Ok, wow, lots of stuff to think about regarding Cal Poly! Glad to have all of you smart people to help me out!!
What the heck is Visual and Performing arts? LOL Iām such a newb when it comes to this stuff, gosh.
Maybe Engineering Graphics will suffice?
@rightcoaster, the acceptance rate for engineering USC (Cal) was 14% last year. It may have dropped a bit this year due to ārecord numbers of qualified applicants.ā
The college search for S19 sounds like it would provide a great excuse for an awesome road trip along the CA coastline!
Re the visual and performing arts - has your son been in band, orchestra or a theater production? Taken an art class? Perhaps he should look into that for next year!
@RightCoaster It could be something like band or an art class or even a computer-based art or design. I think one of my sons took some computer based thing that didnāt necessarily seem like art.
Although this is from UC, it would be the same for Cal Poly:
http://ucop.edu/agguide/a-g-requirements/f-visual-performing-arts/
Thanks @jmek15, would be a good road trip. I donāt know if taking an expensive road trip to ādreamā schools in CA is the best use of money though, lol.
14% doesnāt seem like a very realistic chance. But, maybe they need a nice, bright young white boy from the burbs of Boston to round out their class, right?
I read that USC Viterbiās acceptance rate was 13% this year from one of their blog posts.
My daughter took AP art history for her California Visual and Performing Arts requirement. She was admitted to slo as well.
@letsshare This thread demonstrates the opposite of applying strategically:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1980675-pros-cons-of-parent-plus-vs-private-loan-with-co-signor-p1.html
Feels like this thread is hijacked by Cal Poly 
Revisit days not off to a good start. S going to Georgetown for revisit which starts tomorrow at 8 am. So plans were for me to fly to DC from Boston and him from Hartford, after having car service pick him up at his boarding school and drive him there. Terrible weather in DC today, so I kept getting one email notification after the next that his flight was getting pushed later and later. Finally, when it was going to be at least 3.5 hours late and not leaving Hartford until after 10 pm, I decided this was too risky a strategy. So switch to Plan B ā call car service, get them to agree to pick him up earlier than planned and drive him all the way to New Haven (twice as far) so he can catch the Acela from there. Buy him ticket on Acela, get pretty much the last seat. Finish explaining the changes in plan to him by email (as heās in classes). Heās ok with the changes.
Not 10 minutes later, I get a notice saying my flight is cancelled. Quickly check Expedia, and yup, every flight from Boston to DC is cancelled or sold out. So then I try Amtrak ā not ideal way to get to DC but figure at least I can end up on same train as S. One ticket left, go to purchase it, and in the time it takes me to type in credit card number, ticket is gone. No other trains available, except for the overnight 12+ hour milk run. Not doing that. American then rebooks me on a new flight. Great, I think, until I realize itās at 5 pm tomorrow. How is that helpful?? So jump back on Expedia, find a very early morning flight available on Jet Blue, buy that ticket, and get AA to refund the other one. Then realize S isnāt on hotel reservation, so call the hotel in Georgetown and come to learn that technically heās not allowed to check in himself, even though heās 18. So sweet-talk them into allowing him to check in anyway and give them credit card number over phone (also not technically allowed, but they make an exception).
Then email S once again, tell him new plans, and that Iāll have to meet him at Georgetown in the morning and make sure he knows how to get from hotel to the University. Luckily heās a pretty confident traveler, so he doesnāt seem terribly phased by this. My day, however has totally been shot to he**. One can only hope that all the rest go more smoothly.
@srk2017 The thread goes through phases. Alabama, UCs, Virginia Tech, the Ivies, CPSLO, etc.
Thanks for the Cal Poly SLO (still not sure I have that right) discussion. S22 (Itās never too early to start planning) is also interested in engineering, and like D17, is interested in the West Coast (and Canada). I would have never known about Cal Poly, much less known that it might be an affordable OOS option, if it werenāt for you wise parents!
@srk2017 sorry! It was a good use of my rainy day to get some research done on CA schools, which I admittedly know very little about. This group is so helpful, it has helped me immensely since I joined. It seems someone on here knows something about every question Iāve ever asked. Love it!
For fun, drop the little Google Map Man down on the street in the center of San Luis Obispo and walk around. Really cool little town.
- This is how I do most of my traveling *
^^ I do the same. Google street view tours. Itās great to get a feel for a schoolās surrounding area. Then if you actually visit the school one day itās like Deja Vu, ha.
For soccer fans, as of a year ago the Cal Poly-UCSB rivalry had produced 13 of the top 19 highest attended regular season games. So they have more than engineering.
@STEM2017 & @RightCoaster - I was just joking since discussion was in depth. It was educational for me also even though I donāt have any younger kids and DS never looked into Cal Poly.
Maybe Iām misinterpreting the MCA but I find it a bit ironic on the dependency of AP classes to obtain a high score. Would a kid without any APs be at a severe disadvantage?
@STEM2017 @RightCoaster I often times use street view when I want to know what it will look like if Iām driving somewhere. Itās a little extra confirmation so that when I get somewhere I already know what it should look like and am ready to pay attention to the GPS. Agree about helping find out about a schoolās surrounding area and also to get a visual on hotels that may look completely different on their website.
@Dolemite Good point. I sometimes wonder if itās as cut and dry as the formula is made out to be. If a school didnāt offer enough APs to get the max GPA, do they take that into consideration? I have no idea.