I was accepted to Cal Poly Slo two weeks ago, and today I received an invitation to apply to their honors program. Did anyone else receive this email? How common is it?
Not sure how common it is or if there are different requirements for different majors.
My son was admitted to Mechanical Engineering and also got the invite to apply.
@eyemgh -Do you know more? Is it a tough application/interview process or is it pretty much guaranteed to all who are invited to apply? I saw the curriculum page and requirements to stay in the program, but didn’t see much about new admittees.
Thanks!
If you follow the apply link, there’s a page with a little more info. Application is 3 short (1500 character) prompt replies and a short list of accomplishments or service activities. They say on that page they’re targeting about 80 new students…that seems a bit low given the claim of over 500 current participants. Looks like they’re looking for enthusiastic students who will want to be involved in honors activities. Given the low GPA threshold to apply, I would imagine they send the invite to lots of students.
Interesting nugget, this year the honors housing will move from the apartments to the new dorms.
My son is also a ME major. When he looked at it, within their curriculum, it didn’t make any sense. It only added classes to a packed curriculum, with no real, discernible benefit. Priority registration used to be part of it, but it doesn’t seem as it is anymore. Plus, he was far enough ahead that he rarely had difficulty getting the courses he wanted anyway.
Cal Poly does do latin honors, and that seems better on the resume than “with honors” if they keep their GPA high enough.
Now honors Math is a different story. With a high enough score on the Calc AB or BC test (5 I think), students are invited to honors math classes. They are well worth while as they use very good professors and the classes are a bit smaller.
Congrats to your son.
may I ask your sons stats? @Roonilwazilb99
Hey! I actually called the honors program yesterday and they said priority registration for the first 2 years is still included (just a heads up). You also get guaranteed housing in the new dorms!
@eyemgh I am a math major; where did you hear about these extra benefits?
@idocrossfit, those are math classes that are by invitation, I believe to any major, that scored a 5 on the AP exam. AB gets an invite into Calc II and BC gets an invite into Calc III. Once you’re in, you can continue in honors, I think through Calc IV. I’m not sure if a specific grade is required to stay on the honors track and I’m not sure it says anything on your transcript.