Hi, I’ve considered Cal Poly my reach school when I first applied, but I don’t know of my thoughts should change after knowing the acceptance rate of my first-choice program.
OOS (Oregon)
Cal State GPA: 3.38 (3.44 for cal poly including 8th & 9th grades)
AP’s: APES, Stats, & Psych (all senior year)
ACT: Composite 31, English 33, Math 31
Hours Worked per week: 1-5
Ec’s hours per week: 21+
MCA: 4125
But after crunching some numbers using the published yield rate for the school that Construction Management is in (45%), my state’s acceptance rate (>50%), and the published enrollment projections, I have determined that the acceptance rate for CM for my state is ~75% (which shocked me due to its nation-wide prowess).
I guess my question is if I should consider this a target school now. I don’t know if they have skewed amount of applicants with high MCA’s or if their applicants have a range of MCA’s. Also the yield rate for the exact program may be skewed toward architecture because of its prestige. As well, the number of applicants for CM in my state may just be larger or smaller, affecting my acceptance chances into CM. There’s so many other factors that I am not even thinking of right now, but it is really up to chance.
I know I’m micro-analyzing all of this, but I am just excited if I do have a chance to study in a really awesome school & program that fits almost everything on my checklists for a college education & experience-wise. But acceptance rates are not always indicative to the acceptance chances of any given individual. I know it’s a long shot, but can anyone who knows anything about the competitiveness of the CM program aid me in forming a more well-rounded conclusion on the probability of my acceptance? I don’t want to get my hopes up for something unlikely.
Also acceptance rates do not tell the whole story since you do not know how competitive the Construction Management major has been in previous years.
Construction management is in the College of Architecture and Environmental Design which had an average Cal Poly GPA of 4.03 and ACT of 30. Your GPA is well below the average for that College.
Here are a few MCA numbers that were posted from last year to help gauge your chances:
Construction Management
MCA: 4686
In State
Accepted
Construction Management
MCA: 4212
GPA: 3.92
SAT: 1350
Accepted
In state!
Construction Management Accepted
Unknown MCA
4.2 GPA
Best of luck and I would still consider it a slight Reach.
If you’re interested and think you’d attend if accepted, where it falls on the target or a reach or a safety scale is really an academic distinction. Applicants put too much emphasis on this. It can set expectations, but beyond that, every school you apply to, even safeties, should be in the hunt for the top spot. Good luck!
As stated in the stats section on my original post, my MCA is a 4125.
Though my GPA is low for the college of Arch & Env. design, I was curious in seeing that accepted 4212 MCA from in-state may note lower admission standards within their CM program. Their Architecture program is one of the most renown and competitive programs in the nation, making me hypothesize that they are highly biasing the 4.03 GPA and 30 ACT average the college has as a whole because of the 4212 MCA admit.
But you are completely correct in us not knowing how competitive CM has been in the past MCA-wise, that being the question that I am pondering at the current moment. I am feeling that we won’t get the answer to that question, just having to wait and see.
College wide statistics aren’t helpful because within each college there’s a huge range between majors. Just because a major is easier to get into doesn’t mean it isn’t respected or desirable. IT in the business school is a great example. It’s a much easier admit than Business Administration, but their average salaries rival some of the engineering disciplines. It is indeed Architecture that biases the mean upwards.
Hi, just a small update (not super important in changing the conclusion reached in this thread), but I didn’t include my Algebra 1 class that I took in middle school in my MCA calculation, putting my actual MCA at a 4318 facepalm. Again, thanks for all the help!
@ryan43198 I think your MCA is in the range for acceptance to the CM program. It is an outstanding major at Cal Poly SLO. Very supportive faculty, great classes, tons of industry involvement, regional competitions where their student teams rank quite high plus a very high probability of getting an internship beginning with the summer after freshmen year (if you seek one). The major is truly a hidden gem at the university. Speaking as a parent of a current CM student
