I was recently accepted from the waitlist at UCSB and have found myself in a bit of a pickle. I’ve visited both schools and am enamored of both in equal measure. I am undecided L&S at UCSB and philosophy at cal poly. I plan on taking the pre-med route.
Both are very good options so does cost play into your decision since Medical school is possibly in your future? What major would you pursue at UCSB?
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Are you able to take all of the required courses for med school as a philosophy major at SLO?
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Cost matters but it would seem they match each other pretty closely in pricing on paper so that hasn’t really influenced my decision-making much. Part of the reason I applied undeclared at UCSB we because I didn’t and still do not really know what exactly it is I want to major in. I had to select a major for cal poly in order to apply but would have opted in for undeclared had that been possible. I’m slightly worried about how purportedly difficult it is to change majors at cal poly, especially to an oversaturated one such as engineering, which I am also somewhat interested in. I might be deferring until fall 2022 so it might serve me to have the freedom of undeclared. Maybe I just answered my own question with that one but there are little things that draw me to cal poly like its on-campus climbing walls and seemingly superior dorms. I’m caucasian but I do appreciate the heightened diversity offered at UCSB as diversity is what I’m used to at this point. I live in LA so I’m planning on revisiting both schools one more time before I must decide.
Have you checked with Cal Poly or UCSB about deferring? CSU’s and UC’s rarely let you defer.
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Both will be difficult to change into engineering or CS majors (and you need to start following the course plan from the start).
You can web search “[school] change major [major]” for each possible major and each school.
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I’m usually a “go with your gut” guy and a huge fan of Cal Poly. That said, a couple of things caught my eye.
First, if you want to go to medical school, why does switching to engineering matter? You couldn’t pick a worse major. Engineering is very hard to maintain a high GPA, especially at Cal Poly. Just as bad, there are no free electives in most engineering curricula at CP. Squeezing in all the prerequisites will be hard.
Speaking of hard, Philosophy might be. In the grade distribution sheet linked below, Philosophy is ranked near the bottom in percentage of A/B grades given. It’s probably not because it’s brutally hard, but because classes taken for credit instead of a grade look like they’re lumped with Cs. You might want to call the department though and ask. Just explain your concern. GPA rules all in applying to medical school.
Lastly, diversity. Cal Poly is one of the whiter campuses in the CA public system. It’s not due to the reason most suspect though. The percentage of black and brown students is the same as UCB. It’s that there are far few Asian students. UCSB is one of the most diverse campuses in the nation, far more than CP, UCB or UCLA.
Good luck!
https://www.reddit.com/r/CalPoly/comments/8flq8r/grade_distribution_by_departmentmajor_for_winter/
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I requested a deferral for cal poly nearly a month ago that was accepted. I had initially asked on some cal poly affiliated discords about the possibility of deferral and most said it was impossible. I called cal poly and they said the total opposite; I just had to file for a medical deferral instead. Regarding UCSB, part of me suspects that because I was accepted off of a waitlist as opposed to being initially accepted deferral may not be as easily obtainable. I have yet to contact the UCSB admissions office which I plan on doing later today, so until then I can say nothing for certain.
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I agree with the above posters that if you are leaning towards the highly competitive majors of CS/Engineering, switching majors later will be problematic along with fulfilling the Med school course pre-req’s. Having another year due to deferral can help solidify your focus and hopefully you will have things figured out for Fall 2022. Best of luck.
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Congrats, they are both great!
I’d find a way to visit both again, talk to some students, then follow your heart, knowing there is no wrong choice.
Deferrals used to be pretty rare at both schools, you typically needed a documented medical reason. I know Covid changed that for at least a year, not sure how they are handing them this cycle. Be sure to contact each campus to understand the current process.
Good luck
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I’m hours away from both so I’ll be visiting this coming weekend. I wasn’t very thorough during my first go-round because if I had been I’m sure I would feel significantly more drawn to one school over the other. It has been a month since my last visit to both schools and my memory is foggy so I’m really glad to be going back. I wish that both schools were in full swing and that a guided tour could be more easily coordinated but I guess I’ll have to be my own sherpa. Good practice for the future I guess.
A second visit will help. They’re both good options. In the end, your success is in your hands. I’d go where you think you’d be happiest and most supported in your endeavors.
Switching majors at Cal Poly is not always impossible, but it can be. They consider if you would have been admitted into the destination major when you first applied. The competitiveness of your first major is not considered, but your MCA score would be. It an be cumbersome too.
My son was an engineering major, but one of his favorite classes was an upper level philosophy class, Philosophy of Space, Time and Matter.
Good luck!
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I’m with your son. I was an engineering major and one of my favorite classes was a Philosophy class (can’t remember the name, something like The Art of Technology). I remember leaving my final thinking that my answers were so out there there was a distinct possibility that I would bomb the exam. Thankfully my professor enjoyed the excursion down the rabbit hole. My daughter also took a philosophy class at our local community college last summer and thought it was one of the best classes she has taken. Philosophy really teaches you to think and analyze. I love it!
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Interesting @eyemgh .
Looking at the Common Data Sets though, this is what I found in terms of representation:
Cal Poly SLO
Black .5%
Hispanic 17.3%
Asian 14%
UCSB
Black 1.4%
Hispanic 24.8%
Asian 22.4%
UCB
Black 2.2%
Hispanic 22.3%
Asian 37.2%
All three groups are comparatively underrepresented at CalPoly. (The SLO CDS said only 23 Black students are represented as freshman, which is especially low and bad.) Blacks/African Americans are 4X more enrolled at UCB than SLO. Even at 2.2%, that is incredibly small. There are 5% fewer Hispanics at SLO than UCB.
Asians comprise 14.7% of the state’s population, Hispanics 39% and Blacks/AA’s 5.8%. Asians are clearly overrepresented at Berkeley and UCSB, and proportional at CalPoly. Hispanics are underrepresented at all campuses, as are African Americans.
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Regarding CPSLO’s relative lack of ethnic diversity, note the demographics of San Luis Obispo County in comparison to the state: https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/CA,sanluisobispocountycalifornia/PST045219 . While CPSLO may be a “destination” campus that attracts students from other parts of the state for engineering, it may be much less so for most other majors.
Hispanic or Latino students are overrepresented compared to the state population at some campuses like UCR, UCM, CSULA, CSULB, CSUDH, and CSUSB. Black students are overrepresented compared to the state population at some campuses like CSUEB and CSUDH. However, both groups are underrepresented at many more campuses than they are overrepresented.
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I’ve had this discussion before, including with black families that bucked the trend and attended Cal Poly in the 90s. My theory, and they agreed, was that it’s a chicken/egg problem. When black students started joining the college ranks, they did as nearly all students did, white, black or otherwise. They went to schools close to home. At that time (and continuing to this day) SLO county had a very small black population relative to the other areas you cited. Black students don’t go to Cal Poly because black students haven’t gone to Cal Poly. It’s not for lack of trying on the part of the university within the confines of state law. A black student though will still be a significant minority and have to be very comfortable with that. Understandably, few are. Nothing will change until that changes.
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