<p>I’ve noticed that a lot of kids with great GPA’s and stats are getting waitlisted. I was wondering if anyone knows why? </p>
<p>My kid was not waitlisted last year and he had stats that were “overqualified” – I don’t get it. Anyone know what is going on? Some kids with top stats get in and some don’t. It seems a bit unfair. Yet, it is a mystery as to who gets in or not to any college.</p>
<p>There was one girl in our area that had close to a perfect WGP (like a 4.9 or something crazy like that) and perfect SAT’s (2400). She was rejected from every school she applied to including all the UC’s. Her EC’s were a bit weak (but not non-existent) as she focused almost entirely on academics. She was absolutely devastated.</p>
<p>I doubt it. I think Cal Poly is just attracting too many “overqualified” applicants to certain majors. Most of those waitlisted and posting here are applicants to Aerospace, Biomed, and Mechanical Engineering or Architecture which are programs that are ranked at the top of the nation. With its reasonable tuition rates for out-of-state and in-state applicants, when compared to other top rated engineering schools, Cal Poly is likely THE BEST value (also located on the central California coast, duh) and therefore at top choice for TOO MANY very highly qualified applicants.</p>
<p>In general, based on the posts from this site, people accepted seem to be less qualified than those waitlisted in terms of GPA and test scores. If what you claim is true, how do you explain this discrepancy?</p>
<p>Cal Poly SLO can only accept up to a certain number of students and admission is based on a computer algorithm. I am sure those whom are ‘overqualified’ and are either waitlisted or rejected is because Poly assumes they can get into other colleges and so in order to have a basis for maximum of number of students it can accept, it takes the mean of all of the applicants within that certain college (and major) and accepts based on a scale.</p>
<p>dijkstra - What do you base that on? What you are stating is opinion, not fact, right?</p>
<p>My opinion is it has more to do with:</p>
<p>[How</a> to Apply - Admissions - Cal Poly](<a href=“Cal Poly Admissions”>Cal Poly Admissions)
and
the way the Multiple Criteria for Admission (MCA) plays out. According to the report, these are the following categories and their weightings:
GPA: 45-55%
CSU Course Requirements: 10-19%
SAT/ACT: 25-35%
EC’s: 1-10%</p>
<p>I wonder to if some kids might not have filled out their coursework info on the application correctly. Cal Poly just looks at what you put down. They don’t have your official transcripts. So if you don’t do it right you might not look as qualified as you should be.</p>
<p>Also depending on the school I think different classes get the extra bonus GPA points. Maybe kids took all the honors classes that did not get extra points so their GPA is not what they are reporting. Just saying for example: you have all A’s Well that might only be a 4.0 GPA on the Cal Poly scale where someone with 4 or 5 B’s might actually have a higher GPA depending on how the extra bonus points work out.</p>
<p>Another example from my school. My GPA is about 4.35 according to the Cal Poly scale (and I have B’s). Another kid from my school has a 4.2 according to the Cal Poly scale (but they actually on have 1 B). However that person has less bonus point classes than I had.</p>
<p>Another thing that might change it is people are quoting their SAT score out of 2400. If you got that high score because you have a great writing score but a low math or english then on the Cal Poly SAT (out of 1600) you will have a lower score than the person with a higher math/english and a lower writing (like me).</p>
<p>Following are the average stats of SELECTED freshman applicants to the College of Engineering. (Keep in mind that the averages for SELECTED students are always higher than averages for ENROLLED students, because many SELECTED students enroll at UCB, Stanford, UCLA, USC, etc.)</p>
<p>I couldn’t find the numbers for 2011, but following the trend, I would guess around</p>
<p>2011 4.07 32 1400</p>
<p>The jump in average stats for CENG for 2012 may be even bigger. (4.15? 33? 1450?) The yield rate in 2011 jumped up significantly, creating a larger than planned freshman class. With the current budget constraints, CP can’t let this happen again, so they will likely accept fewer students, anticipating a high yield rate again. Given that CP recieved a record number of applications for Fall 2012, I wouldn’t be surprised if the acceptance rate drops to around 25% (about the same as UCLA).</p>
