Liberal arts at Cal Poly SLO?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
1

<p>Hello, collegeconfidential members.
I was hoping if any of you could help me out here:
I applied to Cal Poly as a journalism major. The wife of my dad’s friend said it had a great journalism department, and she had a wonderful experience there. Journalism is something I applied to at other schools as well (one dream was to go big with broadcast journalism; I have a lot of career paths in mind). But after asking a few people who currently attend, I’ve heard that it was almost on the chopping block! In that case, would I be better off pursuing journalism at a school farther away? Keep in mind SLO is within driving distance, and is a lot cheaper than some of my other options.</p>

<p>On the other hand, would it be easy for me to change majors to English? My goal is to go onto graduate school (hopefully a top 20 law school, but things may change…heck, I might not even go to graduate school!) and I want to be well prepared for it. I know many will say that I should consider a UC…but I got rejected by most. The only acceptance I got was from UCR and UCD waitlisted me :confused: Even though many people who seemed more qualified than me got rejected, I do feel this is my fault because I didn’t take college admissions very seriously mostly all through high school, and neither did my parents. I am going to change this attitude because I don’t like this feeling of wasted potential and rejections…
Anywho, I have a wide range of interests: English, journalism, psychology and also Poli Sci and Business. I know Cal Poly has a great business school…and I’d really like to take advantage of that because if Cal Poly isn’t great with other liberal arts majors like English (and grad school may be harder than I thought), then Business seems even more of an obligation. Engineering is so not for me; math is not my forte. Ideally, I’d love to double major with Business and English, and IF I CAN, minor in Psychology or PS so I can graduate faster (an alumni of my hs said she is doing the same–will graduate in 3 years)
So, anyone have any input? I know that graduates from Cal Poly’s engineering program start off with many job offers and earn 38k salaries sooo…does that apply to LA kids, too? I also learned that many industries recruit Cal Poly business majors because of the “hands-on-experience.” It would be great to work and juggle law school at the same time. Not sure how realistic all this is, but I need answers ASAP!</p>

<p>I greatly appreciate your time!</p>

<p>-Daisy via mobile device</p>

<p>P.S.- I know it’s not entirely impossible to go to grad school from Cal Poly, as I’ve seen many inspiring examples, but I want to know how likely it is.</p>

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<p>I wouldn’t recommend journalism as a major at Cal Poly. The department is not bad, but in my opinion journalism experience is something you can gain in your free time and that you don’t necessarily have to go to school for to learn and become good at. Become an expert in something else if journalism interests you - business, political science, international affairs, biology, whatever - and then you can report on it as well as other news.</p>

<p>It would not be very difficult for you to change your major to English if that interests you. And it’s definitely possible to go on to a good grad school after Cal Poly. Just do well at Cal Poly and get involved. Most majors will prepare you, but ultimately you decide how much you learn. It can be easy to coast by in some classes and pull off a nearly effortless B, as I have done numerous times. But I’ve come to realize that actually learning - doing the reading, understanding ideas and not just memorizing what I need to know - is worth the time. Once you figure out what a teacher wants, its up to you to decide how much you’re going to learn, especially in liberal arts type classes. </p>

<p>Cal Poly does have a good business program. I’m pretty sure they’re no longer taking minors though, and I’m not sure about double majors. A lot of industries do recruit from the business program too - definitely more than from liberal arts. I’ve had a couple friends graduate with business degrees, and they’re earning over $40,000 a year their first year out of school. Engineering starting salaries are usually even higher. If you do well in school as an engineer, it’s not uncommon to be earning $60,000 or so, depending on the type of engineering.</p>

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<p>Ah, and this is something I’m merely curious about…
but if you drop below a 3.0 W gpa SLO can rescind you, right?</p>

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<p>I believe that the LA department is underrated at Cal Poly. I’ve met English majors there and it seems to be a very close knit department. If you are within driving distance, go to the Open House in April and get to know the department. Talk to students and professors and spend some time checking out career services. The business department is great and will speak for itself.</p>

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<p>Can anyone say how they would compare with…say…CSULB? I’m not sure yet about UCD and SCU (I’m starting to like Cal Poly loads better). And I don’t like UCR’s environment at all. I do know CSULB is a top tier CSU along with Cal Poly. Although it might not have the name recognition, maybe it’s LA is stronger…?</p>