Freshmen cal poly student warning you not too come

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

<p>ive been raving about SLO for awhile… but now that i am actually here, i dont like it here and am prolly going to drop out and go to CC and then transfer to UCSB.</p>

<p>Cal Poly SLO is only for certain people… I came in very enthusiastic, but ended up dropping out.</p>

<h2>Pros</h2>

<p>if your an engineer, accountant, or farmer… not care much about well-rounded learning, but want to basically go to a tradeschool for your major and get a good paying job. Cal Poly allows you to do that, and at a cheap price, in a residential environment. sure.</p>

<p>If your not a city person, and you want to be in a small town, SLO is pretty nice. beach, mountains, nice downtown, see stars, etc… beautiful area.</p>

<h2>cons</h2>

<p>WHITENESS. least diverse UC or CSU campus.
conformity is rampant at cal poly. very little style. me and my friend walk around and look at all the people wearing the same clothes. everyone seems to have the same personality. people are boring here.
no creativity here
if your a city person, you’ll hate it
very hard to change major. one of the biggest reasons i dropped from cal poly cus i wanted to switch majors.
hard to get classes / teachers you want (same for all UCs / cal states / CCs though)
they set you on a track, hard to have a flexible schedule. you basically only take GEs and classes in your major - little room to experiment. if your 100% sure on a major its nice and they get you right into it, its perfect. but i think, like most people, i had an idea, but really had no clue what i wanted to do with my life.
partys here suck! compared to all the campuses I’ve visited, they’ve been the lamest.
girls here are **<strong><em>es. all freshmen girls very cliquey like HS and just go to freshmen frat *</em></strong>**bags and get laid. even goodlooking freshmen who have good social skills have trouble. its cus of a new situation where fresh girls join sororities in the fall, so they party with frats, while guys are left to kickbacks with barely any girls cus guys rush is winter…
RAs here are really strict! ive almost been kicked… lots of people pre=game in their dorms and then head out though… just be careful cus they’re good at catching you!</p>

<p>seriously, i had an awesome time in HS, and i come here and can’t believe how immature people are here. </p>

<p>lots of farming hics here
not much creativity, expression, normal college values here</p>

<p>frat scene is big enough to ruin all other parties, yet small enough that it really sucks. ive been to a couple and they really suck. very small frat houses and no frat row. frat parties do have 3 girls to every guy tho cus they let all girls in, but only frat members. all other parties off campus are 5 guys per girl and its just beer pong. basically people just get drunk and walk around.</p>

<p>food here SUCKS. barely edible and extremely unhealthy.</p>

<p>i can go on and on… this place is ok for a few people. but its just a career maker and its a ****hole. dont go here lol</p>

<p>i feel bad cus theres prolly lots of posts / threads on this forum by me raving about SLO…, but ive changed my mind and now im gonna be ****ed at community college til i transfer to a real university.</p>

2

<p>btw, some insider tips: get freedom meal plan.
housing- sierra madre and yosemite. i would actually prolly recomend yosemite even though i live in sm
easier to find weed here than alcohol</p>

3

<p>You didn’t ask for any advice, but I hope you’ll take some. It sounds like you were looking for a school with the following:</p>

<p>-student body made up of socially and racially diverse students
-the ability to change majors at will
-more of a broad-based liberal arts-style set of grad requirements rather than a curriculum focused on professional career training
-by “normal” college values, I assume you mean “liberal” or maybe even left-leaning with a high tolerance for alcohol use by underage students
-urban setting
-little or no fraternity/sorority scene
-no ag emphasis
-better food </p>

<p>It’s perfectly fine for you to want these things in a college. You should use a college search engine like CC’s SuperMatch to find something that’s a better fit for you, since you’re clearly so miserable at Cal Poly. If you haven’t tanked your grades this year, you should have lots of transfer options. </p>

<p>Your post is somewhat instructive about how to choose a college. I’m not going to argue with you about your characterization of Cal Poly: many of the things you list as weaknesses are considered strengths by current students. Your post definitely makes a case for kids to do their research, make college visits and think carefully about what they want in a school. </p>

<p>PS: OP, I read your thread below and it definitely sounds like you are a bit lost. Don’t hate on Cal Poly because you don’t know what to do with your life right now. </p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1029050-freshmen-business-major-thinking-dropping-out-needing-direction.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1029050-freshmen-business-major-thinking-dropping-out-needing-direction.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

4

<p>LSkaiWalker. I’m also sorry to hear you have been disappointed. However, let me share the advice I read in books and articles as I sent my daughter off to college this fall. </p>

<p>It is VERY common for students to become unhappy during their freshman year and most of the time it reaches its peak at the end of the fall term. I told my daughter to be aware of this and not expect to be thrilled every minute. </p>

