<p>I’m just curious to know which classes usually weed out the most students. Actual students have told me that Intro CPE has like a 40% pass rate which actually was interesting to hear.</p>
<p>A family friend of mine, who graduated a few years ago, told me that the Chemistry department is a huge weed-out for engineers. He also said Physics isn’t as bad, but still pretty hard. I think most CPE are required to take one or the other.</p>
<p>CPE/CSC 101, 102 & 103.
Hope other current CPE, CSC and SE students can help you.</p>
<p>The first Chem class is a lot of work. All 3 physics classes are hard, too. In any freshman quarter, if you take one CPE programming course, one math, one science, and a GE class, thats a load for the quarter system. Oh, and you might want to have a life, too.</p>
<p>The professor from my son’s MATE chat said that the physics and calculus classes were what gave students trouble. I am sure the Chem classes are hard too. Let’s hope that the classes they took in HS have prepared them for these classes. He also said that there were plenty of study groups and tutoring available. Some kids get private tutors.</p>
<p>The physics in high school really didnt help my son, as the 3 college physics classes covered brand new material, stuff hed never heard of. That, and a lot of work, was what made physics so hard. Those courses were more lecture+lab type classes, which tend to be demanding.</p>
<p>Regarding calculus, most engineering students take calculus or more advanced math every quarter the first year. At some point in the freshman year, (I think) most engineering students take physics courses. So if your son is around engineering students, it will be easy to learn other peoples experiences with math and science.</p>
<p>The study groups are free and students get some email before each quarter announcing the sign ups. The courses offered seemed to be the ones students have the most trouble with. My son didnt want to do them, although it may have helped, so I dont know much about them. I assume these same study groups will be offered this fall.</p>
<p>My son had more trouble with Chemistry than Physics which is surprising since he had a great teacher for AP Chem in high school and he made a 5 on the AP Chem exam. His high school physics (regular, not AP) was a joke and he learned almost nothing in that class.
Calculus classes were also a menace for him. So GLAD he’s done with all his math & science support classes (except for one – Chem 305). His GPA is coming up now that he’s into taking just upper division major courses and GE’s. </p>
<p>Engineers are definately “weeded-out” in the first 2 years at Cal-Poly.</p>
<p>Eduparent, neither of my sons ever wanted to join the study groups for these hard classes either. I don’t understand why.</p>
<p>So many kids fail CPE101 because they often times don’t have any experience.</p>
<p>A lot of kids don’t know what they’re in for when they’re doing programming. I’m pretty sure it’s not a 40% pass rate though… I think you might’ve had that switched around. 40% fail rate sounds extreme too though… I would say around 30%.</p>
<p>If you manage to have any spare time at all during the summer, go and learn anything you can about C or Java. You’ll be thankful.</p>
<p>Eduparent summed it up. Programming is going to take a lot of your time… and when you consider your other classes, most likely Calculus, Physics, or Chemistry… it certainly will be a long road ahead.</p>
<p>S admitted under 'general engineering". Do all of the freshman engineering students take the CPE 101(this is computer programming?)? Also, a question for those with experience–is it wise to take AP credit earned in high school, or would it be better to repeat basics? For sure he would take any credit earned in social sciences, but not sure how advisable it is to skip intro math since it builds upon itself. Thanks</p>
<p>It looks like the general engineering students take CPE/CSC 101 in their freshman year.</p>
<p><a href=“http://bmegene.calpoly.edu/media/files/GENE_09-11_Flowchart.pdf[/url]”>http://bmegene.calpoly.edu/media/files/GENE_09-11_Flowchart.pdf</a></p>
<p>I was very surprised to hear from my son that so many of the students in CPE 101 were taking it for the 3rd time. He said the ones that struggled most were a) kids who’d never programmed before and b) those who worked in groups. He felt that the groups for this particular class kept kids from really understanding the material and that they would have been better off working through the programs on their own. My son had done C and java programming in summer camps over the years, but still learned quite a bit in the course and got a lot out of it. He said his professor was the best he’d ever had.</p>
<p>As far as placing out of math & physics courses, my impression is that it depends on how comfortable the kids are with the material. If they had an easy time with Calc BC and Physics C at the AP level in high school, they could probably skip the first course in each. However if their grasp of the concepts was a little shaky, it would be better to take them again freshman year. The college-level courses cover similar material but in more depth, and so it wouldn’t be a waste of time to retake just to have a solid foundation.</p>
<p>About AP Calculus, if you go to summer advising, maybe thats a good time to ask. If not, call Cal Poly and ask. My son got AP credit for Calculus 1. Called Cal Poly about whether to take the college Calculus 1 or move on to Calc 2. Based on what CP said, my son started CP with Calc 2 and did fine because much of it was covered in high school Calculus.</p>
<p>vballmom, like you said, a lot of kids don’t have any experience when they first begin programming. So, as a result, they never really understand what’s going on… and combined with the quarter system’s pace as well as other classes… and it’s not a surprise that a lot of kids fail. Taking it for the third time though sounds a tad extreme, and usually a lot of the people that take it twice end up understanding what’s necessary.</p>
