<p>The gentleman whose nephew was turned down at SDSU, Fresno, etc. I think a lot depends on major. I have been accepted to several other schools with a Biology major (SDSU Honors Program) but it’s looking less and less likely I will get into Cal Poly…so go figure!</p>
<p>@Dietz199 there is no way knowing how the MCA system works to use any subjective issues such as are they apt to attend, that can only be used by “readers” of applications. Even the departments do not see the applications according to one Chair we specifically asked, There is a numerical cutoff for the 65% and a line is drawn under the count of how many they are going to accept. The other 35% that you call pity points, is to offset the economic effects of bad schools, no AP courses to help raise GPA, and also the inability to pay for test prep after test prep to improve scores. Yes I live in an affluent area and have seen students raise original SAT scores from around 2000 to perfect after attending at least 6 prep classes and taking more than 100 practice tests. Generally students rejected at Cal Poly will also be rejected by Berkeley and UCLA and sometimes UCSD (they are somewhat comparable to Cal Poly stats wise). UCSB and Cal Poly are generally at the same level, usually SDSU, CPP, CSULB accept students that Cal Poly doesn’t. I would speculate that if a student gets into Berkeley and not Cal Poly that race might be involved, lots of extra curriculars, or some other “stand out” award etc. made the difference. Just read quite the article about Berkeley’s admission system, which is why I much prefer the non subjection system Cal Poly uses. Here is the article <a href=“Lifting the Veil on the Holistic Process at the University of California, Berkeley - The New York Times”>Lifting the Veil on the Holistic Process at the University of California, Berkeley - The New York Times; I do agree with much you wrote about the process however.</p>
<p>Yes, AllleyOop, you are right. Nephew was interested in the Food Science & Nutrition Department at Poly. Was advised that a lot of students automatically choose to apply under the nutrition major – making it highly competitive. Instead nephew applied as a food science major – which improved his odds – and he’s very happy with the choice.</p>
<p>@socaldad actually I have read many articles saying that they pay a lot of attention on whether or not someone is likely to attend. Recently read one that says to put your number one school second on the form to send scores as schools assume the first school is their likely school. Rejecting a few students for not attending doesn’t really lower their stats as they receive so many more qualified applicants than they can accept. This is more true for top colleges. They want to up their attendance rate of those accepted to look better. Cal Poly looses points on rating systems as it is often a safety school for ivies, Cal Tech, Stanford, UCLA, Berkeley etc. </p>
<p>“The stats for each major are very very different. ME, Aero, Architecture are particularly competitive.”</p>
<p>While I don’t believe that Cal Poly ever rejects the highest MCA applicants in a given major, Dietz is right about this.
A 4.0+ gpa kid with an SAT(CR+M) > 1400 can be rejected from these majors (and I would include BME), while they would easily be accepted to most other majors at CP. The valedictorian of my son’s high school was rejected last year from CP for either MechE or Aero while my son, ranked 95th in his class, was accepted to BRAE. If you want to get into Cal Poly, you need to choose your major wisely, and know all you can about the competition for your major. We did our homework on admissions, and all 4 of my kids were accepted. They knew better than to apply to the most competitive majors. If they wanted those majors, they would take their chances with change of major. This strategy is not for everyone, but it worked for our kids, who really wanted CP.</p>
<p>It is interesting to me that CP does not consider 2nd choice majors. If they did, then many high stats kids who don’t get into the most competitive majors, would likely get into their second choice majors and may still choose to attend CP, increasing the overall stats of matriculating students and making the school even more exclusive. Perhaps as a CSU, they want to keep the school somewhat accessible to a wider range of applicants.</p>
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<p>Sure, a lot of schools want students who are interested in the school. That applies across the board, regardless of test scores. But that is something different from Tufts Syndrome, where a school rejects those who are most qualified.</p>
<p>@Ralph4 congrats on having 4 at CP. Again we don’t know all the stats for the valedictorian, but you can be right, there are only so many slots. My guess for not considering 2nd choice majors is that it is probable that they would want to change majors. Many people don’t realize that if you got into an AG major thinking you will change to engineering one requirement is that you had to be eligible to be accepted into the engineering major to begin with. It isn’t fair to let someone backdoor into a major when someone with higher stats got turned down. Many unhappy students who aren’t allowed to change majors neglect to consider this point. Works at other schools but not CP.</p>
<p>Today I am seeing extra tab in my son’s account, “CSYou Portal”. It was not there before, there is no status change, still not determination made. That means he admitted? or I did not see the tab before? Please can any one update on this?</p>
<p>@czs1994 - Thank you. We love Cal Poly. 
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<p>What you are forgetting is that MANY students admitted to engineering majors at CP end up changing their major OUT of the College of Engineering or flunking out all together. Check the fact book and you will see that CP admits far more aspiring engineers than it graduates from Engineering majors. This creates openings in these difficult majors, and Cal Poly will let a student change into these majors if they take the required classes and get the necessary grades (not an easy feat as these classes are hard). So it is not impossible to change from CAFES or other college into CENG, if one can pass the engineering classes. At one of the Admitted Student Days I attended, we were told that CENG is the biggest exporter of students to other colleges at CP, and OCOB is the biggest importer of students at CP.</p>
<p>So is it safe to assume that we have been denied if we haven’t received anything? :(</p>
<p>No, CP will continue to roll out acceptances until the end of March. Until your status changes to an actual determination you have a chance to be accepted.</p>
<p>@jnmaietta accepted BME
GPA W-4.46
UC/CSU-4.56
SAT-2190, 1500 (750 CR+M)
9 APs
Instate</p>
<p>so what should we do about housing?</p>
<p>@faithbegins, today? When were you accepted?</p>
<p>@53polo - you can apply online for housing & dining after you have been admitted and accepted your offer of admission. Beginning Friday, March 7, 2014, the Housing application becomes available on the following business day after students have accepted their offer of Admission. </p>
<p>@ralph4 Yes they do providing their ENTRY stats were also high enough to qualify for that major. Not intending to insult AG majors but I used them as an example of the easiest major to get in (yes there are some in that College that aren’t). So if someone didn’t think they would QUALIFY for say Aero Eng they shouldn’t assume picking an easier major to get in THEN transfer to a major they wouldn’t have originally qualified for, will not work. Caps for emphasis not yelling.</p>
<p>I would not worry about housing as long as you apply right after being accepted. They try to house all freshmen and sophomores, though they took sophomore housing away to ensure all freshman who didn’t wait until the last minute to apply got in.</p>
<p>@ralph4 I agree about everything you wrote. I know Math is another major that loses many majors, not sure of the stats at CP but I read an article saying about 40% of math majors at top ranked colleges change majors as they aren’t being properly prepared to understand higher level math. There is a reason that STEM majors are in demand.</p>
<p>Just found out that my son is on waitlist for Kinesiology. </p>
<p>@swagmaster2001 - Did he receive an email or was there just a change in the portal?</p>