Not Berkeley High, but our school’s website also lists mythology, feminist lit, Shakespeare, etc…However, not all of these classes are actually offered every year. Usually only one is and that would fulfill the senior year English requirement for those opting not to take AP Lit (the other senior year option). In other words, even though our school’s website/course catalog makes it look like there are numerous English electives that a student could stack if interested and motivated to do so, the reality is that only one of those will be offered for your senior year English course and that is what you will take. There are not actually multiple options in a single year (and these courses are restricted to senior year as English i, English 2, and English 3 is the required freshman to junior year sequence).
A similar issue at our school is that AP Lang / Lit and the less common English class options are only taught in one or two time slots, so scheduling issues prevent a lot of theoretical combinations. My son wasn’t able to take either AP Lang or Lit due to scheduling conflicts with his STEM APs. He only had one English option that fit.
Yup, my daughter had the same problem - she really wanted AP lit this year but it conflicted with another required class for her so she has the general senior year English offering (which is nonfiction for one semester and senior comp for one semester). Our school doesn’t even offer AP lang, just English 3 for juniors (although there is an honors section for that).
Apologies if this has been answered above, is there a reason why 5 years of English is preferred? Did CalPoly find something in previous years’ student body writing skills lacking?
Hopefully someone in the know will chime in but realistically schools like Stanford, Harvard along with all the UC’s require 4 years without any mention of a 5th year. I believe this is a non-issue when many applicants to do not even know of the recommendation.
I would be curious to know how many applicants actually meet this recommendation and how many are actually admitted vs. denied.
I have 2 sons at Cal Poly (computer engineering and business) and neither took 5 years of English. However they both maxed out their 750 rigor points (based on the old scoring system) with 5 years math, 4 years science, and 3 years language. That being said, we have a third son applying this year and have no idea what to expect. Without the SAT score they may have raised the cap on rigor points, making it harder to max out without the additional English points.
Using the 2013 MCA model, 5 years vs. 4 years English was additional 50 points. Again, since no one knows the MCA criteria, there could be no maximum on the rigor points??? They also no longer have a Cap on the GPA which was 4.2 since many of the admitted student GPA ranges are now above that 4.2 maximum.
As several posters have stated, for many students it would be impossible to meet all of SLO’s recommended years of A-G courses.
This is purely anecdotal, but I know a friend’s student in a recent app cycle who had 5 years of HS English. They had doubled up one year specifically to improve their chances of being accepted to SLO, but they didn’t make it in. GPA was in range of admitted student profile, but not at the tippy top. Non-local CA resident.
If they use a similar points system to the old mca, the math years were the biggest points bonus.
Did those bonuses go beyond 5 years of math though? Wasn’t the biggest increment from 4 to 5, ie taking Algebra I in middle school? I’ll be interested to see if S23’s 6 years of math and 5 years of LOTE do help his score.
I can’t remember. I thought the 5 years of math maxed out those points but I don’t recall on the language years.
I think 5 years of math maxs out the points
My son also had 4 years of language but only
4 of English . He does have a 4.0 unweighted and
Is a national Merit scholar lots of AP but it’s still a lottery in my opinion .
Based on the old MCA rigor points, the maximum’s are as follows:
Math 5 years (10 semesters)= 500
Lab Science 4 years (8 semesters)= 200
English 5 years (10 semesters) = 100
Foreign Language 4 years (8 semesters)= 100
Visual/Performing Arts 2 years (4 semesters) = 50
No bonus points for social sciences or electives.
So true that’s how I feel ! My son had a great 34 on the ACT but no scores allowed he also had a ton of leadership asb pres varsity sports school technical intern but again they don’t look at that in debt and all the kids applying have similar gpa scores so it’s odd how they choose ! Good luck to your son
Cal Poly SLO: First Year Selection Criteria
I was about to post this as well. This aligns with what we have heard about MCA criteria and max points.
Well, here’s hoping they still cap MCA rigor at 750 pts. It won’t make sense for them to award a STEM major slot to someone who decided to take an extra year of English vs someone who took 6 years of lab science and 5 years of math.
Interesting Q&A comments of this video made by the admissions staff (posted 2 months ago):
“Hi! Thanks for your question. Students with AP or Honors classes will be given a weighted GPA for up to only 8 semesters. The rest of the GPA is determined on a four point scale. This allows for more even competition between applicants.
AP exam scores can be used in the place of taking certain classes once you are admitted, but they do not assist in the admissions process.”
With so many highly-qualified applicants, GPA cap and test-blind, I suspect EC/Job/low-income points will be critical delineators.
It’s interesting/frustrating though because kids can’t elaborate on their ECs or jobs. If I remember correctly it’s just ticking a box “yes”.
You cannot elaborate on the EC’s but you can list a range of hours of involvement. Cal Poly SLO is still a CSU so until they make significant changes to the CSU application or SLO has their own application, applicants have to deal with these constraints.