<p>Your son was quite smart in attending those summer camps that teach programming. To me, it’s almost like Cal Poly should recommend people to get some experience before they program… because most (not all, but a good majority) people without any experience end up lost, confused, and too far back too quickly.</p>
<p>Weed out classes</p>
<p>There can be a positive side to weed out classes. If you begin taking classes in your major and find out its not for you, then you can change majors early in your college career. Better to find out as soon as possible rather than a year or two later, have to make up classes, and take much longer to graduate.</p>
<p>CPE (crosslisted as CSC) 101 is a good example. Students might love the computer (hardware or software) or gaming (play games or want to make them) and pick CPE, CSC or SE as their major. The first class they take is CPE 101 and suddenly they discover programming is not for them. It can be shocking for a high school honor student, used to studying hard in high school and getting As, to take a course like CPE 101, and not get an A (or B) in the very first quarter. But thats OK, you wont be alone. If taking CPE 101 (or similar class) gets you to change majors, you will be on a different, hopefully more interesting, path and you still can tinker with your computer or games or do whatever you enjoy, while being happier.</p>
<p>To be fair to Cal Poly, we visited computer engineering and computer science departments at several universities and some schools (Cal Poly was not one of them) were open enough to say that their first programming class was so hard that many people dropped out. I still remember those conversations because the drop out rate was rather surprising. As Ive said before, my son struggled through the first year of programming but got a solid background in basic programming. Cal Polys learn by doing is wonderful.</p>
<p>I find this thread interesting, but kind of scary. I’m a CSC major, and I just came back from Open House. At the CSC department meeting, a lot of the professors came up and said a few words. One of them actually said that intro classes like CSC (CPE) 101 are taught from a no-prior-experience basis, as if they expect you to know nothing upon entering. Though this is one hell of a “selling point” for Cal Poly, based on this thread, I’m curious about whether or not this is actually true, or if it just goes so quickly in the quarter system that most people are overwhelmed, etc.</p>
<p>I think it’s somewhat true.</p>
<p>They will start with the real, basic fundamentals. But the problem is, with how fast the quarter system is, it’s extremely easy for someone with no experience to fall behind… and thus, you end up in huge trouble. Once you fall behind… the chances of you catching up aren’t going to be great. Chances are, they get overwhelmed and don’t even know where to begin or start.</p>
<p>The funny thing is, you will end up learning a lot. The problem is, you will have learned it at a time when it’s too late… and I think that’s the problem that a lot of CPE 101 students face. Not that they didn’t learn anything, but they learned “too late”.</p>
<p>My son did not have much programming experience coming into CPE 101. Sorry for the long narrative, but it might help hearing how he did.</p>
<p>One summer, he took the first programming course at a community college. The teacher allowed extra students in because half would drop out. At first, my son really liked the class, but soon became overwhelmed and ended up dropping the class. Not a pretty experience. But a friend of ours, who was a programmer, told my son to not worry. He wont learn programming in one course. It will take at least a year of classes before he begins to think like a programmer.</p>
<p>In the last high school year, he took some classes that had light weight programming and really liked it. So by the time he started CPSLO with very little programming experience, he knew CPE 101 wasnt going to be a piece of cake and it wasnt. It was hard watching him struggle, but I was able to talk to two different parents who each had a son that recently graduated from Cal Poly, one in CPE and the other in CSC. They said the same thing about the major— their sons came to CP with no programming experience, had a tough time with the CPE & CSC classes (this is normal), did not get very good grades in those classes (dont worry), had to retake classes (happened to their own sons), and came out with outstanding CPE or CSC skills. I relayed this information to my son and it really helped him during the first year, as he learned basic programming the Cal Poly way.</p>
<p>One of the parents mentioned the sons friend, same major, at UC— got good grades because the friend spent more time studying, researching and reading about programming in classes. The CP son got lower grades because he was immersed in programming, typing & coding, and getting hands on experience. In my opinion, thats why CPs CPE, CSC & SE departments have such high ratings. CP turns out great programmers with their learn by doing style of teaching.</p>
<p>One thing that helped my son was living in the engineering dorm and meeting other CPE 101 students. Just about everyone (except for those retaking the class) was having trouble with the 101 series of classes. He found out he wasnt the only one struggling.</p>
<p>From a parents point of view, besides taking hard classes, there are so many other non-academic issues a freshman deals with—first time away from home, lots of distractions, friend or roommate problems, etc. So it can be a challenging year of learning and maturing.</p>
<p>A few years later, my son likes programming. The course numbers, teachers and content might be different, but the upper division CPE or CSC classes still have a lot in common with 101— they are hard, lots of work and the grades arent fantastic. But my son would say, no problem, Im used to it and continues to enjoy his classes.</p>
<p>If youve read this, youll be fortunate to know what the 101 series is going to be like. Enjoy the ride. Cal Poly is awesome.</p>