<p>The advice of many college prep books is to stick it out your freshman year. Many students who are convinced they want to leave a college will change their mind by the end of springer quarter. You may be one of these. If you do a full year and still don’t like it then you can make an informed decision to change. </p>

<p>My advice, hang in their until June and then decide.</p>

5

<p>riverrunner, very well said!</p>

6

<p>From the other posts that the OP has made you can figure out that this kid is a real piece of work. </p>

<p>He :</p>

<ol>
<li> Pulled the fire alarm was wondering what would happen to him.</li>
<li> Failed his classes the first quarter.</li>
<li> Was wondering is he could apply to another school, not provide any info about attending Cal Poly and just call this a “gap” year.</li>
</ol>

<p>Well, I guess you could call this a “gap” year. It was a “gap” in many ways; judgement, maturity, ethics and probably a lot more.</p>

7

<p>oh, so you are the fire alarm child! </p>

<p>Well said HPuck35 and Riverrunner!</p>

<p>It is most ironic that you accused others at Cal Poly for being immature. It is no wonder you hate Cal Poly. Because Cal Poly actually wants a student who has enough “maturity” and “self control” to resist a childish act that even my 7 year old cousin can resist. </p>

<p>I also noticed you spent a great deal of your comments on the quality of parties and girls in CP. </p>

<p>You should reflect, are you REALLY ready for college? </p>

<p>Or are you merely ready for puke covered drunken nights passed out on the sidewalks?</p>

<p>Cal Poly never aimed (nor should it) to provide you with a party central atmosphere. And it is academically RIGOROUS and expect its students to live up to their high grading standards or else.</p>

<p>Given your lack of self control, why would you think you would do any better at UCSB (your intended transfer school) if you flunked out of Cal Poly? </p>

<p>And better yet, why would UCSB even take you?</p>

<p>Given your condition, please refrain from giving your deluded advice to other students who are serious about their academic career and serious about Cal Poly. </p>

<p>And by the way, UCSB is not super diverse either, but of course, judging from your previous due diligence on CP, you would have missed that little fact too.</p>

8

<p>You guys are very silly haha. I won’t even waste my time to reply to you guys.</p>

<p>But, thanks riverrunner & mariner, you gave the only mature responses / advice for me. I appreciate it.</p>

<p>I have a thread in the transfer forum here if anyone is interested… You guys seem very interested in looking up my history and trying to find ways to defend this school that your precious kids are going to, without doing anything helpful. I find it quite hilarious actually. riverrrunner put it nicely why I think SLO is a terrible school. Doesn’t prepare you for life, but does for a job. I guess it’s an ok choice for some students though…</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/uc-transfers/1042451-first-quarter-freshmen-cal-poly-slo-failing-transfer-cc-top-uc-needs-help.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/uc-transfers/1042451-first-quarter-freshmen-cal-poly-slo-failing-transfer-cc-top-uc-needs-help.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

9

<p>oh, so you are the fire alarm child! </p>

<p>Well said HPuck35 and Riverrunner!</p>

<p>It is most ironic that you accused others at Cal Poly for being immature. It is no wonder you hate Cal Poly. Because Cal Poly actually wants a student who has enough “maturity” and “self control” to resist a childish act that even my 7 year old cousin can resist. </p>

<p>I also noticed you spent a great deal of your comments on the quality of parties and girls in CP. </p>

<p>You should reflect, are you REALLY ready for college? </p>

<p>Or are you merely ready for puke covered drunken nights passed out on the sidewalks?</p>

<p>Cal Poly never aimed (nor should it) to provide you with a party central atmosphere. And it is academically RIGOROUS and expect its students to live up to their high grading standards or else.</p>

<p>Given your lack of self control, why would you think you would do any better at UCSB (your intended transfer school) if you flunked out of Cal Poly? </p>

<p>And better yet, why would UCSB even take you?</p>

<p>Given your condition, please refrain from giving your deluded advice to other students who are serious about their academic career and serious about Cal Poly. </p>

<p>And by the way, UCSB is not super diverse either, but of course, judging from your previous due diligence on CP, you would have missed that little fact too.</p>

<hr>

<p>Unless your Jesus, don’t bash on me for pulling the fire alarm. Everyone makes mistakes. I’ve matured from this experience.</p>

<p>Believe it or not, 99% of the kids applying to SLO will want their to be a good social life, which includes partying! College is about exploring everything in life… New experiences. Comparing all the schools I’ve visited with Cal Poly, I’m just saying I’ve been disappointed with the social scene here.</p>

<p>I’m honest, I’m not ready for college. I’m going back home to get a job and go to community college to mature and figure out life.</p>

