Chance me ... Please?!

Colleges and Universities A-Z Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
1

<p>The thing I most love about CSU schools that UCs dont offer is hands on experience.
Because of this, I’ve been looking into Cal Poly.
Chance Me Please for Computer Science:</p>

<p>Chinese Male</p>

<p>Not meant to be a sob story but this information might be useful? My father passed away from cancer when I was in the 7th grade.
First Generation College Student - Mother graduated high school but is unemployed, Father did not graduate high school but deceased.
Income Level - <25,000
Also my brother goes to Stanford U (Junior) he’s a T.A.</p>

<p>I go to a high-school that is well known for being ghetto, but has a good advanced program (which i’m in).</p>

<p>GPA: 9th Grade: 4.0 UW/4.0 W
10th Grade: 3.9 UW/4.25 W
11th Grade: 3.9 UW/4.5 W
Top 1% of Class</p>

<p>ACT: 29 Composite (1st)
SAT: 1840 Total (1st) 700 M - 580 CR - 560 W
SAT II: Math 2: 620 - Physics: 580</p>

<p>10 AP Classes: AP Chem, AP World, AP US, AP Physics, AP Chinese, AP English 11, AP Lit, AP Gov/Econ, AP Bio, AP Calc AB</p>

<p>Community Service: Head Youth Volunteer at Local Relief Foundation - Since I was 12 so I’ve logged over 400 hours.
Also Volunteered as 1st-5th grade boys and girls basketball coach - 4 years - about 100 hours</p>

<p>Internship/Work: Summer 2013/Summer 2014 worked at Sushi Restaurant as a Waiter : 20 hrs/week - 8 weeks/year
Summer 2014 interned at Kaiser Permanente Hospital as a Youth Intern in the Pharmacy: 40 hrs/week - 8 weeks/year</p>

<p>Sports: Played Adult League at a local basketball gym since I was a freshman so 4 summers in a row now.
Varsity Golf Team - 4 years (Captain - 2 years) -> Won All-League Player, Won 3 League Championships, and Won Most Improved Player</p>

<p>Leadership: California Scholarship Federation: Junior Year = Publicist, Senior Year = President
Chinese National Honor Society: Junior Year = Vice President, Senior Year = President
Model United Nations: Junior Year = Co Founder and Vice President, Senior Year = Vice President
Local Youth Buddhist Group: Freshman Year = Treasurer, Sophomore Year = Secretary, Junior Year = Vice President, Senior Year = President
Chess Club: Senior Year = President
Also in NHS, Mesa</p>

<p>Awards: All League Golf Player in my Region (1 of 6) in 2014
2x winner of a Korean Engineering and Math Association - 2nd place as a sophomore, 3rd place as a junior
Most Outstanding Student Nomination in 2011 for my Advanced Program
2x winner of a Regional Essay Contest - 1st place as a freshman, 2nd place as a sophomore
Picked as 1 of 8 participants in a Vietnam War Seminar with a California Senator ( Gold Seal on Transcript )
AP Scholar Award - College Board</p>

<p>Extras: Played Piano up until Level 8 (Passed recital and theory tests)</p>

<p>I know my test scores aren’t great but I’m hopeful.</p>

2

<p>Competitive GPA and EC’s. SAT/ACT should be higher since CS is extremely difficult to get into at SLO.
Here is the Freshman profile for 2104:<a href=“Cal Poly Admissions”>Cal Poly Admissions;
If you check the link, you want an ACT of 32+ or SAT (Math/CR) of 1402+ to have a good chance.
You also need to calculate your CSU/UC GPA including 9th-11th grades (since SLO uses these also). They also use an alogrithm of bonus points for extra Science, Math, English, Language classes see links:
<a href=“http://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1014&context=statsp&sei-redir=1&referer=http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%3Fp%3Dcal%2Bpoly%2Bslo%2Bmca%26fr%3Dipad#search=“cal%20poly%20slo%20mca””>http://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1014&context=statsp&sei-redir=1&referer=http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%3Fp%3Dcal%2Bpoly%2Bslo%2Bmca%26fr%3Dipad#search=“cal%20poly%20slo%20mca”&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“Cal State Apply | CSU”>Cal State Apply | CSU;

<p>With Current scores:
SLO: Low Reach</p>

3

<p>I agree with Gumbymom, retake the SAT or ACT (your scores are equivalent, so pick your favorite test). The rest looks good. </p>

<p>Poly admits on an algorithm. Your GPA will be strong the way CP calculates it because you’ll get maximum weighting from your AP classes. ECs are simply calculated by hours, but you get bonus points for leadership (captain). You’ll get a bonus based on parents education level. You might also get a bonus based on the school you go to. They give bonus points to certain schools in CA.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

4

<p>@eyemgh‌ Thank you for the in depth explanation. Much appreciated. I’ll let you know how all this works out. May I ask what school you attend? Or are you a graduate?</p>

5

<p>My son goes to Poly. </p>

6

<p>I would say that it is a reach if you apply with that given ACT and SAT score. I had a friend rejected to computer science with a 32 ACT and 4.2 g.p.a. Ya, its that competitive. If SLO is your number one I would recommend applying Early Decision cause it is a tad easier to get in.
Good Luck!</p>

7

<p>There are hidden things in the algorithm that make statements like @calpolyslodream‌’s difficult to weigh. For instance, if you go to a Hayden Partner School, you get a 700 point bump. As far as the algorithm is concerned, that the same as adding 700 points to your SAT score! You get 300 points for each parent that didn’t complete high school. So, not to disagree with the previous post, but it is more nuanced. Do what you have control of. Crush your next standardized test. If you are 100% certain Poly is the school for you, apply ED. It does improve your chances. Good luck.</p>