<p>My son was accepted to Cal Poly but put as his major Econ, which he already regrets. He’d rather do Physics. In light of their dictum about NOT changing majors, is there any way at all he could change his major before school starts?</p>
<p>I would call and talk to the school as soon as possible. Perhaps they can review his app for admission for Physics before it is too late.</p>
<p>That’s what I was hoping. They are so anal about it in their admissions acceptance though. Think it would help to talkl to the head of Physics department?</p>
<p>I’m in the same situation. The deadline to change majors before the decision was in January, now he has to complete at least one quarter or semester (depends when they change) before he can request a change of major</p>
<p>I have not heard of any changes in majors granted prior to school starting. However, it is VERY COMMON for students at Cal Poly to change majors and you need to dispense of whatever rumors you are hearing to the contrary. Generally, a student must wait to complete one full quarter in good standing and can then apply for a change. There is a specific reason why major changes are discouraged at Cal Poly. The reason is that the school begins classes in your major in the first week of your freshman year. At a UC you might not get your first class in your major until late in your sophomore or early in your junior year. There is also a specific and clear pathway to change majors. First, changing majors inside a college, for example from Mechanical Engineering to Aerospace Engineering, is far easier than from say Business to Aerospace Engineering which are in different colleges. Nevertheless, it can be done. Here is the pathway to change majors: [Change</a> of Major Policy - Academic Programs - Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo](<a href=“http://www.academicprograms.calpoly.edu/academicpolicies/Policies-Undergrad/Change-major.html]Change”>http://www.academicprograms.calpoly.edu/academicpolicies/Policies-Undergrad/Change-major.html)</p>
<p>My son entered as a GENE major and changed to ME with zero difficulty. He had a good GPA after one quarter, met with the head of the ME department, applied for the change, and it was completed electronically after grades came out. In his case it was super easy.</p>
<p>Actually, it’s not a rumor. They kinda spell it out in their acceptance letter.</p>
<p>PS: WHat is a GENE major?</p>
<p>General Engineering</p>
<p>@Neerod – The school has vested interest in encouraging students to stay in their declared major. Here are just a few of them:
(1) Changing majors often extends graduation. This is especially troublesome for an impacted public school.
(2) As stated above, kids start in their majors in the first week of their freshman year. Changing majors often means starting over. Each major has a flow chart of classes that need to be taken and it differs for each major. Therefore, it is best to change very early if that is what you want. My kid figured it out after joining a club that he wanted ME instead of GENE. So, he switched after the first quarter. He even did it without an Individualized Change of Major Agreement (ICMA).
(3) Each department chooses it newly admitted freshman. Since this is a teaching college the faculty actually has an affinity for selected students before they arrive. Each department has its own admission criteria. So, there would be one set of expectations for an Econ major and another for Physics.</p>
<p>My point is that your letter may be written in such a way to discourage changes in majors. But on the ground, they will not force your kid to stay in a major that does not fit. Flexibility is built in to the system.</p>
<p>Here is the school’s official published policy: “Cal Poly students are required to declare a major at the time of application. Some students find that their interests and abilities lead them in a different direction. The university must offer a transparent and timely process for all students who seek to change majors.”</p>
<p>I believe that this supersedes the letter you got.</p>
<p>OsakaDad is correct.</p>
<p>You can only change majors after your first quarter.</p>
<p>I have a son that is a senior this year at Cal Poly and it is NOT easy to change majors out of the school you are in. It is easier to change majors within the school though you have to go through a petition process. I do know of students that were able to change easily and others that were never able to change to their desired major but were able to settle for a different major within their school. I think it is very important for you to contact the Physics department and have them tell you exactly how it can be done.</p>
<p>My son was early admitted as a chemistry major, but decided he wanted engineering. I spoke to an advisor in the engineering dept and he said it was not a big deal, but it is still worrisome. I also spoke to a lady in admissions and she said it’s doable and people do it all the time, but they can’t guarantee it. Their policy also states that the student had to be eligible for an engineering major first as a freshman. I did find out that the eligibility rule is the same for a chem major as it is for an engineering major. He is still not sure what to do since he was admitted to UCRs BCOE as a chemical engineering major.</p>
<p>If your son wants to be a Chemical Engineer than Cal Poly is not the right choice. Materials, yes, but ChemE is not offered.</p>
<p>He is more interested in the engineering than the chemistry. His other choices were EE and ME.</p>
<p>@anyhope, My oldest son liked chemistry in high school and thought he wanted to study Chemical Engineering in college. He was accepted to ChemE at Cal Poly Pomona and Materials Engineering at Cal Poly SLO (closest major to ChemE offered there). After visiting both schools and CPSLO’s admitted student day and learning about the MatE department, he was sold on SLO! He graduated from Materials Engineering in 2011, and he was completely happy with his choice of school and major! His opinion of CPSLO was so good, all three of his younger siblings have chosen to go there as well! I would highly recommend attending CP’s Open House, especially Friday’s session with whatever engineering department your son is most interested in. There is no reason he has to attend the Chemistry Department presentation, if he no longer wants that major. He will have to complete one quarter though before he can pursue change of major.</p>
<p>@ralph4, thanks for the feedback. My son did really well in Chemistry in HS, but he has done really well in his two years of AP Physics, which sparked his interest more towards engineering. He is leaning toward biomedical engineering or electrical. He has already been accepted to UCR’s Bourn College of Engineering, which makes it riskier for him at SLO since he would have to try to change majors. He is still waiting to hear from Cal Poly Pomona, but overall as a college I think he is willing to risk it at SLO. We are visiting both campuses and departments in a couple of weeks to make the final decision.</p>
<p>If you fall in love with SLO, go for it. He will be able to change majors even if it takes more than one try. The strategy is to knock the cover off the ball with the GPA and at the end of the first quarter meet with the head of the department of the target major and request a transfer. Should be pretty easy. My kid had a 4.0 after his first quarter and changing majors into ME was more than easy. They almost recruited him. Anything above a 3.0 GPA and he should be OK. If he has 3.5 or higher after the first quarter he should be golden.</p>
<p>Thanks OsakaDad. We’ve been looking at the 1st quarter flowchart for courses and the recommended courses overlap quite a bit between chemistry and biomedical E and he would actually be taking a harder chemistry class than what is required for the other engineering majors. As you said, the key is making sure he keeps up that GPA.</p>
<p>I need to correct myself. A GPA well below a 3.0 is still fine to change majors. However, I think since BoimedE is impacted and popular a 3.0 or higher will just be more impressive and allow him to build a case that he can handle the work. The better the GPA the fewer questions there will be. That’s all – just common sense reasoning to gain leverage. However, you do not need a 3.0 GPA to change majors at Cal Poly.</p>