It’s still unclear how certain factors in the MCA profile are wieghted. Parent demographics (educational attainment and zip code) are strong predictors for students likely to stay in state and attend a state college as opposed to a OOS private or research uni. Therefore, students are ranked higher because they are more likely to commit; thereby increasing net yield.
No it’s not. An MCA point is an MCA point. Non-academic adders are added during a second pass after the first two thirds of the class are filled. This resurrection of the yield boosting conspiracy is tiring. If there were such a scheme, wouldn’t you expect a yield above 33% university wide? If such a scheme existed would the students who’ve reported acceptances so far have such high stats?
@eyemgh please link the supporting documentation behind your theory.
We’ve been through this before. You know the link is broken. It’s not a theory. I (and multiple others) had a full power point presentation from admissions.
Locals get a HUGE boost, 500 points. Students with a parent who didn’t finish HS get 300 points (600 if both didn’t finish HS). Students from Hayden Partner Schools get 500 points. Children of CP faculty get 500 points. These points are added AFTER 2/3 of the class is filled.
The highest stats students ARE NOT rejected I in favor of lower stats students with non-academic adders. The highest stats students are given spots in the first 66%.
CP does this for two reasons. 1) as a CSU they are mandated to serve students who live in their service area. 2) they give an extra boost to students who have overcome academic adversity without giving advantage based on race.
This system can let students in with lower GPAs and test scores, but because it happens only after 2/3 of the class is filled, it only happens at the margins. The highest qualified students get accepted. Period.
@eyemgh so you’re saying there is no link? No way to cite the source for your theory? I assume your still referencing a slides presented at the act conference. Ever wonder why those slides are not online anymore? While I don’t doubt that CP SLO uses quantitative factors as a component of evaluating applicants (like every decent school). Cal poly has invested millions in creating an overlay data evaluation system to artificially increase yield and manipulate the schools precieved selectivity–to the detriment of California’s it suposedly serves. take a look at cal poly,s markerting budget and how much that pay one particular vendor.
@momneeds2no, please stop.
my son has a 3.78 9-11 and a 4.12 10 - 11 grades, 31 composite act… 34 english and 33 math superscored and still has not heard… his total mca is 4412…what has hurt him is his honesty regarding working only 1-5 hours a week and possibly leadership which would have earned him an additional 60 points. I think these factors which could break or make an admission and do not require proof of honesty are a joke… if he had embellished more on factors that do not even require proof he could have scored well over 4500. Still hoping theres another round…but this system is seems to lack. And 300 points for a parent not graduating? Admissions should seek proof of these add ons that could make or break admissions. Just my 2 cents…Still hopeful for my son and will know the system when my other kids go through this process in the future…
@calirain You highlight some very valid concerns. To me what’s troubling is the lack of disclosure surrounding how exactly the “demographic” data points contribute to admissions. Some feel that these non-accedemic factors are simply added into the sum-total MCA score. However, it appears that cal poly uses demographic data to increase yeild by offering admission to CA residents statically likely to enroll and, conversely, denying admission to other wise qualified CA residents who are less likely to enroll.
Thank you for all the posts about calculating your MCA score, it’s been very useful. I’m a bit confused about EC’s and work experience and how to calculate the points.
Do you get points for each EC and for each leadership role (up to 350) or do you enter your average hours based on activities from 9-12 and if you have held one leadership role, you get an additional 60 points?
And, for work experience, does this include an internship or volunteer work? My son is volunteering at our local aquarium so wondering if this would be counted as major related work experience for a student interested in marine science.
@anyamom I can’t remember the exact wording on the application but I believe it was something like “average number of hours in the past year.” Meaning in the 52 weeks before submitting your application.
When we toured last year, we went to the Admissions Information Session. I asked about summer jobs and volunteer work and the admissions advisor confirmed that we should add all work done that year and divide by 52 to get the average number of hours per week.
The yield myth is long dead. If such a system existed then one, their yield wouldn’t be 33% and two, year after year we wouldn’t see students admitted with 4.0 and 99th percentile ACTs and SATs.
For ECs it’s what @lkg4answers said, and maybe even a little squishier than that since it isn’t firmly defined on the application. Some may include summer, some might not. As for leadership, it’s a one shot deal. A student who is captain of the football team and president of Key Club only gets the adder once.
My son goes to a private school that changed its grading policy for his senior year to make it easier to get an A. So he has a lot of B+'s that would have been A’s at other high schools. But his high school wouldn’t go back and change anything retroactively. His guidance counselor, not familiar with Cal Poly at all (we are OOS) called them to explain my son’s situation and they said there was nothing they could do as they don’t have the grading scale from his high school but that they use their own methodology when it comes to kids coming from private high schools. Has anyone ever heard of this? I really don’t know how to calculate his CP GPA or his MCA…
@windchime1 out of state you can only weight AP or IB courses.
His gpa is just 9-11 straight 4 point scale with one point added for ap/ib up to 8 semesters.
@VickiSoCal interesting. Never was told that. And he had only a few AP’s 9-11…most senior year…and the rest were honors
@windchime1: SLO is the only CSU that calculates their GPA using 9-11 grades. B+'s are calculated out as B’s.
Out of state honors classes are not recognized for the extra honors points taken 10-11th but as @VickiSoCal stated, AP/IB or DE courses will if taken 10-11th and capped at 8 semesters. He will get rigor credit for AP’s taken Senior year but not in the GPA calculation. Use the CSU mentor calculator link and just include his 9th grades. SLO also caps weighted GPA at 4.2 for the MCA points.
http://www.csumentor.edu/planning/high_school/gpa_calculator.asp
@Gumbymom I had not heard that out of state Honors classes are not recognized. Where does it say that?
On the CSU mentor website and also the UC website, it states you need to have the Honors courses UC approved and there is a list only for California HS’s that will show which honors courses are UC approved for the extra honors points. I am a CA resident and my son’s CA HS designated several of their courses as Honors, but not all were UC approved so they also did not get the extra honors points for courses such as Honors Biology or Honors English.
Here is the link from the CSU Mentor Website: In order to be an “approved honors level course,” that high school course must be identified as honors level on your official high school “a-g” course list. You can find your school’s course list at https://hs-articulation.ucop.edu/agcourselist#/list/search/all
@momneeds2no Will a link to this help? “Assessment of Present Cal Poly Admission Requirements” http://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1014&context=statsp
The MCA algorithm has been tweaked since then, but is essentially the same in concept. The last one I had was 2013. It may have been adjusted since, but again, in principle, likely the same.
What do you mean by “min semesters/max total semesters/bonus per extra semester/total possible bonus)”