<p>I am a current student at a local community college and hope to transfer to Cal poly next year, I was just wondering what are the pros and cons of this school. On top of that I was wondering does transfer students need to live in dorm if so are there single dorms and what are the cost to live inside and outside. What are the class sizes and how diverse is the college.</p>
<p>I would call housing on that question. As afar as diveristy, check out the common data set for calpoly and you will get tons of useful information.</p>
<p>[Common</a> Data Set - IP&A - Cal Poly](<a href=“IR Home - Institutional Research - Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo”>IR Home - Institutional Research - Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo)</p>
<p>BTW, you can get answers to most of your questions by using the **Search **function for this forum.</p>
<p>Pros: nice scenery (mountains, nature, variety of plants and wildlife, etc), great if you like outdoorsy activities (hiking, bike riding, surfing), fairly small classes for the most part, friendly nice people, helpful teachers, nice on campus housing (new apartments), less pollution than a big city so I guess it is a little healthier to live here, town is nice</p>
<p>Cons: 200 miles to nearest big city (bad especially if you are a city person like me), can be difficult to get into classes you need, on campus food is not so good, not a lot of diversity, students tend to lean towards conservative side (can be good or bad, but I’m not exactly conservative, so for me it’s not really a pro), students aren’t very politically active about issue such as budget cuts, etc. (again, can be good or bad, but I had hoped for a more politically active campus)</p>
<p>Living in Santa Cruz, I’m a bit weary of the politically active campus here, especially when it involves vandalism and violence.</p>
<p>**NTKS17 said:</p>
<p>students aren’t very politically active about issue such as budget cuts, etc. (again, can be good or bad, but I had hoped for a more politically active campus) **</p>
<p>Sorta going off on a tangent here but…</p>
<p>Students wanting to protest the current state of education in California need to do more than just go running onto the freeways in some whack attempt at civil disobedience, preventing some ordinary Joe Schmoe from getting to work, so he can feed his family and pay the rent.</p>
<p>Try preparing a speech, put on a suit, go to Sacramento and takeover the Assembly and Senate with filibusters during a public hearing; then move on to the education offices, the big houses downtown, and maybe the governor’s mansion as well. Thousands of students shutting down Sacramento might achieve better results, as opposed to kicking and screaming and breaking stuff like adolescent children. Of course, the former actually requires some time and effort…</p>
<p>Just a thought.</p>
<p>^ AMEN!! I agree with you, 08alum.</p>
<p>Just as a clarification, by politically active, I don’t mean causing riots that can be harmful and dangerous. But not many students here are very involved with issues. I guess I’d like to just see more students get informed about issues and maybe try and make changes if they don’t like something that is being done.</p>
<p>Pros: Its in a very pretty location, with rolling hills and nice weather and not too far from the beach. It has a very good reputation for architecture and engineering. Its very inexpensive when compared with UC’s or privates. Nice rec center. Sophomore dorms are really nice. There is a huge parking lot with lots of parking (not free). The Amtrak station is right in town so you can get anywhere you want in the state pretty easily.
Cons: The campus is under construction with no end in sight and a lot of the buildings look old and decrepit. Its getting that run down feel, I believe due to all the state budget cuts. Classes are hard to get sometimes. Its very possible you will have to go there a bit longer than 4 years to graduate, unless you plan carefully. You have to declare a major in the beginning and its difficult to change. It can get boring arou
nd town after living there a year or two. The food is not that good.</p>
<p>And this is either good or bad, but there are a lot of parties and drinking going on. When I was moving my daughter in a few years back, some freshman was already smuggling up a case of beer and we saw frat boys on the roof of their house across from the school drinking during the WOW picnic</p>
<p>As far as the political activeness on campus there really is none… There are about 2 clubs CP Republicans, which has been with the school for about 80 years or so, and CP Dems, which is about 7 years old (which says a lot about the political views of the majority of the students. in the tours they will say it’s 50/50, but that is obviously a lie…). There was a budget cut protest which probably had about 20 students… Nobody seems to care. As far as big issues, nobody seems to care, or not that many at least.</p>
<p>Statistics will show that CP is not diverse, which it isn’t, so definitely come prepared for that. There are singles that students can live in, and I transfers are not required to live on campus (at least to my knowledge?)</p>
<p>Class size really depends on the class. Most of the GEs that don’t require prereqs are filled 100 - 200 students. Since you went to CC you probably won’t be taking any of those so your classes will be relatively small maybe 10 (lowest) - 40 (highest) depending on the class.</p>
<p>If anything, I’d say that Cal Poly has something of a left-wing slant when compared with the state or nation as a whole. Meh…</p>
<p>As far as housing goes, NO ONE is required to live on campus. I think transfers can apply into some of University Housing’s apartments, which are one person-per bedroom. There are also lots of privately owned apartment complexes near campus. </p>
<p>Oh, and did someone say “Nice Rec Center”? Um… Around 3/4ths of is currently demolished. And, last I checked they do not plan to be done with the replacement until 2012 or so. </p>
<p>Pros:
-“learn by doing” is more than just a slogan, particularly in the college of engineering. Both in my classes and those that my fellow students take you are expected to acctually build things.
