<p>My son has gone back and forth about applying to SLO. While engineering is of interest to him, he’s not sure at all what he wants to do, be or major in. Some of his majors include industrial design, game design, arts & technology, music, animation and engineering.</p>
<p>The LAES major seems to be the best fit because it combines engineering with art and design, but he knows he can’t apply to that; he would have to transfer into that.</p>
<p>He’s got a 2230 SAT (730 CR, 750 M, 750 W), and something like a 3.95/4.6 CSU W gpa, though as a private homeschooler, I have no clue how they’ll look at his work. He’s full time dual-enrolled at the local (California) CC.</p>
<p>Should he pass on applying since he doesn’t know what he wants?</p>
<p>CP requires declaring a major when applying, and engineering majors are quite competitive, although your son’s stats. are competitive. In theory switching majors is hard to do. In reality, switching between or out of an engineering major is relatively easy. The bigger question though is what does your son want to do. CalPoly is not a research school. It prepares one well for the industry (which is where most engineers end up anyway), but if your son decides to go on and do research CP offers fewer options than a research school. He will have absolutely no trouble going into research, but he would have to do that after graduation. </p>
<p>Looking at the majors he is currently considering, there is such a shortage of graduates in the industry that getting an advanced degree is not really worth it, unless he decides to stay in academia after graduation. Good luck regardless.</p>
<p>Goodness, my son has never shown the slightest interest in research. He is all about ideas and hands on stuff. He loves working with his hands, his imagination, and computers, in the sense that he spends a lot of time analyzing design of animation. He took an animation class at the local CC and really enjoyed it, but still is talking about engineering and other types of design rather than straight animation, though that’s a possibility. He would like to get out and work after his u/g. When he heard that kids at SLO have used a forge (or something like that), that totally drew his attention.</p>
<p>What do you mean by, “there is such a shortage of graduates in the industry”? What industry are you talking about?</p>
<p>So, maybe, if he applies, he would apply to ME or music, and then transfer into LAES? Can’t really see any other majors of interest for him at SLO.</p>
<p>You can transfer into LAES from basically any major. I took a LAES class as an elective, and there were people in the major who originally started out as English, Physics, Architecture and ME majors at Cal Poly, to name a few. If your son’s goal is to transfer into the major, he should try to get a good idea of the LAES curriculum and apply to Cal Poly as a freshman in a subject that he will continue to pursue when he switches to LAES. LAES was originally started as a way to keep people from switching out of engineering completely, which is why it’s not a major you apply to as a freshman (yet). The LAES department is very hands on and really encourages students from all departments and majors to get involved and take classes, so I would recommend trying to contact the department if you’re interested in receiving more information. </p>
<p>@sbjdorlo, there are a plethora of ways to be creative at Cal Poly. You can do it through formal school work, but just as importantly through their many clubs. My son is a freshman ME. He’s never welded in his life, but after a month or so of the required welding class that all MEs take, he just fabricated his first part for the SAE race car. Students can make their own surfboards (with guidance if needed), build bike frames, baseball bats, the list is LONG.</p>
<p>Someone from LAES actually called my son and they talked for about twenty minutes. It was somewhat helpful for him in terms of defining what it is he wants out of college. But given that he’s only 17, meh, what does he really know? :-)</p>
<p>@eyemgh, I’m going to show my son your post. (He’s never been on CC) You all have convinced me it’s worthwhile to apply (not thinking we can afford it, but…). I’ve always thought it was a great school, but just wasn’t sure if it would be for this son. <em>Love</em> the hands on stuff! And he would love it!</p>
<p>He’s always wanted to weld, forge, build with wood, etc. but our little home and budget just never allowed for it. So he’s always created on a small scale.</p>
<p>Apply without question. My kid has found 1001 ways to be creative and switching majors is not nearly as difficult as many on this forum suggest. </p>
<p>Should he apply to a less competitive major, then? Since ME is so competitive, and his work experience has been entirely in music rather than STEM, would it make sense to apply in music or some major? His CR/M is 1480. So far, he has only one B in a community college trig class. Does SLO count first semester grades? He’s likely to get an A two of his college classes, pre-calc and English 105, but a B in his college Italian class, so he’ll have two Bs by mid-year.</p>
