Hi! I was recently admitted to SLO and I’m very interested (its currently my top choice, though I am still waiting on a few). I’m from San Diego, so I’d have to fly up to visit. Should I go to the poly cultural weekend or the open house? I’m a little confused as to why there are 2 different events for admitted students, and I don’t think its possible for me to go to both. Any suggestions?
Cal Poly and San Luis Obispo sell themselves well no matter when you go. When my son was accepted last year, we visited on a Saturday in March with no one around and it became his #1 choice within a couple of hours. We never went to the Open House or the PolyCultural Weekend.
That being said, if you can include a Thursday Night Market in your visit, I highly recommend it. It looks like the Open House incorporates it, but not PolyCultural Weekend. However, you could just go up a day early and experience it on your own. It really isn’t about the school. It’s a town activity.
Cal Poly will invite you and/or your parents to EVERYTHING once you are accepted and then enrolled. Only a couple of things are mandatory. Pick and choose as you want. We went to orientation (mandatory), Move-in Weekend, and Family Weekend. All were well organized and enjoyable. However, the cost and availability of hotel rooms fluctuated wildly. Now we try to visit when the campus DOESN’T have things scheduled. It’s a great town and more enjoyable when it is not so crowded.
Have fun with whatever weekend you choose.
“I’m a little confused as to why there are 2 different events for admitted students, and I don’t think its possible for me to go to both. Any suggestions?”
Your not the only one confused because Cal Poly never really spells out who is and who is not invited to PolyCultural Weekend. All four of my kids were admitted to CP and none were invited. From what I can discern from reading other posts is that every admitted student is invited to PolyCultural Weekend except for white heterosexuals. I think it is odd that this fact is hidden, but such is the state of affairs at universities these days.
The open house is great. Highly recommend it. And congratulations on your acceptance!
From what I’ve learned, PCW is an event that was started several years ago by student organizations to showcase various student groups to potential students. It appears that PCW is supported by Cal Poly but not a required event like SLO Days or WOW.
My son emailed the organizers to get a link to the invitation. They didn’t ask if he was a minority (racial, sexual, etc.) so I would think the event is open to all (admitted?) students.
Wanted to also mention that it seems like the events are different. I think an analogy might be when you visit an open house for a house that’s listed for sale. You go in, it’s all clean and staged, the real estate agent is ready to greet you and provide you with information. Everything is polished with the best face, nothing wrong with that.
PCW seems more like when you’re hanging out with a new friend at school who invites you over for dinner and a sleepover. You hang out with your new friend, have dinner with the family, get a few hours of sleep and have a great time. (In case you didn’t know, at PCW, you are paired with a host/hostess, and you sleep overnights in the dorm.)
Here is a little more info from one of the emails:
Overview:
PolyCultural Weekend 2018 focuses on both the academic and social aspects of student life. The weekend is a great way to explore Cal Poly through campus tours, experiencing residential life with campus housing, meeting fellow students and faculty in your major, and integrating into the cultural community with student organizations.
Because the event is overnight, you will be hosted by a current Cal Poly student in one of our on-campus residential halls. For the next two days, you will take tours of campus and downtown, attend special workshops, listen to guest speakers, and have opportunities to meet with a variety of cultural clubs! The weekend is packed with the best activities to show you Cal Poly from a different perspective.
Do not miss this amazing weekend. SPACE IS LIMITED so register today to reserve your spot!
In years past invitations are only sent to certain races or sexual orientations. If you are not of those groups you can email for an invitation. Not sure how welcoming that is for those not on the original invite list. Sorta like calling up a host of a party and asking: “heard you were having a cool event- did you forget to put me on the invite list?” And of course they will not ask your son or anyone else if they are a member of a minority group. To do so would be in violation of both federal and state law. And one could make a case that selectively sending out invites in the first place is illegal for a taxpayer supported public institution.
Here are the sponsoring clubs:
https://deanofstudents.calpoly.edu/content/multicultural/pcw/pcw_clubs
I understand the intent of the PCW is to try to make CP more inclusive, but having a separate event in which invites are only sent to certain groups to me seems a perversion of that goal. And to its a bit Orwellian that the Dean of Students uses language in describing the event that avoids all mention that certain groups are excluded from the invite list.
And again this type of type of thing is not unique to CP. These race based invite weekends have become standard at most universities. In fact it has become a cottage industry with all sorts of folks having a vested interest in their continuance. Job security for sociology majors.
All that aside I think you will find CP is an awesome, tolerant, and welcoming place for all.
Since my son is half Asian, half Caucasian, I am inclined to think that the lack of invitation to him was more the result of poor organization rather than any subconscious attempt to focus on minority applicants, rather than exclusion of Causasian students. I also think that it is a great opportunity for student groups to “strut their stuff” that might otherwise get overshadowed during Open House.
I had four kids accepted. All white. None invited. This is not a “subconscious” attempt to focus on minority applicants. It is a conscious attempt to focus on minority applicants. And it does this by excluding Caucasian students from the invite list (unless things changed just this year). I think that in this day and age that is wrong. Others hold different opinions. That is fine. But, lets not obfuscate the issue.