<p>we were told that the easiest major to get into SLO was food science. Our daughter is interested in english/creative writing but really wants to go to Cal Poly SLO. How hard is it to get in under an english major, or would she be better off applying under the easiest major and than switching. We hear that it’s extremely hard to switch majors once there and that they really frown upon doing so!!</p>
<p>Not that hard to switch into the Liberal Art majors… To change to English, you need to take a beginning english course, have a 2.5 gpa (at Cal Poly) and complete atleast 2 semesters at Cal Poly.</p>
<p>If you want to guarentee your daughter gets in, have her apply early decision for english, and then if she doesnt get in for ED, send an email to cal poly admissions saying that you want to change her intended major to crop science and shes automatically in.</p>
<p>Hope she likes the Food Science classes… you have to follow the class pathway for the major, you can’t admit under one major and then not take any of their classes - your advisor won’t sign off on your class schedule. And you have to have a 3.0 in the classes you have taken at Poly to transfer for most majors, so you better do well in ALL the classes you take there. There is no “easy” major to get in, some may have fewer applicants than others - but the kids that apply to those majors, who want to remain in those majors, have no easier time than anyone else at Poly. Students tend to do well in the classes related to their major, think about that one… Does your daughter really want to compete for grades with kids who WANT to be there, who are interested in their major classes? Just “getting by” doesn’t cut it if you want to transfer, and you can’t transfer right away (you used to have to wait at least a year ? That’s three quarters, and at least three food science classes) so think long and hard before you think about trying the “easy” way. Why does your daughter want to go to Poly? The kids that stay (graduate) are there because of their major choice, the kids that choose Poly because of “the campus” or their friends usually end up leaving. How can I say this with confidence? I had a roommate that left when I was there, my daughter has had 2 “quad mates” leave (she will graduate this year) and we know several others… My son is waiting to hear if he gets in for fall. He is waiting to hear from an impacted major and probably won’t get in as he wasn’t in the first round acceptances. It would be a shame to think that he didn’t get in because someone took his place just to get in and then transfer. We knew that it would be difficult to get in, but that is the chance you take. There isn’t room for everyone.</p>
<p>Well said kirbysanmom!!</p>
<p>Is biological sciences or biochemistry impacted as much as architecture or engineering?</p>
<p>Let’s face it, the ENTIRE school is impacted. To ANYONE thinking about applying to Cal Poly, please - please, think carefully about your choice of major. Go to that major’s class planner (the four year projected class requirements) and look it over carefully. Are those really the classes you want to take? You are talking about gearing up for the rest of your life in those classes! Biological Science is soooo different than Bio Chem! I was BioSci and my husband BioChem - he couldn’t have hacked my major, and I couldn’t have hacked his!</p>
<p>Think about your life path, pick a major that will help you follow that path - the majors at Cal Poly are specific. There is a reason that there is no “undeclared” major at Cal Poly, you start toward your life goal from day one. You become involved in your major the first quarter you are there, that is the way the program is set up. They want you to be “sucked up by the wave”, so to speak, so that the wave carries you on to bigger and better things, graduation and the start of your real life. Choose wisely, Poly is a great place to be, but only if you put yourself in a position to get everything out of the school that you can. An incorrect choice of majors will cost you an extra year - at the very least, often more. And we won’t even mention the extra monitary cost…</p>
<p>Kirbysanmom, you’re blowing everything out of proportion. First of all, I highly doubt the majority of immediate high school graduate students who get accepted into SLO know what kind of major they truly are into. My friend applied for Psychology thinking that it was interesting, later he changed his major to Math. So what if Ucmomhopeful’s daughter applies as a Food Science major? Who knows if she might end up finding it interesting and GRADUATES with that major? Your son might not get in because he applied into a competitive major with a subpar GPA, but that shouldn’t stop other students from applying to whatever major they choose. </p>
