When did he hear back from them?
On the original admissions date, March 10 I believe.
Daughter admitted for public health. She took 4 years foreign language (year 4 was honors) and 4 years of English, 5 years of math if you count 8th grade (IM1, IM2, IM3, Honors pre calc, AP stats) and lots of science classes…she was in the health academy program at her high school which was science heavy.
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Awesome, congrats!
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Is there any chance that they will be sending out anymore acceptances this week, since I thought I heard a few more acceptances came out last year around this time?
The portfolio based majors heard on the 24th last year and this year they were notified on Friday the 24th also.
Can someone explain what you all are talking about in terms of 5 years of a subject. I really didn’t understand the Cal State app my S23 filled out. I know there was some reference to his 8th grade classes but what do you mean about taking more than 4 years of any core subject when they are only in HS for 4 years? Like 4 years of English but then have your electives be Journalism (.5) and Creative Writing (.5), for example? Or are you talking about something like my OOS son did which is that he was “double accelerated” in Math so he was taking Calc AB as a junior and then just random classes like AP stats as a senior - is that 5 years of math even though he only actually took 4 years of HS math. I don’t get it.
Cal poly has course recommendations beyond the Cal state minimums which are listed here:
I personally find them a little over the top especially when you see the recommendations listed by the UC’s and Elite schools like Stanford, Harvard etc…
As long as you exceed the minimum CSU requirements, you can be a competitive applicant.
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Ha! Yes, I’ve seen this (and my son was admitted to Cal Poly SLO with a normal high school schedule and no college credit), but I still don’t understand these recommendations. For a kid that is already taking 4 years of a foreign language, 4 years of math, and 4 years of English/Language Arts, I still don’t understand what counts as the 5th year for English or Math? What are they even talking about???
Yes, I think Cal Poly SLO is recommending that students take the normal 4 years of English (with presumably the rigor of AP Lang and AP Lit preferred) PLUS an additional 2 semesters or 1 year of “elective” English that some public schools offer (I’m not sure all CA public schools do)–yes such as Creative Writing or similar.
As for math, I don’t know if the “Geometry–Algebra 2–PreCalc&Trig–AP Calc AB” sequence “counts” as the 5 years of math they recommend (with Algebra 1 in 8th grade being the “first” year), or if they truly want to see 5 literal years of math taken in high school. In my DD’s case, she did end up with literally 5 years of high school math taken 9th grade and later, like this: “Algebra 1–Geometry (summer)–Algebra 2–PreCalc&Trig–AP Calc AB”. Maybe others get their 5 years by accelerating even more by starting 9th grade with Geometry and ending up with that Multivariate Calc or that AP Calc BC or whatever is after AP Calc AB by doubling up or taking more math during the summer.
I honestly wasn’t thrilled with my DD’s decision to rush through online Geometry during the summer instead of enjoying the whole year with a teacher but that was also Covid time, and so much ended up being online anyway during her freshman/soph year (as for many students here). And in the end perhaps her 5 yrs of English and math, not taken with the goal of being admitted to Cal Poly SLO, was partly what helped her gain admission.
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I’m quite curious, as I’m guessing my OOS kid wouldn’t have known to include his grade school language, math, and English courses. As an example, if he started high school with Honors Algebra II, should he have listed Algebra I and Geometry from junior high? Because I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t have.
Thanks for this - it’s one of the more detailed explanations I’ve gotten! Yet it’s also funny about the math sequence which seems like it can vary so much. My kids did parochial school in California but public school in Illinois, and I have to say I think it would be pretty difficult to meet these recommended 5 year classes in a typical Illinois public high school. I don’t know - maybe the offerings are different in CA.
Yes, they tell you to list your 7th and 8th grade math and foreign language in the application instructions. It is confusing though and I think it gets missed a lot.
Cal Poly SLO counts Math and Foreign language classes taken in Middle school so if a student takes Algebra and Geometry in Middle school then 4 years in HS, you can get 6 years. For English, some students take a 1 semester CC class to get that extra year. These are recommendations and posters are trying to determine the metric that SLO is using to admit students. I have seen over the years, a small percentage of students that take 5 years of Englsh but plenty that have 6 years of Math (including Middle school courses) get admitted.
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Interesting! I’m pretty sure my son didn’t list his 7th and 8th grade math or foreign language. He definitely would have had 6 years of math if that’s the case. But in any event, we were all just excited he got admitted to SLO, so no harm, no foul - I was just curious (especially since I’ve got a S29)! Thanks for the info!
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They also take into consideration if you are first gen, which explains a couple of acceptances I am aware of. These students would not be considered disadvantaged however, so it is a bit frustrating.
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We have decided to move on too. We haven’t heard either. So now my daughter is working on making a decision between 2 that she’s narrowed it down to. SLO was her first choice school. But she is over it now. Waiting and waiting has been hard on her. She finally let go this weekend. She woke up today and is excited to visit UC Davis next week. I think that will be her choice.
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UC Davis and Cal Poly SLO are so, so similar. Really can’t go wrong with either one.
See the VDO, it is clearly explained.
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I totally agree, convincing my daughter of that was the hard part…but she’s there now! 