No. She wants to do pre-med and Nutrition is the best fit for her. But in case she no longer wants to do pre-med changing majors would be desirable.
Anyway, lets keep this about UC vs Cal Poly and leave it that a disadvantage of Cal Poly is that changing majors is hard!
Changing major at cal poly is hard. It worked out for my daughter, but she had to find a major with similar selectivity as the one she was admitted to, in her case statistics. My daughter doesn’t have a single complaint about cal poly, ok, except the food… but, she is actively trying to get her brother to go there. She obviously harbors no I’ll will about the major change thing, but other students may find that restrictive.
Most departments at CPSLO are pretty clear and transparent about departmental criteria (courses, grades, GPA) to change major into them.
However, the overall change of major policy including “Eligibility for the proposed major at the time of admission” without transparency regarding the admission thresholds when the student was admitted is what leaves students with uncertainty in ability to change major. What CPSLO should do is give each admitted student their MCA (or whatever) score and post the MCA (or whatever) score threshold for each major when completing each admission cycle, so that admitted students can find out what majors they are eligible to change into if they matriculate.
Or it could drop the look-back to MCA score from the change of major process, although this may require some departments to raise their grade and GPA criteria in the face of higher demand to change into their majors.
It looks like if you are changing from one major to another WITHIN the CENG, you do not have to meet the “Eligibility for the proposed major at the time of admission” standard, unless I am reading this incorrectly? https://eadvise.calpoly.edu/changing-majors/within-the-college-of-engineering
If you are changing your major within the College of Engineering, you do NOT complete the university inquiry portlet through the My Cal Poly Portal. You are eligible to change if you meet the guidelines and requirements outlined below.
Of course there are some restrictions (most CENG majors can’t change to CS for example) and varying GPA cutoffs for different majors. But as far as I can tell, it doesn’t rely on looking back to time of admission, since you do not have to complete the inquiry portlet?
I too am interested in this topic as my daughter was accepted in the business school - undeclared, however I am concerned that if she decides its not for her she would probably want to move into communication or psychology, however she would have no way of knowing if she would have been accepte to those had she applied as a freshman, which would in large part determine if that would even be possible. The other condition for changing appears to be that students have to be able to graduate within 4 years of when they started at CP which might not be possible considering they have to wait at minimum one quarter to apply, then go through the process, so at the earliest a student could at the earliest begin a new major/school in the 3rd quarter. Therefore they would have lost at least 2 quarters before having to start all over with a new set of General Requirements.
I also couldnt help but notice the previous poster’s data referenced “super seniors” (of which there seem to be large numbers) - which indicates that it is difficult to graduate after 4 years under the best circumstances, likely because of the difficulty all students have in getting the courses they need in the sequence necessary for progression. It would seem that if one major doesn’t work out for a student they have to uproot themselves and go to a new university.
I am hoping someone could either confirm or correct my impression that it would be very difficult/ if not impossible for my daughter to switch out of the business school into the liberal arts (communications or psychology degree). If this is true, then Cal Poly might not be the best school for my daughter if she is not 100% solid she will not change her mind.
It depends on which way students are swimming. Several of my son’s friends changed majors without problem. It is hard to switch to a more competitive admit. For better or worse, that’s by design. It prevents students who wouldn’t originally have been admitted from crowding the destination major.
For CA schools (she prefers to stay in CA) my DD so far has been admitted into Cal Poly SLO, UCD, UCSC, and SDSU. Waiting for UCSB and UCB. After those final decisions drop, we’ll be heading out for formal tours or the admitted students days to help her decide between these.
She’s already quite familiar with UCD (she’s gone to their annual Picnic Day since a child) and Cal (volunteer work and Model UN there), and has seen UCSB and Cal Poly SLO (brother went there), but has never seen UCSC or SDSU or had formal tours anywhere. I have the tours already all scheduled and will cancel those for UCSB and Cal if she’s not admitted to those schools.
She’s my 4th and final high school senior and I know that after tours and admitted students days they get a “vibe” of the school and they either feel at home or they don’t. Major isn’t everything (IMO). But this is a GREAT THREAD of important things to consider.
I’ve had 2 kids at Cal State and the advising is not all that great so I sometimes help my kids choose their classes to meet all the requirements needed for the major and for graduation, which I take the time to figure out (it takes time but it’s not that hard). Cal State’s student portals have a “progress toward degree” report which makes it pretty easy to do. I haven’t had a kid at UC yet but I imagine it’s similar.
According to the SLO 2022 Common Data Set, the grad rates for Freshman cohorts were:
eta: edited the bucket descriptions
4yr or less / more than 4yr but 5yr or less / more than 5yr but 6yr or less
2016 - 60% / 83% / 87%
2015 - 58% / 83% / 87%
Deleted wrong discussion thread
Those aren’t the best of circumstance. Those are the average circumstances.
The best circumstance is that a BS can be completed in under 4 years. One of my son’s friends did that. A MS can be done in under 5, as my son did.
My daughter had no trouble graduating from Cal Poly in four years, even with a major change. There are some majors that take longer than four years, mostly engineering dept.
I thought everyone understood the 4yr/5yr/6yr CDS buckets, but I’ve edited my post to describe them more precisely.
I think the takeaway is that the 4-year (or less 
) grad rate is not particularly high at SLO. Just a data point for people to consider.
There are two things to consider. First, that data is always trailing. Second, even a single quarter beyond 12 counts as a full extra year.
There are no longer systemic reasons, difficulty getting a class for example, that prevent students from graduating on time.
Failing classes, changing majors, dodging teachers and dodging class slots are the culprits.
These factors are true for all schools. Isn’t that the purpose of the CDS? As a COMMON way to compare schools with the same data?
Absolutely! They tend to get misinterpreted though. They are population statistics that may have very little relevance to the individual.
To compare to some of the UC campuses, here are their most recently reported 4-year (or less) grad rates. Note that some campuses have not published the most recent CDS, so the cohorts are not all in the same years, and some campuses only showed a single cohort.
Davis
2014 64%
2013 63%
UCI
2015 68%
2014 68%
Santa Barbara
2016 72%
San Diego
2015 73%
2014 68%
CAL
2016 81%
2015 79%
UCLA
2016 84%
Again, population statistics, versus individual statistics.
People can look at that and interpret that “my kid has a 60% chance of graduating inn years.” That’s the wrong interpretation.
Baring accident or illness, there was a 100% chance my son was graduating in 4 years or less from Cal Poly. He started with very favorable APs and DEs, and was willing to take any time slot and any professor.
Each person has to apply what’s true to them, for example, how strong they are academically, what credit the bring in, if they’re willing to take night or early morning classes, if they’ll take teachers with lower poly ratings. Only in that context, can it mean anything to the individual. At the end of the day, that’s what matters.
what is individual statistics?. I thought statistics always need a sample population.
You probably mean if your kids are outliers, do not use statistical data.
SLO has some very well-known and popular 4+1 blended programs, where you get a masters degree in Architecture or Computer Science, as just 2 examples, which may account for the lower 4 year graduation rate.
My D21 is on pace to graduate to fulfill her program requirements to graduate in less than 4 years. Possibly 3 years. She may take some units this summer, while working a job in her career field.