<p>[New</a> Academic Year Brings Growth, Diversity to Student Body at Cal Poly](<a href=“http://calpolynews.calpoly.edu/news_releases/2013/August/freshman.html]New”>http://calpolynews.calpoly.edu/news_releases/2013/August/freshman.html)</p>
<p>Interesting reading - thanks for posting!</p>
<p>I can’t say I’m surprised that the incoming freshman class has the highest SAT and ACT scores, and GPA, ever. The trend has been in place for a while and will likely continue.</p>
<p>It’s disappointing that despite the press release’s title, there is little about diversity beyond the statement “The incoming class is Cal Poly’s most ethnically diverse … in the university’s history.” Some data would have been informative.</p>
<p>I went on a tour today and was told that 700 kids more had committed than expected (4,800 vs. 4,100) hence yield was much higher than expected…which will mean admission will be tougher next year.
It Ls meant this years that many dorms are converted to triples instead of doubled.</p>
<p>Honestly I don’t like how admissions screwed the pooch so badly on this one. Are you telling me they had no way of knowing the yield would be so high?</p>
<p>I actually have a gut feeling that this is in reality a part of a growth plan for Cal Poly… that is, that the extra 28% was engineered into the process. However, they should have first built additional dorms. Most students absolutely do not want triples. When our first daughter toured UCLA on admitted students day, and went on the dorm tour, her first words upon returning were: NFW. Triples? That to her was a metaphor for how UCLA had not managed its growth, and was not student friendly. What’s next, a contest to see how many students can fit in a phone booth? (that’s obvously a dated reference, but you get the idea.)</p>
<p>And that’s what bugs me a little… if our student had wanted a larger school like UCSB, she would have accepted her admission to UCSB instead of Cal Poly.</p>
<p>My kid had a triple back in 2011 for his freshman year. No problem. The guys became really good friends.</p>
<p>If it had been me – no way. Being an old dude in his 50’s, I would not have been able to even fit in a college dorm bed (not wide enough!).</p>
<p>Nevertheless, my kid really liked it and since he got along with both his roommates it was great for him. However, I was really surprised at some of the crazy stuff they did. For example, one pair of stinky shoes went in the fridge instead of the garbage can! It was explained to me that keeping the shoes cool stopped the smell. Hey, if they were all OK with it, it ain’t any of my business. Just don’t feed me anything from that fridge!</p>
<p>However, one thing that really impressed me was that they put their heads together and figured the most efficient way to arrange the furniture. They wrote out an entire blueprint of the room and several scenarios and chose the most space efficient model. All three were engineers.</p>
<p>@DunninLA - It is part of Armstrong’s master plan to grow the school. He came to talk to a club I was in and said that over the course of I forget how many years, but sometime in the not too far away future, he wants to grow the school to 23,000 or so. I think it’s roughly 18,000 as of last year. He that if we don’t expand there will be “consequences.” I think it’s because of financial reasons, of course. The same reason he wants more out of state students. Not saying this is a bad things necessarily. But expanding before you are ready with adequate facilities and such might be rushing it.</p>
<p>One distinct advantage of out of state/international students is that Cal Poly’s national and international reputation will grow substantially. One of the reasons why UCLA and Berkeley have such great national and international reps is that they have sought out top OSS and Int’l students consistently over the years. It never hurts to have satisfied customers all over the country and the World. Really enhances the alumni network and broadens job prospects.</p>
<p>@DunninLA I am annoyed too (700 extra students? really???) but I do think part of it had to do with the UCs being MUCH harder to get into this year. I’m guessing a lot of students (such as myself, actually) applied to both SLO and UCs and didn’t end up getting into the UCs they wanted… my safety UC didn’t accept me. SLO is the other good/cheap option!</p>
<p>According to this article, the larger class is in part due to more funding from the state, as well as increased efforts to grow Cal Poly. </p>
<p>[Cal</a> Poly to see its biggest freshman class ever this fall | Education | SanLuisObispo.com](<a href=“http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2013/08/09/2624653/largest-freshman-student-enrollment.html#storylink=cpy]Cal”>http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2013/08/09/2624653/largest-freshman-student-enrollment.html#storylink=cpy)</p>
<p>