<p>I’ve actually never puked once from alcohol since I’ve been here. Thanks.</p>

<p>My advice is not deluded. How is it deluded?? PLEASE explain! I made that post to help other intelligent beings make a more educated choice in what college they go to.</p>

<p>UCSB is MUCH more diverse than Cal Poly. Personality wise, ethnicity wise, style wise, creativity wise, class selection wise, political wise, economical wise, etc… etc…!</p>

<p>Well… I basically just wasted time replying to you… but since I absolutely owned you (haha this is immature to say, so you’ll probably bash me for it), I feel kind of good writing that out. ;)</p>

10

<p>Your issues have absolutely nothing to do with whether Cal Poly is a good or bad university. </p>

<p>Even if we all agree Cal Poly is the worst university on this planet, you will still have your major personal issues. </p>

<p>Your need for preparation for life starts with you growing up and stop blaming others for your own shortcomings (such as stop pulling fire alarms) and reflecting on the root causes of your failure at Cal Poly.</p>

<p>And sorry your retorts were beyond lame. If you thought that was “owning” someone at a debate, your level of competence put you at junior high school debate team level. </p>

<p>And as for social scene, there are plenty of Cal Poly students who have a great time making friends and “party hard” while still making grades and eventually grow out of the whole scene and become mature young adults. Sorry you are just not one of them. </p>

<p>As for UCSB, it is 53% white, and if you bother to find out through visits, it is more similar to CP than you can ever imagine. As for style, given your behavior so far, I suggest you find another one.</p>

<p>As for fire alarm for fun, I don’t know anyone in my life who has done that; Not even my toddler relatives. So no, not everyone makes that kind of mistake. Just you, and while you are in college…breathtaking.</p>

<p>Your advice is deluded because it demonstrated your obvious lack of due diligence before you enter Cal Poly. Everything you cited as deficit at Cal Poly (lack of diversity, professional oriented educational approach, small town, lack of big party scene) are all obvious and commonly known facts. Only you didn’t bother to do the homework and find out.</p>

<p>So why should you be giving out misguided advice now since you never did your homework the first time around? And worse yet, you resorting to blaming Cal Poly for your self-inflicted woes like a child.</p>

11

<p>OP:</p>

<p>Earlier this year, you were excited to go to Cal Poly. I agree, the food sucks and classes are hard, but I still LOVE going to school here. Maybe you’re just a city person not used to the suburban environment. Give it another quarter and see how you feel.</p>

12

<p>What you see as weaknesses of Cal Poly and SLO, others might see as strengths. But most of your points are correct, and almost all of them (well, maybe not the bad food) were knowable prior to admission. To sample a few:</p>

<p>

yep, this is published in the fact book, freshman class was 64% white in 2009.</p>

<p>

yep, that’s very clear on the website. Cal Poly is only for those (rare) students who know what they want to major in at age 17 or 18. </p>

<p>

Yep - the flow charts are there for a reason. You can know exactly what courses you’ll be taking for all 4 years.</p>

<p>

SLO - yep, small town, middle of nowhere </p>

<p>

Could be, I have no idea really. But Cal Poly isn’t a party school by reputation.</p>

<p>

yep, you’re not the only one who has noticed this.</p>

<p>What were you hoping to accomplish by posting this? It’s clear Cal Poly isn’t the right school for you. It’s probably not the right school for most recent California high school graduates. It’s a lot to ask of a teenager to select a major at age 17 or 18. But your experience isn’t the norm as far as I can tell. Most students are at Cal Poly because it was their first choice. They did the research and they wanted to be there. About 20% of the freshman class was admitted under binding Early Decision.</p>

<p>Best case: you’ve learned what’s important to you, you’ve gained some perspective on how to look for the right college for you, and you’ll incorporate what you’ve learned as you continue your higher education.</p>

<p>UCSB is in the middle of nowhere too, btw. It’s a long way from Santa Barbara.</p>

13

<p>Well I can kind of see where you’re coming from. At the end of last year (my freshman year here), I was positive Cal Poly was not the right place for me. I was not happy and I related to a lot of reasons why it was not a good school (food, types of people, classes, etc.). But I didn’t apply to any other schools for the fall, so I came back here for fall quarter. At first, I was unhappy and counting down the days until I could leave. I applied to several other universities for a mid year transfer. I got into all of them, but deferred my admission because believe it or not, I was actually beginning to doubt if I really wanted to leave here. You see, something happened. I’m not sure what, but all of a sudden I began to see the positives of this place: truly friendly people (if you look in the right places. I found a few people more like myself.), decent food options if you just take the bus downtown, decent weather, and some others that I can’t remember right now. Maybe I just grew up a bit, maybe my attitude changed, maybe this liking is only a temporary thing. But regardless of what made me change my mind, I think it’s important you just give it some time because you don’t want to make a decision you may regret. Even though you should really never regret anything because at one time it was exactly what you wanted. But I agree that Cal Poly is not the right place for everyone. Take time, figure it out, and make a good decision.</p>

