Questions about Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

Colleges and Universities A-Z Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
1

<p>Junior in high school here, looking into a couple of different colleges and I have a few questions for anyone who goes to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo or knows enough about it?</p>

<li>How is the communications departments?</li>
<li>Housing…How are the dorms? Should I live on campus, or should I rent a place off campus with other people?</li>
<li>What is the surroundings like…not only on the campus, but around San Luis Obispo ?</li>
<li>Social life…What do you do if you don’t know anyone?</li>
<li>Academic load? Hard, medium, or easy?</li>
</ol>

2

<p>I’ll just chime in for number 3. I have family in Arroyo Grande, so I have spent some time there just enough to give you some information on the surroundings. SLO is a nice quiet town that was actually growing rapidly, but it has slowed recently because of the economy. The small country people of neighboring areas often complain, because most often you’ll see cityfolk sucking in all the small town air. There is not much racial tension, people are just quiet. I did not like it there as a child, because it is right between LA and SF, and there’s not much action. However, I visited the campus last year for the Design Village competition, and I have realized that it is the perfect place for me to study. Morro Bay is like 15 mins away if you want to go to the beach. Five Cities area is close if you like old quiet towns (also Cambria is near, that town closes at 5). SLO is a college town and if becoming more diverse. It’s not city life, but it’s the right place to go if you really want to work on your studies. People party out there too, a lot of dorm parties during Open House. You should go to the Open House in April. If you’re more social, I’m sure more people will add their input. FARMER’S MARKET and RODEOS!</p>

<p>For Number 5, you better be coming to work. Please don’t slack if you want to go to SLO, because there are literally ten of thousands of people that would sacrifice a lot to go to SLO, me included. Hard work, hard work, but hopefully you’re a bright one.</p>

3

<ol>
<li>Communications Dept. - What are you looking for?</li>
<li>Housing - Live in the dorms your first year, you will meet lots of people and you will save time (parking can be a time consuming pain) You will also have a ton of fun.</li>
<li>SLO is perfect. The campus is perfect. Weather is great and the people are friendly.</li>
<li>See #2</li>
<li>It is as hard or as easy as you want it to be. Party your life away and classes will be hard. Study, and well, they won’t be easy, but they won’t be hard. This is college, all the little fish swam over the dam. You are left in the pond with the rest of the big fish. Eat or be eaten, learn to study or play. I found a happy place somewhere in the middle, and that has made all the difference.</li>
</ol>

<p>I can tell you that you NEED to visit any and all campuses that you are thinking of. I have been to EVERY campus UC and CSU, (yup, even Maritime) and they each have different feelings. Don’t take the word of some pages in a book. GO. Only you will know what is right for YOU!</p>

4

<p>Kirbysanmom’s last paragraph nails it. I would add that you should take the tours offered - they’re all done by students - and ask as many questions as you can. If possible, stay overnight and walk around the school’s town/city/neighborhood. After all, that’s going to be home for at least four years. Doing this ‘sold’ my son on Cal Poly but you could well have a different reaction.</p>

5

<p>My daughter and I visited Cal Poly a couple of weeks ago…she is admitted into Business for fall 2009. We took the general tour, went to the business school, and met some instructors and grad students in the industrial tech department. We stayed overnight, and hung out in the small, rather uptight little town. To me, it seemed a little dull overall - the advisors, profs, student tour guides etcetera. Compared with other colleges we’ve toured, like the UC’s. I wondered if there is any salsa at Cal Poly? Any spark or fun? I guess I didn’t see what the fuss is all about… clue me in</p>

6

<p>Personally its all a matter of opinion… I think the city is far from dull and has many perks…</p>

<p>City is extremely safe</p>

<p>Close to the beach/ocean (Pismo is 10 minutes away)</p>

<p>Clean</p>

<p>Nice downtown with thursdays always going off. Live music, and late night entertainment… [SLO</a> Downtown Association](<a href=“http://www.downtownslo.com/farmers.html]SLO”>http://www.downtownslo.com/farmers.html)</p>

<p>Awesome weather year round- Not too close to smoggy LA, or freezing SF… </p>

<p>The Downtown Brewery gets a lot of big time artists to play… travelling from SF to LA</p>

<p>The area around the campus is always social from thurs-sun</p>

<p>The town has a ton of extra curricular activities to do… Extremely nice public golf course (10$ for students)… Hiking, Kayaking, Surfing, etc.</p>

<p>CAL POLY:
Awesome hands-on training for a career in your major</p>

<p>Architecture is top 5 in the nation, Agriculture is one of the best departments in the nation, Engineering is one of the best and largest departments in the nation, Orfalea Business School is excellent and sends most graduates off to high paying jobs immediately, Math & Sciences is highly regarded as well, the only department thats lacking reputation is the college of Liberal Arts and thats because the school is looked at as Polytechnic with not much regard to independant thinking and theory.</p>

<p>Pretty tough school to get into, as you can see in the other forums… Top students get denied to Cal Poly and accepted to school like UCB and UCLA.</p>

<p>Number 3 college for getting graduates rich, Behind UCB and University of Virginia… Average Salary about at 100k [In</a> Pictures: Top Public Colleges For Getting Rich - Forbes.com](<a href=“In Pictures: Top Public Colleges For Getting Rich”>In Pictures: Top Public Colleges For Getting Rich)</p>

<p>Hands on training and experience, with huge internship opportunities… </p>

<p>Cal Poly owns the most land in California for a college… Swanton Ranch, SLO area etc.</p>

<p>Cant really think of many negatives about Cal Poly to be honest… Maybe the police and campus police are too strict?</p>