<p>And no, not all the majors are impacted. But Koreanboi92, judging by your previous posts, are you not set already for UCM? Depending on your major, SLO might not be the choice school for you. Visit both campuses, talk to the students, look around and watch some videos on Youtube. UCMerced has a new campus feel but lacks in the size department. SLO has the college town feel but I wouldn’t call it a party school by any means.</p>
<p>It changes a lot. But I have to consider everything, my ultimate future goal is get into medical school. Even though I like Uc Merced’s small size, the location isn’t that great for internships at hospitals and stuff like that. I’d figure that going to schools like Cal Poly, UCSB, or even UCR because of the location in CA would help get into medical school.</p>
<p>I have visited Cal Poly and I really liked the campus. I read from their website saying that 70% of pre-med students get into medical school, which is far better than the 40-45% average.</p>
<p>If you’re a high school student, then you would need at least a 4.0 to be competitive for Cal Poly SLO. Unless you’re talking about Cal Poly Pomona, which is much easier to get into.</p>
<p>Dear ucmomhopeful-</p>
<p>PLEASE DO NOT LISTEN TO KIRBYSANMOM, she is acting extremely erratic because shes worried her son isnt going to get into Cal Poly. But thats his fault, some people aren’t smart enough to get in. It honestly isn’t that hard to change majors. Here is the criteria for switching into the college of liberal arts [Advising</a> FAQ - College of Liberal Arts](<a href=“http://cla.calpoly.edu/cla/advising/advisingfaq.html#change]Advising”>http://cla.calpoly.edu/cla/advising/advisingfaq.html#change) . I know a lot of people at cal poly that have switched majors, and although they said it was a hastle it wasnt that hard. Easiest majors to get into= Soil Science, Crop Science, Dairy Science, Environmental Science, Horticulture… GOOD LUCK! kirbysanmom needs to keep her composure, what a joke</p>
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<p>This is not true. My son was admitted RD (in the first group of acceptances) to engineering last year with a 3.7 GPA. He had 32.5 units of college credit between his AP classes and community college credits, and very stong SAT math scores. He also had 6 years of math and 4 years of lab science. His extra curriculars were excellent. There is far more than the GPA to be considered for CPSLO admissions.</p>
<p>3.7 isn’t low by any means, and it is actually the average GPA of high school students admitted. But what is wrong about my statement? Most students who apply under Engineering or a science have over a 4.0 GPA. So staying within a 4.0 = competitive. EC’s are obviously important but GPA and SAT will always be the dominant factor.</p>
<p>3.7 is not low at all. I have one son who was admitted to Engineering for Fall '07 with a 3.35 gpa, but he had a high SAT – 1420 (710 CR , 710 M). </p>
<p>Another son was just admitted to Ag Business with a 3.0 weighted GPA, but also a very high SAT – 1430 (690 CR, 740 M). He had 7 CC classes, 1 AP class, and 2 AP exams (self-study).</p>
<p>Both sons had some EC’s, but nothing that outstanding. A high SAT goes a long way at Cal Poly.</p>
<p>or ACT…It’s preferred more than the SAT.</p>
<p>I think kirbysanmom’s comments are sincere, balanced, and sensible.</p>
<p>It’s not that hard to switch into majors that aren’t impacted. English isn’t impacted. When I changed my major, I had to sign a contract that basically said that if I wasn’t in the other major within a year (read: complete all of their requirements successfully) I’d be dropped from CalPoly… which was actually nice. I didn’t have to worry about being put on academic probation for not taking enough units towards my major 
I also had a really high GPA, so that probably made my switch much easier to facilitate with the administration.</p>
<p>Lots of people change their majors. In fact, most of my friends did. The only ones who were denied the switch were engineers who realized that they sucked at calculus and were trying to switch into business (which is really impacted)… and so they switched into the Ag. College and College of Liberal Arts. The only impacted liberal arts major that I know of is psychology.</p>
<p>is the biology major impacted?</p>
<p>In the sense of people being able to switch into it? Not that I know of. It depends which college you’re originally admitted into, though. If you’re already in the college of science and math, you can basically move to whatever major within the college you want.</p>
<p>I’m going to apply ED in the fall. If I don’t get over a 31 on the ACT, probably some agriculture major.</p>
<p>You’re going pre-med, right? If you don’t think you can get into biology based on your credentials & resume now, how do you think you’re going to pull off ~4.0 GPA that you need to get into med-school when competing against people that (supposedly) have higher GPAs, SATs, what-have-you? </p>
<p>If I were you, I’d study my butt off for the ACT and apply for Bio ED. May as well earn your spot, right? :P</p>