Rising senior here.
Right now my first choice is Cal Poly SLO, I toured it and loved it. It has just about everything I’m looking for, and as someone who lives in CA, the tuition is about as good as it gets. I’m planning on applying into Industrial Engineering.
For awhile I was nervous that I wouldn’t get in, but after realizing that the acceptance rate for IE is probably >40%, I believe I have a very high chance of being accepted.
My GPA is 4.0 UW and 4.45 W, and my SAT is a 1560 (800M+760RW). I won’t have all of their “suggested” courses, (only 4 years of English, 1 year of VPA, 3 of a language) but I’ll have all of the suggested math courses, which I read is the one with the most weight. I have the requirements for everything. Cal Poly doesn’t have holistic admissions so it’s very heavily based on test scores and GPA, they don’t even require any essays.
I’m planning on applying to MIT, but obviously that’s a huge reach for anybody so I’m not going to get my hopes up too high. For almost every other school I look at, I just can’t see myself choosing that school over Cal Poly. But I feel like I can’t only apply to 2 schools, or those two plus a safety.
I might apply to some schools that offer full merit scholarships, or private ones that might give me enough aid to bring the cost down to be comparable to a state school, but I really can’t justify attending a school with tuition over 40k if it’s anything less than an MIT-tier school. If anybody can recommend some schools that offer a lot of scholarship money for merit and are in the Western states, that would be great.
Is it worth applying to schools that are great, but I wouldn’t choose them over another school I’m more likely to get into? I’m wondering if I shouldn’t just apply to Cal Poly, MIT, a safety or two, and the ones that offer merit aid.
Besides your actual safety, apply only to schools you would choose over it.
Thanks, that’s what I’ve been thinking. In case it wasn’t clear I’m definitely not considering Cal Poly a true safety, I’m thinking San Jose State for my real safety.
Yeah. CalPoly SLO can’t really be a safety.
Apply to a few more places in case you change you mind, though.
People often do.
I would definitely never consider a school with a ~30% acceptance rate a safety, for sure. But they accept by major, and IE is one of the easier ones to get into-- last year, their goal was for 21% of applicants to attend, so they probably accepted over twice that, and it could have been closer to three or four times that. And they use an algorithm, it’s not holistic at all, so my test scores and GPA will definitely help. I’m definitely going to apply to one or two schools with higher acceptance rates, but I feel like it’s maybe a low match.
Right now I have a list of about 20 schools that I might apply to, I’ve seen a lot of different numbers for how many to apply to (I know it isn’t 20 lol) and I’m sort of confused on that, usually recommendations seem to say 6-12 colleges? Advice there would be appreciated.
I’d find a school you’d be happy to attend that has rolling or early admission. Apply in Sept or Oct, get the acceptance and then apply to SLO and your other schools that might be a reach. Once you have that first acceptance, you can really change your list of safety and reaches.
Look at the WUE schools for your major - Montana State, Arizona, Arizona State, New Mexico State.
you ARE applying to some UC’s in Nov, correct?
will you have all the A-G classes they required for admittance?
And if you took the PSAT, is your score above the Calif NMSF cut off score?
If so there are colleges with automatic acceptance and Merit scholarships that you should consider .
http://nmfscholarships.yolasite.com/
Sorry, I see that I wasn’t clear above: I have all of the a-g requirements, and more than required for many. But Cal Poly likes to see things like 2 years of VPA credit (a-g is one year), 5 years of English (not sure how anybody gets that), which I don’t have.
I’ll actually graduate high school with 7 years of high school credit-- 3 years of HS math and 4 semesters of college-level math. Usually one HS year is worth a college semester, so that’s basically 7 years of math-- a-g is only three years I believe 
I don’t know if I’m applying to any UCs, I think the only one that even has IE/OR is Berkeley.
I got a 1430 on the PSAT with a 213 NMSF score, so I didn’t make the cut.
@twoinanddone
Thanks, I will definitely be applying early some places, but I don’t think I’ll have any applications due after I would find out if I got in. I have looked at the WUE schools, but so far none have really caught my eye.
Yes, definitely make sure you have a TRUE safety, but otherwise, don’t feel like you HAVE to apply to all these reaches. Neither of my boys applied to any reaches. S15 applied to 2 schools that were matches/safeties–yes, only 2 applications total (and really 1, since they were both SUNY’s…), was accepted to both, and happily chose his school. S17 applied to 3 schools (2 SUNY’s–1 of which quickly became a non-contender, and an OOS large state school which was his favorite). All were matches, probably 2 were safeties. He was accepted to all 3 with merit, and chose the OOS favorite. If you know what you want, you don’t HAVE to have a prestigious list of other schools to apply to.
I would apply to Cal Poly Pomona and USC which also have Industrial Engineering. UCB seems to be the only UC that offers Industrial Engineering and Operations Research.
Thanks @Gumbymom !
I wasn’t planning on applying to Pomona because it has a low 4 year grad rate (12%), relatively low average starting salaries for IEs (12k/year less than the average Cal Poly grad), and they don’t have a competitive running club (as far as I can tell). I know that the competitive running club is sort of silly but I am very invested in my sport and really want to be able to continue in college, and I’m nowhere near varsity level.
