I just signed up and am new to College Confidential. I created this post for all those undergraduate transfer applicants who are interested in going in to Cal Poly SLO. I have not really seen anything relating to my post I believe. I am currently aiming towards being a Mechanical Engineer and apply to Cal Poly SLO for that major. I recently checked the acceptance rates for Cal Poly SLO and they seem very low. Almost 10% in fact. The average accepted GPA for 2015 is a 3.55 for Engineering (I will transfer in to a school 2018, I'm currently a freshman at Moorpark Community College). I guess the obvious is that may be most of those transfer applicants did not have a high enough GPA to get in. But, in one of my engineering classes, a recent student to our community college came in and talked about how he applied to Cal Poly SLO with a 3.8 and got rejected. He later chose to go to UCSB. He also had I believe almost 130 units as well, I don't know whether that matters or not. The reason being for so many units is because he transferred between majors throughout his time at community college. He also did not have any extra curricular activities or internships. I believe 90 of them were for engineering. By the time I transfer out of college, I will have 92 units. I'm taking many units due to the fact of engineering requires a ton of units. I'm doing more than what Cal Poly SLO requires and desires because UC's expect more. I put UC's on my list because I do want backup schools (weird, UC's being backups). Cal Poly SLO seems like a hit or miss for me because they seem quite random from their acceptance from what I have heard. My teacher told me to not even take 92 units if I wanted to go to Cal Poly SLO, just do what they want and keep above the average GPA and you will be set but I'm not too quite sure that is all I have to do. I would like to know how Cal Poly SLO exactly chooses who to accept and who not to accept. I heard maybe that extra curricular activities and an internship can help, but I would like to know what exactly would help me get into Cal Poly SLO. I want an early start on being prepared to transfer to colleges because this is my number one school. I'm doing great so far and keeping above the GPA average, but it may be too early to tell since this is my first semester. Thank you :)
Also, I would love to know what you guys think I should be doing instead to get into Cal Poly SLO Engineering. Maybe take what they want and desire only, maybe more like I am currently doing, or something else. Thanks again
You will see they have minimum required where you will be rejected if you don’t have ALL of it and the desired. Applicants are given bonus points for the desired classes, more classes from the list results in more points. More points means better chance of admission. They vary from major to major
Do as well as you can in all your classes. Take every required class and as many of the desired ones as your school has. You will be at a disadvantage of your school doesn’t have them. Then hope for the best. LOTS of students want to get into CP.
@eyemgh I checked that link and I plan on doing all of the courses that my school has to offer using the assist.org, but it seems that my school has all the required courses but about half of the desired courses. What do you think I should do?
Does Cal Poly SLO calculate my GPA in all the total courses I have taken or just the courses they require and desire?
I feel like dropping all my extra courses and only focusing on what Cal Poly SLO wants, but a huge feeling inside my gut tells me thats a bad choice (by extra courses, I mean the courses UC’s want. Ill still take all of what Cal Poly SLO desires and wants).
I’m not as familiar with transferring as I am with the first time freshman process. What I’d do is call admissions. They are very friendly and helpful. Explain your situation and ask what you can do to maximize your admission potential. Then ask a specific question, “Have you admitted transfers from Moorepark to ME?” Some community colleges, Cuesta specifically, are geared for that jump. I don’t know if yours is or not. Good luck.
Additionally, the California public colleges are under a policy to get their students in and out of school. No more life-long studying for cheap. So, after you go above a certain amount of units at your school, you start getting billed at an OOS rate (we learned this from the chemical engineering dean at a cal state). You can check this at your schools.
I would recommend you stick to their required coursework and other GE requirements and use TAG to get into the schools that have TAG.
@eyemgh Thanks again for the response. I checked up on Cuesta College and they seem to not have the same exact courses my schools do not have as well. I’m not exactly sure what schools do have those extra desired courses. I’ll go ahead and call tomorrow and ask that very question. Thank you!
@“aunt bea” I guess I’m just a bit confused on the whole cap limit on units. I understand that different schools have different limits, but what if you are over your schools limit? Will they deny you? Thanks
@MechEngr18 - if you are transferring from a California Community College, there is no maximum amount of credits that would affect your transferring. I just pulled up one of the CC’s FAQ - see numbers #42, 43 and #44 (which directly answers your question) http://www.missioncollege.org/student_services/transfer/faqs.html#faq43
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