Please Read Me Now

Colleges and Universities A-Z Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
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Hello everyone! This is always a nervous time. As a result, one of the most important resources we are developing often gets overlooked. The more that participate, the better it will be for future applicants. What am I talking about? The Final Status thread I’ve started the past two years.

Once decisions start rolling in, I’ll post a “Fall 2018 Final Status” thread. What I need are three things, 1) Major 2) MCA 3) Accepted or Denied. That’s it.

Keep your eyes open, and do your part to help those who follow in your footsteps.

Thanks!

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What is MCA?

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“What I need are three things, 1) Major 2) MCA 3) Accepted or Denied. That’s it.”

Would it also be good to track if the applicant is OOS/International vs. California resident?

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@cocoonutty it is described here (as originally posted by @eyemgh ) http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/19077718/#Comment_19077718

Perhaps it needs it’s own pinned thread, since it’s buried on page 4 of the pinned “Confused about MCA” thread.

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Here it is, all in one place:

Academic MCA:

The maximum GPA they will use is 4.2, even though you can have a higher calculated CP GPA. A 4.2 is worth 2250 MCA points. Thus, multiply your CP GPA by 535.7 and you’ll get your MCA points for GPA.

The next biggest thing is test scores. The odd thing, likely because they wanted it to total a nice round number, is that the max score is 1650, even though the max SAT score is 1600. Multiply the total of your best SAT CR and your best SAT math by 1.03125 to get your MCA test points. If you took the ACT, they convert and vice versa.

The third largest section is the class rigor score, worth 750 points. In this section you get zero points for meeting the minimum admission requirements and adders for more than the minimum. The bonuses in order of power are (min semesters/max total semesters/bonus per extra semester/total possible bonus): math 6/10/125/500 (note: stats and finite do not count), lab science 4/8/50/200, English 8/10/50/100, foreign language 4/8/25/100, visual performance 2/4/25/50, no bonus points for social sciences or electives. As with GPA, you can actually score higher than the maximum, but 750 is the most they will count.

Finally, work and ECs, worth 350 points. Work (hours per week/bonus): 0/0, 1-5/20, 6-10/40, 11-15/60, 16-20/80, 21+/100, add 50 points if work is major related. ECs (hours per week/bonus): 0/0, 1-5/30, 6-10/60, 11-15/90, 16-20/120, 21+/150, add 60 points for leadership role.

There are also other Non-Academic Bonus Points:

CA vet/701, Hayden Partner School/700, faculty/staff dependent/700, service area of CP/500, either parent with some or no HS, but who DIDN’T GRADUATE FROM HS/300 (per parent).

Lastly,

Cal Poly ACT/SAT Concordance Chart in case you took ACT (use only Math and English and figure out the two equivalent SAT scores)

ACT CR M

36 800 800
35 770 790
34 760 780
33 750 760
32 720 730
31 700 700
30 680 680
29 650 660
28 630 640
27 610 620
26 590 600
25 570 580
24 550 560
23 540 540
22 520 520
21 500 500
20 490 480
19 470 460
18 450 440
17 440 410
16 420 390
15 400 360
14 380 330
13 360 300
12 330 280
11 300 260

Here’s how it works. Cal Poly does TWO “READINGS” one of academic only and one after adding additional non-academic bonus adders. The reason I put readings in quotes is that they don’t actually READ them. A computer tallies points and then ranks students.

The first “reading” is used to fill approximately 65% of the class. Presumably that is all of ED plus the first half or so of RD.

Then they add the other non-academic bonus points and re-rank MCAs to fill the final half of RD, approximately 35% of the class.

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@Mom2BoysinCA, yea that would be a good idea too!

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What should we do when calculating the MCA score for your research if the applicant didn’t add in middle school math and foreign language? For my son, that is a difference of 300 points, which means he currently has an MCA of 4669, but if he had put in middle school classes, he would have a 4969 . . .

Since no one seems quite sure if they are penalizing or somehow making up for this error this year in admissions, if he somehow gets in to Mech E with a 4669, that might be false info as in any other year that would not get him in. I’m not sure if I’m making sense, but hopefully you know what I mean (basically that if they decide to waive the points for middle school grades, MCA points might not be a helpful indicator this year).

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@RoonilWazlib99, since they say they are overlooking that, I’d use the MCA as though they were reported properly.

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Will do! Thanks!

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@RoonilWazlib99 be sure you don’t use more than the max rigor points of 750 after you add in middle school.

You are sure he only got 450 rigor based on what he put in, and it would be 750 otherwise?

I get

Seven years of science - 200
Three years of Spanish (should also be four due to middle school) 50 (should be 100)
Four years of math- 250 (should be 500)

Gives 500, so only 250 more can be added to make 750

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Thanks- forgot about that cap!