<p>by uc reject i meant the uc's people talk about. of course cal poly is better than riverside/merced. ucsc and ucsb could be better than cal poly though, just because of the campuses.</p>
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to call SLo cosmpolitan is a stretch of the imagination...there is nothing wrong with SLO but it is NOT a major city and is not cosmopolitan.
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It depends on your frame of reference. Obviously no one is going to confuse SLO with LA or SF, given that it has a population of only about 45,000 and is some 200 miles away. The point is that SLO is has much more to offer than than you would expect from a town of its size and location. Try comparing SLO with other isolated cities in central California, such as Bakersfield, Santa Maria, or Fresno (all of which are much larger). By that standard, SLO is way upscale and sophisticated - no stretch of the imagination required.</p>
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agree that SLO is equivalent to UCI, UC Davis, maybe UCSB
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Cal Poly's specialty is engineering and other technical fields (that's why it's a "Polytechnic" State University). A Cal Poly engineering degree would be reasonably equivalent to most UC engineering degrees. But Cal Poly is significantly less selective and prestigious in non-technical areas. For example, Cal Poly might be a better choice than UCI for engineering, but probably not for literary theory.</p>
<p>You can not get residency by attending a CA school. Start the school as an oos student and you will stay one.</p>
<p>How do i gain residency then? what if i transfer?</p>
<p>I'm from fifteen minutes away from the campus and I can tell you that if you like small towns, Cal Poly is for you. It's definitely a "college town" atmosphere, and San Luis pretty much revolves around Cal Poly. Some of the brightest students at my high school went to Cal Poly (because it was so close), and it is particularly excellent in Engineering, Ag, Architecture, and various obscure, applied-science sorts of specialties, among other things. It's close to the beach and the weather is very nice, albeit a bit breezy at times. In the end, if you like small towns and an interesting combination of nerds, party-ers, and agricultural students, Cal Poly is definitely for you. Also, as a side note, the Cal Poly alumni network in the SLO County area is pretty much as strong as it gets (if you plan on living/working in the area after graduation)--people locally hold Cal Poly to a much higher esteem than pretty much every UC and Cal State.</p>
<p>a great place to spend 4-5 years</p>
<p>Cal Poly SLO is generally considered more prestigious than UCM, UCR, UCSC. It is approx the same prestige level as UCD, UCSB, UCI. And is generally considered less prestigious than UC Berkeley, UCLA, UCSD. The incoming class stats were around 3.7 and 1200 SAT. This puts Cal Poly with UCD, UCSB, UCI, or just slightly lower. The average stats for UC Berkeley, UCLA, UCSD are significantly higher. My sister graduated in the top 5 people in her class, however, and she chose Cal Poly SLO over UCLA and UCSD, and all the other UC's and she liked the feel of the campus. Cal Poly is known for their architecture school, which is second i believe in the nation behind Harvard. Their engineering is also quite good, however not at the level of Berkeley, UCSD or UCLA, which i believe are all top 10 or 15 programs in the nation.</p>
<p>Cal Poly SLO has a much different emphasis than the UCs; from freshman year on the focus is on doing, rather than the theoretical. Grads in engineering, architecture, sciences, etc. are highly sought after, especially by CA companies who know the students have the practical skills to step right in. The top UCs (Cal, UCLA, UCSD), are all research-oriented, with the focus of the faculty being on their current research (which does privide more advanced research opportunities for upper classmen, and of course, grad students where applicable).</p>
<p>The quality of Cal Poly SLO’s Engineering, Architecture, and Agricultural programs are absolutely on par with UC Davis, Irvine, and Santa Barbara; and superior than that of Riverside and Merced.</p>
<p>Moreover, for Fall 2010, Cal Poly’s freshman acceptance is 32% (overall university acceptance rate of 29%). This compares to mid-tier UCs acceptance rate of ~40%.</p>
<p>I forgot to mention that I loved going to school in the city of San Luis Obispo. I had an ABSOLUTE grand time. </p>
<p>I lived in big cities all my life (NYC, SF, Boston), and I love the speed and energy of metro area. But when I moved to SLO, it gave me an entirely different life experience that I absolutely appreciate. </p>
<p>Even though the city was compact, it was lively with local cultures (West Coast’s largest Farmers market every Thursday night), good restaurants and bars, countless scenic places, and brilliant Mediterranean climate. </p>
<p>And most of all, I loved being just 15 minutes away from 3 brilliant beaches (Avila, Pismo, Shell). I used to sit by the endless coastline in Pismo and study.</p>
<p>Also, I had a great student social life at Cal Poly. I never thought I could make that many lovely and genuine friends in 4 years. </p>
<p>I subsequently went to Harvard for my graduate studies, although the education was breathtaking, but my grandest school memories will also be with Cal Poly, and the city of SLO.</p>
<p>The first time D walked onto the SLO campus she was ‘done looking’. That seems to be the reaction of those for whom SLO is a ‘fit’. She turned down several UC’s and some very good privates for the opportunity to attend SLO.</p>
<p>SLO alum, almost without exception, LOVED their experience. And those alum seem to be just about everywhere here in CA. We have a relative who is very high up in large and wll know accounting firm. His firm actively recruits from SLO because of the quality of student and the fact the ‘learn by doing’ gives them a new employee who can actually DO something instead of philosophically discuss what might be possible given time for more research and maybe some grad school.</p>
<p>In addition to ranking highly in engineering, ag and architecture, the SLO Orfalea School of Business ranks #62 on the USNWR list of under grad business schools. And, it is steadily moving up in the ranks. </p>
<p>We actually live in a college town - UC within a few miles. Unlike the atmosphere at SLO, where the town embraces the students, here at home there is an ongoing contentious relationship between the town and UC. In my opinion it’s largely due to a very different type of student. You’d be hard pressed to find persistently obnoxious student behavior in downtown SLO. Here at home - very different story. </p>
<p>As for selectivity. SLO had 40,000 applicants this year for approximately 3900 slots. This makes it the third most competitive public university in CA., right behind UCB and UCLA. Yes, I know the stats of the students are still different although the average incoming GPA in D’s college was 4.25. You can check out the preliminary 2010 Freshman profile at </p>
<p>admissions.calpoly.edu/<em>admiss/Pdf/Profile10</em>51910.pdf</p>
<p>As another poster stated, if you have any desire to stay in CA after graduation, SLO is a good place to start.</p>