According to the Cal state Chancellor’s office, first-generation college students are the first in the family to pursue a four-year college degree.
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Cal poly has different recommend requirements they want you to have in HS than other universities
I called admissions and they confirmed this and the English is a big deal they say
5 years of English even for engineering
5 years of math recommended
4 years of a foreign language
My son has the language but only 4 years of English and math he is in AP calc currently
They don’t care much about science even for engineering. Definitely different than others . 
Yes, I think it’s interesting that they want to see the 5 years of English. With all the courses that our kids are cramming into their schedules, how many kids in their applicant pool are likely to double up on English classes? Wouldn’t that mean dropping a year of science or language, or dropping an elective related to their interests?
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@Jacki_Jones
To meet SLO’s 5 year English requirement, I have seen students take a Literature/English course during the summer at their local community college.
Plenty of admitted students do not meet SLO’s recommended years for all subjects. My advice is take courses to meet the college requirements (not always the recommendations) but also to take classes of interest to you as noted by @tamagotchi.
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My daughter has 5.5 years of English, 7.5 years of math, 3 years of LOTE & science.
She took AP Seminar and another writing class in 10th and 11th. The latter one was a semester class.
That’s impressive! How did she manage to accumulate so many years of math? Did she take extra college courses or summer courses?
Not to mention that some schools - such as D23’s high school - do not even allow students to take more than one class in a core area per year. So, if a student did want to meet the 5 year rec, the only option would be doing so through DE. Which is possible, of course, but seems like a ridiculous expectation for a college to have, imo. Can we just let high school students be high school students?
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Completely agree with you and that is why I encouraged my son’s to take classes of interest over trying keep up with whom has the most AP’s game.
Majority of students will end up where they are meant to be and still have a fulfilling and successful life regardless of where they go to college.
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Both D18 and D21 took only 4 years of English and were accepted, so it’s still possible w/o the 5th year of English.
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I have a kid with 5 yrs English, 6 years math, 4 yrs FL, 4 yrs science & 6 yrs history
My other has 4 yrs English, 6 yrs math, 4 yrs FL, 4 yrs science & 6 yrs history
Only did DE for 1 year math. A lot of electives fall in the core subjects, such AP Seminar is English, AP Computer Science Principles is science, AP Economics is history, Global Studies is English, AP Human Geo is History, AP Psychology is history.
Huh, interesting. Had no idea about the AP Seminar, as our school doesn’t offer that.
At our school unless kids take more classes outside the school day, they can only fit the 5 core + 1 elective into the year (and the elective for our music-obsessed kids is always going to be Orchestra, so they have never had time to take anything like AP CS, etc).
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This. I had no idea that SLO even wanted a 5th year of English!! But during the one summer when my daughter had enough time to take a class, she took an Anthropology class at our local community college. So I guess that doesn’t “count” as English, but one would hope that it might be helpful in that she is applying as an Anthropology major?! Then again, maybe not since I guess the admissions is mainly based on an algorithm at CSUs. I’m still glad she took the class that interested her.
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My Son HS has only 10 AP classes and he took 8 of them. Also, took Zero period all 4 years to fit in Music. He took Advanced Maths(Algebra) and Spanish in Middle school and I know SLO looks at middle school grades (Maths, LOTE I think)?
I don’t think our school even offers a 5th year English class. We have AP Lang and AP Lit, but nothing beyond that.
SLO looks at Middle school classes (Math and LOTE) but does not consider those grades in their application review.
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When my family toured the school in August they said they give “points” for up to 5 years of English. It’s not required. He also said it only counts if your school includes it under “English” on the transcript. So, for example, they won’t give extra points if you take creative writing and it’s listed under electives. I doubt too many kids will have 5 years of English unless they’re specifically trying to get the highest points possible for Cal Ploy.
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That makes it even more confusing: at our (California) high school, anything beyond the high school graduation requirements gets labeled an elective. So even if you did manage a 5th year of English, it would automatically get relegated to elective since only 4 years are required for graduation.
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Same for my son’s school. I’m guessing most kids are in the same boat. So I’m not too worried about it.
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I’m in my 4th year of English as senior (no eligible classes in middle school) but my CSU app says 5 years of English in A-G matching. I’m thinking the Greek Mythology course I took one summer at community college counted towards the English requirement (even tho I entered Classics as subject, not English). So maybe the anthropology course might count too?
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Mythology is classified as an English course or College Prep Elective. Anthropology is classified as a History/Social Science course or College Prep Elective.
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