-Very few ‘Mega-lectures’, even among GEs. In my entire time here, I’ve only been in two classes with more than 50 students (not including preforming ensembles).</p>
<p>Cons:
-University Housing is evil.
-San Luis Obispo is an expensive place to live. On campus isn’t any better, particularly if they force you to buy the dining plan.
-Scheduling of classes can stink at some times. It really isn’t so bad for transfers. The GEs are normally the classes that get backlogged, and with sufficient skill you can crash them with a reasonable amount of success.
-You might have a hard time changing majors. Right now, they are blocking anything that might result in a ‘delay of graduation’ which means nearly all changes of major.
-Driving/Parking on campus is annoying and getting worse.</p>
<p>Well, I imagine you can take every school on College Confidential and come up with a Cons list. My own daughter made a Pros and Cons list for Cal Poly and USC. Sure, the cons for one might be quite different than for another. Then you just need to look at your priorities and go for the school with the least-annoying cons. 
You mentioned SLO being expensive to live. I can’t imagine it being more than the Los Angeles area. And, I’m mostly talking about the cost for entertainment and having to drive everywhere down there. </p>
<p>Well, we’re going into it with a positive frame of mind. 
Hopefully, most of our expectations will be met. And, better yet–the economy will start to recover!</p>
<p>BTW, what did you mean by “University Housing is evil?”</p>
<p>“Well, we’re going into it with a positive frame of mind. Hopefully, most of our expectations will be met.”</p>
<p>2Leashes, Good for you! We felt the same way last year and my daughter will be finished her freshman year in a month. (Can’t believe it!) </p>
<p>Yes, every school has its pros and cons. But there are just so many “pros” to Poly that you just work around the cons. She has shown architects and teachers back home what she accomplished in just the first two quarters at poly, and they were blown away. It truly is an amazing education. Yes, scheduling can be tricky at times (especially for arch), but she is making it work. Yes, the recreation building is being rebuilt, but she still goes to use the facility that is there. We don’t know much about SLO being expensive to live yet (she has been in the dorms), but the school itself is such a deal for the quality of education she receives there, that to us, that would be a wash. And she loves the town. If you are a city person, this would not be the place for you. But she loves to hike, ride her bike, goes on trips with the ski club, and spends most of her time engaged in school work.</p>
<p>Good luck to you and your daughter. I’m sure she will thrive at Poly!</p>
<p>University Housing has always been really helpful and friendly when I have called.</p>
<p>Ditto what CalMom05 says. Don’t know where “University Housing is evil” is coming from. My son has had no problems and even thinks his RA is way cool. The only gripe is with the lack of variety and cost of food.</p>
<p>University Housing seems to be willfully ignorant of the meaning of ‘due process’. I’ll just leave it at that.</p>
<p>I’m paying $675/month for a single bedroom in a trashy apartment with idiot roomates. And that’s relatively cheap for SLO. That’s what I mean by ‘expensive to live’. Cal Poly’s tuition and various student fees are just a drop in the bucket compared with living expenses, so, in that sense you are getting a deal.</p>
<p>I should point out that I am rather bitter towards Cal Poly SLO. They should have made it possible for me to change majors. I’d go so far as to say that I regret coming here. At this point, my only hope is to get out soon and go to grad school in the field I really wanted to study.</p>
<p>^ It’s unnecessary how restrictive they are regarding change of major. Just wondering what is your major/major you wanted to switch to? I am a business major but I’m trying to switch or even double major to ECON so I’m hoping they are going to let me switch… I feel like it is a reasonable change, and I’m almost a junior, because most of my GEs… so if they don’t let me, I will be transferring out, I hope…</p>
<p>I’m a CSC and I want to be an ME. So, it’s a long ways away, course wise. I’d figure on around 3 years delay, minimum. Which means at this point, I’m not even going to ask.</p>
<p>Cal Poly pros and cons depend on the type of person you are. </p>
<p>If you’re an urban city-slicker looking for high crime rates, smog, and traffic, Cal Poly is not for you. </p>
<p>If you enjoy surfing, hiking, rock climbing, mountain biking, off-roading, a small town feel, a great farmers’ market, cool parties, an excellent education, and a spectacular setting, then Cal Poly is for you :)</p>
<p>I feel that I must add that while my pro/con list may seem kind of harsh, it is because I definitely fit into the urban city-slicker category (as crazy as that may sound). I grew up very close to one of the largest cities in the country, and I’ve found that I thrive off the noise and traffic and everything like that. If you are the outdoorsy type who does not enjoy the hustle and bustle of large cities, you will probably love slo. During my first year at Cal Poly, the majority of people I met were this type and they truly loved the atmosphere there.</p>