Has anyone attended the Quarter Plus Program? Did you feel that it was worth it? How was your experience in general?
My major is Civil Engineering and I have already been accepted into the Quarter Plus Program.
I want more info too. I have also been accepted to quarter plus and considering attending over summer.
My son is a 3rd year Mechanical Engineering student. He did Q+ and it was great for him. It was very intense (at the time it was only 3 weeks), but it was totally worth it. He got some GE credits out of the way, he met a whole bunch of people, he became familiar with the campus, and he was able to get a sense of what the classes would be like. Also, most of his friends were leaving earlier, so it was a chance to get going with college and not sit around home wishing he could go already.
Hi berkeleymom4 - My son has been accepted for the 2019 Q+ and although I read that your son did the 3 week version, do you know if the kids generally did well in the classes? You mentioned the intensity and it seems a little intimidating as a way to start college…Would your son have any insight into the current Q+ program?Thx
Q+ was just rolling out when my son was a first year and they didn’t have anything applicable to engineering. Thus, I have no first hand experience. I would however say that his final summer, just hanging out with friends from HS was one of his best summers ever, and one not likely to be repeated in his lifetime. We want to always look ahead, get a jump, do what’s “best.” Particularly if they have AP/IB/DE credit, it seems like Q+ steals that last opportunity to just be kids away. Just an alternate perspective. 
Eyemgh: Thanks for your perspective. And although I agree with taking a break from it all, in my son’s case everyone will have left for colleges that are on the semester system (we’re OOS) so I envision a bored kid - and one who possibly will grow more anxious than necessary. The classes they offer now are COMS 101 (public speaking) that everyone takes and about 6 others that are largely humanities (Sociology, Religion, Journalism, Music…). My son is enrolled in Landscape Architecture and is more math/science/design-minded. He is concerned it may be too intense but my thinking is that instead of having to do something you’re not crazy about over 10 weeks you can get it done in 4. I wish there were some stats on how kids do in these classes relative to classes taken during a quarter. If you come across any please do share - thanks again.
@CTteacher, I can’t say how Q+ grades stack up to regular quarter classes, but I can say COMS 101 does tend to be a hard class to get a good grade in. The intent of Q+ is to give them a positive start, so maybe that’s a good reason to do it then.
I did Q+ last year. Yes, COMS was hard, and the grades you get for Q+ are weighted the same as regular quarter classes. The experience was worth it, though. While Q+ is intense, it prepares you for the quarter system (specially helpful if you come from a semester system). I got to make friends, got a feel of the campus, and even SLO. I’d say that if you are prepared for some fairly intense academics combined with a lot of fun, go for it. Feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions.
P.S: You get first dibs at housing if you do Q+ i.e. you get to move to your dorms a week earlier than the other students. That way, you can choose your bed, desk, and wardrobe, and generally move in hassle free.
My daughter applied for Q+. She received an email stating that she does not qualify since she has AP credit for course they offer as part of Q+.
Amogha23 - thanks so much for your reply. If you don’t mind I have a few more questions that may be helpful to others so I’ll ask them here. Which other class did you take beside COMS101? How would describe the use of class time? All lecture for 4 hours? Did they give breaks or do any of the learn-by-doing strategy? Did you use the study group or learning assistants support and were they helpful? As an OOS student, my son would not leave on weekends. Did you feel everyone stayed on campus or do most kids go home? Last, do you think you would have gotten the same grade in your classes if you had taken them during a regular quarter?
CTteacher, I would guess that most Quarter Plus students will stay at Cal Poly over the weekends. Because San Luis Obispo is quite far from the highly populated regions of California, a relatively small percent of Cal Poly students are from towns within a two hour drive of campus. So, home won’t be “temptingly close” for most students.
Also, there will likely be a lot of fun social activities offered to the Quarter Plus students on the weekends. You can see examples of activities that the program offered in past years: http://quarterplus.calpoly.edu/Schedule/weekly.html . Since students will be in classes much of the day on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays (with a break on Wednesdays), presumably many of the recreational activities will be on the weekends – and students won’t want to miss out on these most fun parts of Quarter Plus by going back to their hometown.
SunnyByTheBay, Thanks for the link…looks like a lot of fun! Thanks also for your perspective on the demographics, it’s helpful. Have you done Q+?
@CTteacher, My son is an incoming freshman and he has applied to Quarter Plus (but hasn’t heard back yet).
At Open House, a couple of the students we talked with had done Quarter Plus and they sounded very happy that they had done it. One came from a very small high school and had felt a little anxious about attending a large university; she felt more relaxed once she signed up for Quarter Plus because it would let her ease into Cal Poly with a smaller group of students at first. The two other students at her club booth chimed in, saying, “And she met so many people. When we’re walking across campus, she’ll often say hi to someone and then tell us, ‘oh, I met them at Quarter Plus.’ That makes me wish I’d done Quarter Plus, too!”
@CTteacher, I can’t speak to how all the students do in Q+, but my son did fine. I don’t think his grades were any different than what they would have been during the regular quarter. My son did COMS and a D3 GE class (I don’t remember the exact title). For him, it was definitely worth getting those classes over with in a shorter period of time, rather than “wasting” the time (from his perspective) during a regular quarter. To some of your other questions, there were activities on the weekends that students go do, like hiking or going to the beach. I’m pretty sure almost everyone stayed on campus or in SLO during the whole time period, as it’s basically starting college a little early, not like a summer camp program. Your son has to really want to do it, though, for it to be a good experience and worthwhile for him.
@SunnyByTheBay. Thanks for your reply!
@berkeleymom4: Thanks for your reply!