<p>It’s late and I have been distractedly reading CC. My D will need to make a decision in a month and I want to learn all I can about her options to help her. She was accepted into SLO in the Sociology dept (really only a marginal interest, but that’s another thing altogether). When I read about SLO it seems so get-a-job-when-you-graduate focused that I wonder if it has teachers who teach how to think outside the box, or about ideas (eg.like what are our responsibilities as world citizens?). Are there some ‘radical professors’ who challenge students to question authority and all that? Are they training students only to be cogs in the wheel or are they inspiring leaders? I’d appreciate any feedback from current students or parents. Thx.</p>
<p>There are definitely teachers that help you think outside the box! I think the “get a job when you graduate” mentality also comes from the strong engineering program and business school. In my liberal arts classes, the teachers have encouraged creativity and new ideas. In ALL of my classes, we’ve talked about the responsibilities as world citizens. :)</p>
<p>I agree with Polygirl12 regarding certain majors being more apt to “get a job in their field” when they graduate; ie; engineering, business and architecture for the most part. Many of the science and liberal studies majors will most likely go on to grad school or acquire a teaching certificate. My daughter will *have *to get a master’s in the field in which she plans to go into.</p>
<p>maenidmom did you know about polyratings.com? It’s a teacher rating site not affiliated with Cal Poly, but heavily used by students. You might take a look through some of the student comments in the Sociology dept to get a feel for how the professors are viewed. </p>
<p>Are you and your daughter going to the open house in 2 weeks? If so, you can arrange informal meetings to talk to professors while you’re there.</p>
<p>As an anecdote, my 2 sons are both taking Intro to Philosophy this quarter/semester. They’re reading some similar authors (Plato, John Stuart Mill) and some different ones (Locke, Marx). S1 (Cal Poly '13) will have no papers to write - grades are based on multiple choice tests. There are 96 students in the class, which is lecture only. He says the prof is hilarious. S2 (Redlands '14) has 3-4 papers and a written mid-term and final. I’m not sure how many students, maybe 30. Some class discussion. The prof is a fairly easy grader on the papers, but the assignments were challenging and required some reflective thinking on the part of the students.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info re the professor ranking. The anecdote re the classes is interesting. I really loved the Cal Poly campus when we went- the energy was so high. But after the dust settled, it felt like maybe an extension of HS- certainly lots of fun activity. And I was so aware of all the posters about fun things to do- but I don’t recall posters about bigger issues. Vballmom, at Redlands I recall seeing two posters, one for a Drag Queen something or other, next to a poster about a film about the boy soldiers in Africa. A little fun with a little social activism. Certainly it must be the same at Cal poly…</p>
<p>Courses in psychology, English lit, philosophy, technical writing, art, sociology, etc, were some of the thought provoking classes my son took. He learned to think beyond himself & look at life in a different way, and was moved by what he learned. Even in many of his engineering classes, teachers discuss much more than just whats on the syllabus.</p>
<p>I dont think the Engineering professors teach just to make sure their students get a job upon graduation. Every university probably teaches the same concepts and has students apply them. Im not sure why or how, but Cal Poly students become proficient at what they learn. I believe this is what employers like, Cal Poly students who, upon getting their undergraduate degrees, are ready for industry. Students tend to get jobs as a by-product of how much theyve learned in school.</p>
<p>Just read an interesting article from Mustang Daily about the Android Apps class. This is a nice example of learning something from a teacher (could have been any teacher or any class in any major) and using some creativity & hard work to produce something that could help others. If you read some of the past Cal Poly magazines & news articles or CENG (College of Engineering) News, youll see just a few of the amazing things Cal Poly students (from all majors) have done.</p>
<p>And agree that visiting at Open House is an excellent way to meet the faculty & students and see for yourself what kinds of students come out of Cal Poly.</p>
<p>Well we visited this past weekend, it was our spring break and we jammed visits to five campuses. It was a second visit for SLO. A Saturday so without the hustle bustle of kids moving between classes. We watched a rugby game. I talked to some kids (polite, intelligent). Choice has come down between SLO and UCSC (tho, I liked SDSU as much as Cal Poly. D did not.).<br>
The thing that sticks in my craw about SLO is that it must be the whitest place in the public college system. I know that with 19K students there has to be diversity at least with ideas, but somehow the whole place just seemed like an extension of a suburban high school. Do African-Americans purposely stay away from this place? (We are average/white suburban folk ourselves).
I think my D will be happy at whichever she chooses and I will bite my tongue because my feelings are feelings- the facts support both as excellent places to learn, both will engage her. Between soccer and IB classes (exams are coming up) she doesn’t have a lot of spare time to just reflect. Those kids who take a gap year are onto something.</p>
<p>Why should it matter so much what the racial composition of a college is?</p>
<p>“The thing that sticks in my craw about SLO is that it must be the whitest place in the public college system.”</p>
<p>Cal Poly admissions are colorblind, no points are given for “race.” The students accepted are the ones with the highest admission index (by major) based on the numbers – GPA, SAT or ACT score, “rigor” score, and a few other points awarded for things like extra-curricular hours, job related to major, active duty military, and first generation college, and maybe local area residency. There is no comprehensive review or essay to influence admissions.</p>
<p>If Cal Poly seems “too white”, it is because a high proportion of the top applicants (by Cal Poly’s numbers based admissions formula) are white. Of course, it is possible that top applicants of other races who are offered admission at Cal Poly choose to attend another school.</p>
<p>@Mariner116: It matters because cultural understanding leads to a more peaceful world. A campus is often a logical place to get to know people at a deeper level.
@ralph: Thanks for the reminder re the admissions process. I think some most likely do choose to go elsewhere. I do believe in color-blind admission, BTW.</p>