<p>So, I will be visiting Cal Poly soon, I was recently accepted, and I live in Seattle, WA… I’ve heard a lot of things about SLO, like it’s a hick town with hardly any minorities, very little things to do in SLO.</p>
<p>But are some of these accusations true to some extent?? Please post truthfully!</p>
<p>not a hick town. lacks minoritys, but not a hick town. things to do? uh you can study i guess.</p>
<p>123321- Total misconceptions dude… San Luis Obispo is extremely nice, and is a very socially active CITY… It has about 50,000 residents, and literally has one of the best downtown areas ive ever seen. I really would advise you to visit San Luis Obispo on a thursday… Go downtown and check out the festivities that occur every thursday night. San Luis Obispo does have mountains surrounding it, but that isn’t a negative, it makes the place more majestic… There are mountains and then then beaches right beside. It is a collaboration of the bests of nature. And about the beaches, they are awesome. Pismo Beach is 10 minutes away from campus and is the classic CA surfer town. Morrow Bay has the waves though, and that is about 15 minutes from campus.</p>
<p>If you want to go to a party school, Cal Poly has that aspect… There are a bunch of bars downtown for when you turn 21, there is a spot called the Downtown Brewery that will get some of the top music artists in the U.S. Snoop Dog performs there regularly and a lot of other great performers stop their. The frat parties are always open to freshman, but the schools social scene isn’t controlled by the frat parties. Right off campus there is a huge college community, where there are tons of house parties all the time… The difference between Cal Poly and other schools is that, socially it is exactly what you want it to be… But you might have to try to not be social from thurs-sun. Unlike most UC’s also it has that classic college sports feel… A lot of sold out football games, and D1 basketball games. Surprisingly students get amped on the Mens Soccer, which beats some of the top universitys in the nation year after year. Diversity is lacking… Not a huge Asian population, but at the same time not terribly small (15%).</p>
<p>Academically it is a superb university… Better than most of the UC’s in my opinion. But the rest of the forums on this page will tell you about that.</p>
<p>Those are my 2 cents… You should definitely visit Cal Poly, I really think that you will be impressed.</p>
<p>BTW- I got denied this year, it was my number 1… But am going to UCI.</p>
<p>I concur with Rofler’s description except for the ‘mountains’. The Cascades and Sierras are mountains. What you have around SLO are hills. Beautiful to be sure, but mostly foothills. I do concur that the downtown Thursday night scene is outstanding.</p>
<p>My son spent two weekends checking out the school, the town and then the dorms. All I got out of him regarding the social/party scene was that its ‘sick’ which is good, right? Bottom line, he picked Cal Poly over the UCs, SDSU and Univ. of Colorado. A good friend who he’ll probably room, with is Lebanese and, come to think of it, another going to Cal Poly is Hispanic. FWIW.</p>
<p>…but Snoop Dogg?</p>
<p>You have to remember that SLO is halfway between San Francisco and LA. Artists who don’t like to fly stop in SLO, traveling between concert venues up and down the coast route. Having been to Seattle many times, I can say that SLO is small in comparison. Ten minutes and you have driven through town on the freeway, but that is the beauty - I have been on Seattle freeways in traffic and ten minutes got me nowhere! If you are looking for glitz, it’s not here. If you are looking for a little bit of everything, and I mean small amounts of just about everything, you CAN find it here. You just have to look and pay attention to what is going on. Red brick dorms are like U Dub, but instead of evergreen trees you have oaks. You can’t walk off campus and find 4 Starbucks, but you might find 1 
You really should visit before you commit though. You can’t take someone else’s word on something - you need to see for yourself and form your own opinons</p>
<p>I’ve lived in SLO for 15 years and sure artists stop here on their way up or down the coast. I’ve just never heard that Snoop Dogg was ever at Downtown Brew let alone regularly.</p>
<p>Oh…there is actually a Starbucks on campus! </p>
<p>[Starbucks</a> Coffee - Campus Dining - Cal Poly Corporation](<a href=“http://www.calpolycorporation.org/campusdining/starbuckscoffee.asp?pid=2]Starbucks”>http://www.calpolycorporation.org/campusdining/starbuckscoffee.asp?pid=2)</p>
<p>Rofler, that’s so strange how you got rejected from SLO but got into uci … I got into SLO but rejected from pretty much all UC’s but UCR. I wish we can trade spots. </p>
<p>Is it better to bring a car or not? I’m still debating because I live 4 hours away and I think I will go visit during spring break.</p>
<p>littlehiphopgirl, </p>
<p>it all depends on your major. calpoly accepts people by their competition in the same major.</p>
<p>super cute guys, lots of college-towness and farmers market coolness going on!</p>
<p>Ha ha… I love SLO, honestly it is the best college town I have ever seen, and I have visited and stayed with a lot of friends in college… But you will see A LOT of:
Cowboys
Trucks with hay in the back of it
Country Music
Palin 2012 stickers</p>
<p>But at the same time you’ll find that it is also a really chill city, with a lot of emphasis on surfing, being active, partying, and having a good time.</p>
<p>I think Cal Poly Slo is a “dry” campus, meaning no alcohol served on campus.
Kids still get busted with alcohol on campus. Party scene is okay. Isle Vista at UCSB is the place to party. Hookup with similar majors to trade party weekends at each other’s town.</p>