<p>Considering that the UC’s are MUCH more expensive than CP, many students who once wanted only to attend a top-tier UC are now opting for Cal Poly. In the current budget environment in California, it makes sense that this trend will continue.</p>
<p>With all this in mind, I can believe that some of the most competitive majors at Cal Poly (ME, ARCH, BMED, AERO) are having to turn away some applicants with GPA’s above 4.0 and SAT1 scores above 1400.</p>
<p>I don’t doubt that Cal Poly SLO is becoming a more competitive and desirable school, but that still doesn’t explain why the GPA and test scores of those waitlisted appear to be higher than those accepted (based on posts on this site). Unless there is some underlying factor, wouldn’t this suggest that overqualified applicants are being waitlisted?</p>
<p>I think the the sample size of students posting on College Confidential is way too small to make any assumptions about Cal Poly’s admissions process based on what people here post. At any school you will always have some puzzling results. I just can’t imagine any reason Cal Poly would reject students with higher MCA scores in favor of lower MCA scores within a given major. The fact that the average stats of admitted freshman are getting higher every year supports the idea that the highest qualified applicants are the ones getting accepted. Perhaps we just don’t know the actual formulas being used to calculate MCA. (I think each department/major gets to tweak the formula to their own liking.)</p>
<p>@closetobroke
What I stated is fact and opinion-- It should be fairly known that the CSU system does not hire individuals to go over each individual application (think about Cal Poly getting over tens of thousands of applicants) that would take a bunch of resources, rather applications are screened over by a computer algorithm to maximize efficiency. Someone from the IT department at Cal Poly (high position) has told me this to confirm. Knowing this, one can deduce the reason why “overqualified” applicants are being rejected/waitlisted. Without being technical on how the algorithm works, I can say that there a bounds to look for when screening an applicant. If they exceed those bounds (“overqualification”) they are rejected/waitlisted simply becaue they are [potentially] able to get into other colleges thus allocating space for a certain amount of applicants (whose academic stats) are around the mean of those in their major’s college.</p>
<p>No where in that report does it not state that Cal Poly does not use a computer algorithm. That report is simply based on data already out there, published by Cal Poly (i.e. Freshman profile yearly). I don’t quite understand where you are going with those statistics-- assuming those stats are true, an “overqualified” applicant would automatically be accepted into Cal Poly right? There are other factors as well.</p>
<p>@engineerisme
It is being based on what you input because afterall, it is an application. The GPA factor should match up with what the applicant listed as their grades for those specific classes-- otherwise it doesn’t make sense. The application (along with all other CSU applications) use a CSU GPA, not your high school’s method of GPA calculation.</p>
<p>If I understand the process there are a total of 5000 Multiple Criteria for Admission (MCA) points based on several key characteristics, GPA SAT/ACT etc. 950 of the 5000 are bonus points for taking certain classes, math, science, language and so forth. A freshman applicant who has 4 science classes and Pre-cal and Cal AB/BC will earn 700 of the 950 floating bonus points. His/her MCA score may be higher than another applicant with a higher GPA or better SAT/ACT scores. I have not seen any report that passing AP tests with 3/4/5 scores factor directly into the MCA points, although the applicant must have taken some AP classes to have 4 years of science and Pre-Calc +Calc AB. It seems the rigor of the high school course work may tip the scales in favor of heavy loads in math and science vs high GPA & SAT/ACT scores.</p>
<p>Apparently the other link I posted was abbreviated and does not work.