USC… it’s a very good school, and I like that it isn’t tiny, like most other schools of that level. Personally I would rather stay out of the whole LA county, but for a school I really liked I could overlook that. They also don’t have a competitive running club : /
My top choices with acceptance rates > 50%:
University of Washington, Seattle
San Jose State
University of Pittsburgh
Penn State
Rutgers
Rochester Tech
UConn
Arizona State offers industrial engineering (top 25 program) and has the highly-ranked Barrett Honors College. Your stats would likely gain you admission and some merit-based funding. It attracts high numbers of students from California, due to price and access.
Be aware that admission rates for OOS students may be less certain, for example, at places like UW or Penn State. You also haven’t mentioned budget but many of your OOS options may be pricey.
Your academic credentials are excellent and I’m sure you’ll have many choices. Best of luck.
"I wasn’t planning on applying to Pomona because it has a low 4 year grad rate (12%)… "
WHAT?? WHAT UTTER nonsense.
Pomona is one of the countries FINEST LAC’s and its 4 year grad rate is 92%, with a 6 year graduation rate of 97%
https://www.pomona.edu/sites/default/files/cds-2016-2017.pdf
@DogsAndMath23
where on EARTH did you get this false info???
@mamaedefamilia Thank you! Not sure how Arizona State slipped past my radar.
Budget is an interesting one, actually… I am extremely fortunate to have parents who have been saving for a long time, and my grandpa has also put away some money for me. So I am able to attend a more expensive school, and my parents are encouraging me not to worry about money. But I’m just not the type of person who can just “not worry” lol, and I just couldn’t go to an expensive private school if it’s not at least on the same level as MIT. Even if I get into MIT, I’m going to have an extremely hard time deciding between MIT and Cal Poly.
Admittedly, I’m not really sure if I would choose a full ride at a school I feel just ok about over Cal Poly. Cal Poly is comparatively cheap since I’m in-state but I guess that does add up over 4 years, especially if the scholarship also covers room and board. I think I have a decent chance at a good scholarship from University of Pittsburgh since it’s not too selective and you get more priority for scholarships the earlier you apply, and I plan on applying as early as I can pretty much everywhere.
Thank you! I hope so 
@menloparkmom
Wow! I must have mistyped something, I got that from my enormous spreadsheet (I have like 250 colleges or something absolutely ridiculous). I guess I better go double check where that number came from! Thank you!
@menloparkmom
Hmm so I checked it, and this website is where I got the 12%:
https://www.collegefactual.com/colleges/california-state-polytechnic-university-pomona/academic-life/graduation-and-retention/?_ga=2.64803311.1594460717.1499398203-672942611.1498628738#GraduationRate
This puts it at 15%: https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/cal-poly-pomona-1144
Wait, are you talking about Pomona college? I was referring to Gumbymom’s suggestion of Cal Poly Pomona, I just carelessly referred to it as “Pomona”. Poor Cal Poly Pomona-- can’t call itself Cal Poly or Pomona
Cal Poly Pomona offers a 4 year Graduation Pledge. Something to consider and graduation rates can be very misleading so I would not base my decision solely on the graduation rate of a school. If you come into the CSU’s with AP credit, it can definitely shorten your time along with priority registration for the 4 year pledge program.
Four-Year Graduation Pledge
Graduating in four years is a top priority for both prospective students and their parents, as they make decisions about a college education. The Cal Poly Pomona Four-year Graduation Pledge Program is designed to facilitate the graduation of freshmen within four years. The pledge program involves a two-way commitment, both on the part of the University and the student who elects to become a part of the program. The program is based on the philosophy that if both the University and the student uphold their commitment, graduation in four years should be easily attainable.
Student Commitment
- Attend an orientation program prior to enrollment
- Declare and remain in the same major declared upon admission to the University
- Enter the University qualified to enroll in college-level math and English appropriate to your major
- Successfully complete 25% of program each year
- Maintain a minimum 2.2cumulative grade point average,and earn a “C” or better or CR in all coursework taken
- Meet with an assigned advisor every quarter and participate in priority registration
- Take and pass the Graduation Writing Test during your junior year
- Balance school, work, and personal responsibilities so that your commitment to education is honored
Yeah I know that 4 year grad rates aren’t everything, and I’n going to go in with a fair amount of AP credit, but the lack of a competitive running club is a pretty big deal for me. I feel like the 4 year grad rate is one of those things where it’s not a deal breaker by itself, but Cal Poly Pomona just has a few too many “don’t wants” for me to put toward the top of my list. And with a 40% acceptance rate, it’s not much of a safety.
For the 4 year graduation pledge, I don’t really understand a couple things. “Complete 25% each year”, unless that only applies for the first 2-3 years, isn’t that basically just saying “if you finish 1/4 every year, you’ll graduate in 4 years”? It seems like this is more of a list of suggestions of ways to graduate on time, rather than a commitment from the university? Sorry, I’m a little confused.
I don’t know about Cal Poly Pomona but for SLO I think I’ll have 24/190 credits from AP testing/community college courses. So I should be ok for graduating on time, as long as I can get the classes I need.
The graduation pledge of completing 25% each year, means that you basically need to be a full time student and stick to the 4 year course plan. By signing up for the 4 year pledge, you get priority registration (getting your classes) so they need to make sure these students are committed to taking a full course load. I am sure some students may sign up for the 4 year pledge just to get the priority registration and then drop some courses for their convenience.
I am not trying to sell you on CPP just giving you some options. You look like a competitive applicant and I think you have a very good chance at SLO, but having a few backup schools cannot hurt especially with admissions being unpredictable.