My daughter did lot of A-G courses; due to the quarter system was introduced middle of high school. Due to the fast phase nature of the quarter system, her grades suffered. She has 27.5 years of A-G course work against 15 years required. she has strong course work in Math ( 6 years) and Science (8 years). She has completed AP calc BC in 11th grade; However her AP test score was 3. she is studying 2 AP physics in 12th grade. Her weighted GPA is 3.76; ACT score is 31 (super score may be 32); SLO MCA may be about 4375. she is interested in mechanical engineering. What are her chances for Cal ploy SLO?
Around a 4700+ MCA score is considered competitive for Engineering. Make sure she selects an alternate major if SLO is her top choice.
Average CP GPA for SLO College of Engineering: 4.16
Thanks. She is thinking of selecting business major as alternative. Is it possible to change the major in CP once admitted in particular major?
SLO does consider alternate majors but not always so there is no guarantee it will be considered.
To change a major at SLO, you need to go through the following requirements and have to attend 1 quarter before applying for change of major.
Factors that departments may consider to determine eligibility:
-Students must complete at least one quarter at Cal Poly before changing their major.
The following criteria may be considered:
-Change of Major eligibility – the majors for which the student was eligible at time of admission
***This is key since this keeps applicants from selecting a less competitive major to get into SLO then try to switch to a more competitive major. If she doesn’t qualify as a Freshman applicant for Business, she may not be able to change later.
-College academic record (e.g., GPA, coursework, etc.), and
-Remaining coursework and the student’s ability to complete degree requirements in the new major within the published unit maximum requirements for the major
More detailed information here: https://www.cob.calpoly.edu/studentservices/changing-major/
Thank you lot.
She prefers SLO.we are California residents. Will she have better chance of admission if she selects physics as primary major and business as alternate major.
Or engineering as primary major and physics as secondary major?
ME has a projected acceptance rate of 17%. Physics and Business around 30%. There are less selective Engineering majors such as Industrial or Materials, but I still think her MCA score will be on the low side. If SLO is her top choice, I would have her select Physics and Business. There is no guarantee that SLO will consider her alternate major and these are projections so no way to know if they will be higher or lower. SLO is overenrolled so it will be a tough admit either way.
@mncbabu switching from engineering to business would be possible, but switching from business to engineering would be extremely difficult. Also, bear in mind that Cal Poly only considers alternate majors in very limited circumstances. Given how impacted business is, I don’t think that she will get in that way. If your daughter is interested in engineering, she should definitely just focus on that, and cast a wide net in applying to schools. She’d likely have a good chance at any of the CSUs and certainly some UCs. If she really just wants to go to Cal Poly, then she’d have a better chance at the business school. But as eyemgh always says, the vast majority of students love whatever school they attend, so picking a school that will allow her to explore engineering, physics and business would maybe be a better fit for your daughter.