<p>Since SLO uses an algorithm that’s based on “in the box” schools, I have no idea what they’ll do with a private homeschooler. Just want my son to have a shot at getting in, and since he really doesn’t know what he wants to study but does think the LAES major sounds good (except for the travel abroad req.-he doesn’t want to travel abroad at it stands now because he has T1 diabetes), so he probably would transfer into it.</p>
<p>He’s looking at it now, but I think I’ll look at admit stats by major.</p>
<p>@sbjdorio, Cal Poly has not one, but two fully outfitted shops that have no other purpose than to support student clubs and projects. We aren’t talking a few chop saws and drills. We’re talking every welding type imaginable, wood and metal lathes, multi axis CNC machines, plasma cutters (my son just learned how to use it, sounds killer cool!), casting, polymers and composites, you name it. Most of the schools didn’t have teaching labs this well outfitted and CP doesn’t teach in those shops. Classes have their own equipment. Don’t worry. They won’t just throw him in and say “have at it.” The shops have staff and students have to learn how to operate safely and proficiently before they are given their cards for unfettered access.</p>
<p>As for major, have him read about what some of the different engineers do. Although you can change majors at CP, it’s not guaranteed and its easier if the classes you’ve taken count towards your new major. </p>
<p>Lastly, music and engineering are a common pairing. My son has played a classical instrument since he was 5. At several of the schools we visited where it was relatively easy to minor, the most common engineering minor was music.</p>
<p>Thanks, eyemgh. He really prefers ME as his first choice but thought Industrial Engineering sounded pretty good, though it seems a lot different. Do you recommend he go for ME anyways, even though admit rate is pretty low? Admit rate for IE is very high according to the algorithm-something like 78%. Why such a difference I wonder?</p>
<p>@sbjdorlo, I can’t speak for IE other than to say it is one of the easiest admits in the engineering department. ME is a tough admit, but he, on the surface (the MCA looks at more than just GPA and test scores) has a good record, so I wouldn’t shy away from ME. Although you can transfer at Poly, they have built in barriers to backdooring into a department. Suffice it to say, it would stink to get into IE, hate it (if he did), and not be able to get into ME.</p>
<p>If you haven’t, call admissions and ask for assistance with his GPA and course work (rigor) calculations. Both homeschooling and CC make that a bit more complex. They are very helpful and you want to do it right.</p>
<p>The biggest thing relating both to success in an engineering program and how competitive he’ll be in the ME pool, is how much math he’s taken and how comfortable he is with it. The algorithm bonus for math through at least 1year of calculus is 500 points. That bonus alone is 10% of the algorithm. It’s directly equivalent to scoring 500 points higher on the SAT! He’ll be competing in admissions and then in school with students who have strong scores and have taken a year or more of calculus.</p>
<p>Look at the post titled something like confused about MCA scores and find my two posts. It’ll explain ways he might boost his chances if there’s still time.</p>
<p>Hm, I guess we could call SLO. Wonder if that would be me to call since I’m his GC.</p>
<p>Well, math is his weakest area because he has a math disability. Engr has been a big question because of it, despite the fact that his physics profs at the CC both thought he should go into engr because he was so good at (trig-based) physics compared to the other students in the class. (He took it last year at 16)</p>
<p>But he is only in pre-calc this semester, and while he has an A right now and I’m hoping he holds onto that A, his one B in high school was in trig last year at the CC. He will take Calc I at the CC next semester, so yes, he is at a disadvantage. SLO, because they are so “in the box” has no way of knowing my son has worked <em>extremely</em> hard to compensate for his disability, and is getting better at and more comfortable with math. He has said if he can get through this class with an A (or even a high B), he will feel like he has what it takes to get through the math for engr.</p>
<p>So no, he is not like most kids coming in. The SAT math is easy for him. He’s exceptional at reasoning, but has always struggled with computation. (As stated elsewhere, his reasoning tested at 98%ile and his calculation at 14%ile when he was 12 on a particular achievement test) In fact, just this year, he was learning long division of polynomials because he’d never learned long division.</p>