yeah, I get that, but our daughter <em>did</em> get into the mid tier UCs (SB, I, D). She turned them down for SLO, and one of those reasons is that SLO never felt to her “impacted”, for lack of a better word, in term of feeling like a crowded place like some UCs do. That has apparently changed now. Now you’ve got such rapid intentional growth that dorms have mandatory triples, which is a different experience, and possibly detrimental to studying, vs. doubles. and why? b/c now apparently Cal Poly is as growth hungry as the UCs… and we know how much they value undergraduate students (roll eyes). Where the hell are three young women going to fit their clothing? I mean for guys its no big deal… maybe ten pieces of clothing get you through a whole quarter. But girls? Girls rushing sororities? Two small closets for three women? </p>
<p>Basically I’m saying it sounds like the Cal Poly culture is going to change, quickly. Crowding changes the way people treat other people, and the way they feel about their environment, and neither is positive. The first change is to admit students where facilities are not yet ready… very UC like.</p>
<p>If I can give your daughter any advice, whether in a single, double or triple, don’t study in your room. Too many distractions. Find a hole in a department or the library and go there to study.</p>
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<p>Triple rooms have either 3 wardrobes (free standing closets with drawers) or one wardrobe and two closets. Each student will have their own wardrobe/closet.</p>
<p>^ that’s good to know.</p>
<p>There is one other issue on the triples that is still sort of irritating me… the University is making a lot of extra profit from triples vs. doubles. This surprised me. When my daughter told me she was going to have to live in a triple instead of the double that she signed up for very early on and paid the deposit for, I said to her that at least the benefit of that is that the room charge would be divided into 3 students instead of 2, so she’d pay 33% less in room charge. Right? Wrong.</p>
<p>A double occupancy is listed at $6,430 per person, which is $12,860 total for the year for that room. I figured then that $12,860 would now be divided into three, so $4,287 per resident. (Of course meal plan is charged separately and is not included in that fee). But today when I looked up Residence Hall fees, instead of $4,287, I found $5,145 per student. That makes that same room collect $15,435 annual rent vs. the $12,860 if it were still a double. YOu see now what’s bugging me? </p>
<p>Now it looks to me like the University is collecting an extra $2,575 rent per room by having three students instead of two occupying the same room. Sure, extra students use extra electricity for elevators and lamps and such, and more water for showering, and more wear on the carpet, plus and an extra desk, chair and wardrobe, but I don’t think it’s THAT much! Does that seem strange to anybody else… first mandating students into a triple to accomodate Cal Poly’s growth objectives, then not giving them the full price break?</p>
<p>I don’t know… not a big deal in the full scheme of things, but it still kinda bugs me that they can fail to plan adequate facilities to absorb their growth objectives, then profit from that mistake.</p>
<p>^ I’m just glad that CalPoly has accommodated all freshmen who want to live on campus, which not all CSU’s do. They have also made the room able to accommodate 3 students (three closets/wardrobes, 3 bookshelves, 3 desks) unlike SJSU which has forced triples with 3 kids sharing 2 closets and 2 overhead bins. A year ago, when my son was applying to CalPoly, he was aware that they had forced triples and that they had used “overflow” rooms to accommodate students, and he was fine with that - his response was that he would rather be in a forced triple at CalPoly than a single or double elsewhere. </p>
<p>Ds is in contact with his roommates, and they all plan to study elsewhere, and will be involved in activities. The room will basically be where they sleep and store their stuff.</p>
<p>Unless Cal Poly builds larger classrooms, they can’t admit as many students as in the UCs. They don’t have the space for huge classes. Yes, some GE courses are held in auditorium settings. I’m not sure what they’ve built in the new Science and Math complex, but it seems most classrooms at Cal Poly can only accommodate smaller classes. Who knows what’s up Armstrong’s sleeve for the future regarding growth and how to handle that.</p>
<p>Concur on the finding somewhere else to study. A good friend’s daughter had a really tough first year at CP and almost left after first semester because of the triples and how noisy the dorms were. She was actually there to study and didn’t get the best fit in room-mates or dorm to do that. I think the rooming situation can really influence your first year experience, good or bad. Many triple rooms are just way too crowded to be productive for studying which is a shame.</p>