and have narrowed it down to either a state school in New York or Cal Poly Slo. One of my concerns with cal poly is the intensity of the courses due to the 8 week quarters as opposed to 12 week semesters. How would the difficulty of courses at cal poly compare to semester based UCs. Has anyone had any experience with this process?</p>
<p>Also I have heard horror stories of people not being able to register for all the needed classes due to them filling up ay cal poly. Being out of state it would be disasterous if my graduation had to be pushed back due to scheduling.</p>
<p>Quarters at Cal Poly is ten weeks, not 8. The pace is very fast compared to semester. You will typically have some kind of exam (quiz) about 2.5-3 weeks into the quarter, and then another one (mid-term or quiz) 1/2 way through the quarter, ending with a final. </p>
<p>So you can imagine the pace. You CAN NOT slack in Cal Poly due to the pace. Once you are behind, you can be behind forever for the quarter. </p>
<p>With that said, due to the short quarter, classes never get unbearably boring. Even it is dull, it will be over before you know it. Also, you get many more chances to sample different aspects of your major due to the rapid pace of the quarter system.</p>
<p>Most UCs are actually quarter based. I think only a minority is semester. So the quarter UC will be the same as us. </p>
<p>As for getting classes, it is bothersome, but not impossible. You do need to put in some work to sit in on a class and get added if you haven’t already registered at the beginning. Ultimately, it s quite manageable through efforts. SLO Engineering is under increasing pressure to graduate students on time. In fact, some of the majors are having their units for graduation restructure/reduced in order to promote on-time graduation. </p>
<p>Cal Poly is a pretty academically challenging school, so it is not for the leisure types school wise.</p>
<p>All UCs except for Berkeley and Merced use the quarter system.</p>
<p>Some other quarter system schools are listed here:
[Quarter</a> System and Block Plan Colleges and Universities](<a href=“http://www.planetbauer.com/colleges.htm]Quarter”>Quarter System and Block Plan Colleges and Universities)</p>
<p>My kid has had challenges getting classes at Cal Poly, but once you learn the system, it ends up being just fine. My kid has never been refused a class that he needed. On occasion he did not get his preferred prof or it was at a time that was undesirable (like 4:00 pm on a Friday afternoon), but he always managed to get the class. </p>
<p>Don’t worry about quarter vs semester. Cal Poly just announced that they will go to semesters by the end of the decade to be in sync with other CSU campuses. So, you might get a bit of both if you stick around. My kid really likes quarters.</p>
<p>It will take 4-5 years to graduate in engineering. However, this is often due to internships and extended co-ops which can pay as much as $10,000 to $20,000 respectively AND more importantly end up in a job offer.</p>
<p>Looks like this is more of a push by CSU to have all campuses on semesters, rather than something that CPSLO would do on its own. Indeed, CPSLO’s task force seems to think that conversion would be an unnecessary expense.</p>
<p>[Semester</a> Review Task Force - Office of the President - Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo](<a href=“http://president.calpoly.edu/semesterreview/]Semester”>http://president.calpoly.edu/semesterreview/)
<a href=“http://president.calpoly.edu/semesterreview/SRTF_FinalReport.pdf[/url]”>http://president.calpoly.edu/semesterreview/SRTF_FinalReport.pdf</a></p>