Think very hard about attending Cal Poly. The school is extremely overcrowded and it will be near impossible to graduate in 4 years. Your schedule will be a mess with early morning and late evening classes. Most definitely not the “happiest place” that it is rumored to be .
Everyone’s situation is different. If you start with a lot of AP credit it is certainly doable. My daughter will graduate this June and she spent two quarters studying abroad in South Korea her Junior year. She will graduate with a CPE degree and will start with Apple next September after two consecutive internships. A good friend of mine has a daughter that will take an extra semester to graduate from Carnegie Mellon, since that school accepted very few of her IB credits. A semester at that school is more expensive than a full year at CalPoly.
Well, my son is a 4th year in Mechanical Engineering, one of the hardest to finish on time. It’s 200 hours instead of 180 like most degrees, and it’s very challenging. After this quarter, he’ll have just 10 hours left. He’s just officially become a Masters candidate. So, not only will he graduate on time, he’ll have most of his masters done to boot.
Is every student like that? No. Do a few experience what the above poster suggests? Sure. No school is perfect. No school. Every school is largely what you make of it.
On balance, especially for certain majors, Cal Poly is a pretty special place. Go visit while school is in session. See for yourself. Don’t just take the advice of the bitter or the ebulient that you’ll run into on every board.
Good luck!
My son just came home for the first time this school year. His first two months as a freshman at Cal Poly have had the usual assortment of growing pains: getting used to dorm life, figuring out where the best food is, adjusting to college rigor, making new friends, etc. He is still very happy with his choice of schools. His friends from high school are making similar adjustments to their college situations. Some are more successful than others. So much of what makes a school a “fit” is starting with a place that you are drawn to academically and geographically, that also fits your budget and lifestyle. After that, it’s all on the student to make the most of the experience.
A healthy dose of realistic expectations and a certain amount of resiliency will be necessary to be successful anywhere a person attends school. Cal Poly offers a great environment, a high end education, and the usual assortment of college problems. As parents, we are very pleased with our son’s situation in our limited time associated with the school.