There is also another thread on this forum called Cal Poly Admissions Process Explained that Appstoreyt started with the link to it.</p>
<p>My opinion is that Cal Poly would not reject “overqualified” applicants. In fact, I called Admissions today and they said they do not reject “overqualified” applicants.</p>
<p>I agree with ralph4, engineerisme and slolearner as to possible reasons some people who appear to be more qualified may have been placed on the waitlist or rejected - SAT writing score does not count, AP scores do not count, Cal Poly calculates GPA with a different method than UCs, Cal Poly assignment of bonus points, applicants may not have filled out application correctly. It makes no sense at all for Cal Poly to reject the most highly qualified applicants. After all, they can always go down the waitlist if those they have accepted choose not to attend.</p>
<p>It’s my opinion that Cal Poly absolutely waitlists/rejects overqualified applicants. This isn’t just a minor occurrence. Tons of people at my school have gotten in with mediocre GPA’s and SAT scores under 1700, many to engineering. While nearly all top students (4.3+ GPA’s and 2000+ SAT’s on the low end) at my school, except for 2, have been waitlisted, rejected, or haven’t heard. And I don’t believe that the SAT out of 1600 vs. 2400 has a big impact. My friend has a 1500/1600 and a 4.5 and got waitlisted. Many others with comparable success, including myself, have been waitlisted/rejected, or haven’t heard.</p>
<p>rohan24lal - SAT Writing is not considered by Cal Poly at all. The fact that Cal Poly only uses the Math and C. Reading could have an impact IF someone’s Writing score is their highest score. When someone posts a Waitlist or Rejection decision and only states their SAT in terms of Math plus C. Reading plus Writing (2400 possible) then they cannot be compared to the Cal Poly applicants who were accepted. In fact, without having access to the applicant’s entire application we cannot make a fair judgement of whether one applicant is more qualified than another. We would need access to all of the information used in the MCA. So, I make the case that some applicants who have been waitlisted or rejected just seem overqualified compared to some who have been accepted because we do not have access to all of the data. I do, however, welcome all links to sources of policy that prove otherwise.</p>
<p>I do realize that the writing section isn’t considered. That’s why I say several people had very good CR+M scores, and still heard bad news. That being said, my comments were inferences based on observation of students I know and were pure speculation. But it doesn’t make sense that people at my school who are so clearly more qualified in every way Cal Poly considered would be rejected to the same major as someone who is marginally qualified got accepted to. Oh well, I don’t have any evidence, just a series of examples that may be aberrations.</p>
<p>I don’t think they would advertise a policy of waitlisting stronger applicants. Also, I have a decently high GPA and high test scores (1500/1600 SAT, 35 ACT), and assuming the MCA breakdown you provided is true, it would seem unlikely that I would be waitlisted over some other biomed eng applicants that were accepted. Also, because GPA and test scores are clearly the most important factors, it doesn’t make sense that those who were waitlisted appear to have higher scores (at least based on the small sample size of those who posted their stats on this site).</p>
<p>I’m just speculating based on my own decision, but there doesn’t appear to be any rhyme nor reason to the waitlist decisions. I really don’t mean to be pretentious, but based solely on my stats, I’m probably just about as overqualified as possible - 1590 CR+M, 4.3 GPA, tons of math/science classes. Yet I was admitted to the Computer Science major, which ought to be a fairly popular engineering major.</p>
<p>If the algorithm (doesn’t have to be computerized, though it probably is) waitlists a certain proportion of people with stats far exceeding the majority of the applicant pool for the most selective majors (i.e. those in the college of engineering), then I probably should have been waitlisted.</p>
<p>Agree energize! I am hearing all over the place that CP is waitlisting “stronger” applicants. I also don’t mean to brag - but I’m not sure how much “stronger” I can be - 4.0 GPA, 4.7 WGPA, 10+APs w/ 5s, 1580 (CR+M), 34 ACT (35M & Sci). Lots of ECs. I was accepted.</p>
<p>I heard early in the fall that Cal Poly was putting more emphasis on ACTs this year, so I’m wondering if that may be affecting some decisions.</p>
<p>Regardless, I thought my stats were really good when I started applying and I now see I’m just one of thousands and many more have even better stats than me…</p>
<p>Good luck to everyone. I’m very excited about being accepted to CP!</p>