14

<p>Any college is what you make of it… and so is life. </p>

<p>I don’t believe you when you say there is not Greek social life. SLO has 38 Fraternities/Sororities… not to mention the professional ones. That’s one place where you meet others and socialize.</p>

<p>And I don’t want to hear how you couldn’t/shouldn’t/wouldn’t fit into any of them. Or that you didn’t have time for it with your major. There’s always a way. </p>

<p>When I didn’t find a Fraternity that I was excited about… I didn’t let that impede me. Instead, I formed and started chapter of a National Greek Fraternity when I attended college… and I was a Computer Science Major. The college had a great Greek Fraternity/Sorority system associated with the college… about the same size as SLO.</p>

<p>Was it difficult? Yes… did I mention I was a Computer Science Major…? Did my friends and Frat brothers have more free time to enjoy and goof off because they had an easier major…? A resounding Yes! Did I let that slow me down or bother me…? A resounding No! My fault for selecting such a disciplined major.</p>

<p>Don’t let your minuscule 5 years that have elapsed bother you… it’s a drop in the bucket for what is to come.</p>

<p>I feel the need to say it again… any college is what you make of it… and so is life.</p>

15

<p>NTKS, how refreshing to read your post! I assumed you had left Cal Poly, based on your feelings last spring. I love your reflections in this post, and the maturity you’re showing in owning the job of finding your place at Cal Poly. “Bloom where you’re planted” as they say… I hope the OP has a similar epiphany. Best wishes for your remaining years of undergrad.</p>

16

<p>NTKS17:</p>

<p>This makes me **so **happy to read this! I remember last Spring when you weren’t thrilled with Cal Poly and I was sorry that things weren’t working out for you. BUT, it sounds like there’s been somewhat of a turn-around for you. Bravo! Best wishes!</p>

<p>You wrote:</p>

<p>** Well I can kind of see where you’re coming from. At the end of last year (my freshman year here), I was positive Cal Poly was not the right place for me. I was not happy and I related to a lot of reasons why it was not a good school (food, types of people, classes, etc.). But I didn’t apply to any other schools for the fall, so I came back here for fall quarter. At first, I was unhappy and counting down the days until I could leave. I applied to several other universities for a mid year transfer. I got into all of them, but deferred my admission because believe it or not, I was actually beginning to doubt if I really wanted to leave here. You see, something happened. I’m not sure what, but all of a sudden I began to see the positives of this place: truly friendly people (if you look in the right places. I found a few people more like myself.), decent food options if you just take the bus downtown, decent weather, and some others that I can’t remember right now. Maybe I just grew up a bit, maybe my attitude changed, maybe this liking is only a temporary thing. But regardless of what made me change my mind, I think it’s important you just give it some time because you don’t want to make a decision you may regret. Even though you should really never regret anything because at one time it was exactly what you wanted. But I agree that Cal Poly is not the right place for everyone. Take time, figure it out, and make a good decision. **</p>

17

<p>Bookmarked. OP sounds more like my son than I am comfortable with.</p>

18

<p>The OP makes some valid points. There are some things wrong with Cal Poly. In fact, I regret coming here. This is coming from someone who loves the ag lands, likes most aspects of the town, likes the sub-urban and rural surroundings and has never had a drink of alcohol in his entire academic career. What I don’t understand is why folks are so eager to attack those who have problems with the university. Do you really contend that the inability to change major and the lack of flexibility in choosing your classes are good, desirable things in a university?</p>

19

<p>Cal Poly has a lot to offer, but is not for everyone. My daughter who graduated in June, thought about leaving during her first quarter. She did change majors and ended up loving her experience in SLO. Many of her complaints were similar: bad food, lack of diversity etc. She was able to find a very diverse group of friends and moving off campus solved the bad food problem. What Cal Poly does have to offer is an amazing academic program for those students who know what they want to do. Where else can you interact so closely with your professors? What other school prepares you so well to step into a job? She was able to get a job in her field immediately following graduation.
Based on her older sister’s experience at Cal Poly, our younger daughter chose the school and is currently a second year Business major. It is an amazing department with lots of opportunities. She just went to an Accounting department function and got to meet representatives from top Accounting firms.
My advice to you is give it some more time. Seek out friendship. Go to office hours and get to know your professors. Find some students in your department that you can connect to. Explore the area. If you are at all into the outdoors, there are lots of hiking and biking trails.</p>

20

<p>I agree with LSkaiWalker…i visited SLO and it was NOT the place for me. Everyone at my school raves about how much fun it is, and we sent a pretty big group of students there every year, but i visited and could never see myself there…ever.</p>