I am a high school senior at a boarding school in new england. I applied to Cal Poly SLO this fall and selected the “Environmental Earth and Soil Sciences” as my major. I initially wasn’t too worried about the whole selection process, however, i have been reading about how selective and competitive CP SLO is becoming, which is making me anxious. I know that some departments (e.g. liberal arts majors) are much easier to get into than engineering and science departments. Does anyone know how Env. earth and soil sciences compares to other majors? I have a bit of a weird high school transcript as I took time off for mental health reasons. My ACT score is 31, SAT score is 1360, and GPA is around a 4.0 (not positive about Cal poly- specific GPA or weighted vs unweighted). I don’t have paid work experience in my major field (work is hard when you go to boarding school) and I have 2 APs, but have maintained good grades and have lots of volunteering and leadership roles throughout high school.
I didn’t apply to any UC schools (except for UCB- def a long shot but has been my dream school for a while as i used to live in Berkeley) because OOS tuition is pretty crazy. I am really really wanting to go to school in Cali and would love to be on the coast, or at least somewhat close to the ocean. location is a pretty big factor for me. I got into SDSU and Westmont, and am applying to Pitzer, Santa Clara, and Whittier as well. also Univ of Utah, UVM, whitman, whitworth, univ of portland, and bates- not in Cali obviously. I am pretty set on Cal Poly as my first choice right now but seeing as there’s a very slim chance I’ll be accepted, can anyone tell me about experiences w any of the schools i listed? trying to get more excited about other schools because right now im in the mindset that if i don’t get into cal poly, i don’t know what the heck i would do:/. Thanks!
As an indicator of Cal Poly’s general selectivity, you might consider its middle-ramge ACT score profile of 26-32.
https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=Obispo&s=all&id=110422#admsns
SLO publishes target projections for each major. For last year, the projected acceptance rate for Env Earth and Soil Science was around an 80% but it depends upon yield. SLO is a selective campus but major selectivity varies greatly.
You look competitive and SLO admits based on MCA points and major. Here is the MCA point calculator. SLO also uses 9-11th grades in their GPA calculation vs the other Cal states that use 10-11th grades only.
Are you a CA resident?
If not, just be aware SLO will be Full pay at around $42K/ year with little FA.
If you are CA resident, then SLO is a great option. Also with this major, you are looking at attending Graduate school for the best career opportunities.
SLO publishes target projections for each major. For last year, the projected acceptance rate for Env Earth and Soil Science was around an 80% but it depends upon yield. SLO is a selective campus but major selectivity varies greatly.
You look competitive and SLO admits based on MCA points and major. Here is the MCA point calculator. SLO also uses 9-11th grades in their GPA calculation vs the other Cal states that use 10-11th grades only.
If you are OOS, just be aware SLO will be Full pay at around $42K/ year with little FA.
Also with this major, you are looking at attending Graduate school for the best career opportunities.
Thanks! Would you mind letting me know where you found this information?
Here is the link for the target projections: https://content-calpoly-edu.s3.amazonaws.com/ir/1/images/2019-20%20Enrollment%20Projections%20for%20Continuing%20Students%20-%20no%20total%20error%20adj.pdf
The table shows the # of projected Freshman Applications for each major (FTF Apps) and the target # (FTF Target). SLO admits more applicants than target spots so depending upon the yield. For a general idea, you can assume a 33% yield which gives above a 80% projection acceptance rate.
So for example EESS, target is 75 spots with 251 applications. 75x3/251= projected acceptance rate.
The actual acceptance rate could be different.