<p>I'm going to be a senior this coming school year, and will be applying to colleges this fall. My highest SAT score at the moment is an 1870 (I will be retaking the SAT in October to boost it up). I had a 650 in Reading, 540 in Math, 680 in Writing, and got an 11 on the essay. So far, my career GPA is at a 3.95, and I had a 4.17 and 4.33 for both semesters of junior year. My transcript at the moment looks like this:
Freshmen Year
English 9: A/A
Geometry: B/C
Geography: A/A
Biology: A/A
Religion: A/A
Spanish 2: A/A
P.E. A/A</p>
<p>Sophomore Year
AP World History: A/A, 5 on AP exam
Honors British Literature: A/A
Algebra II: B/B
Physics: B/B
Religion: A/B
Spanish: B/A
Art 1: A/A</p>
<p>Junior Year
AP English Language: A/A
AP U.S. History: A/A
Chemistry: A/A
Religion: A/A
Digital Photography: A/A
Study Hall
Honors Pre-Calculus (took it first semester, then switched into Math Analysis): C
Math Analysis (second semester): A</p>
<p>Next year, I will be taking AP Environmental Science, Honors Chemistry II, first semester of math Trigonometry, then second semester Honors Pre-Calculus, AP English Literature, Teacher's Aid or Computer Science, and Political Science first semester with U.S. Government second semester. I have been a local my entire life, and have been participating in community service since the 6th grade (along with school service hours since sophomore year). Do I have a good chance of getting into the Biology major at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo? Is it a difficult major to get in to?</p>
<p>I actually go to a private school. We have a pretty rigorous curriculum. That was my first time taking the SAT, and I didn’t study for it at all. I might take the ACT instead, because I know plenty of smart kids who have problems with the SAT, yet excel on the ACT.</p>
<p>Even though this school is a Calfifornia State University (CSU) which generally do not have particularly high admission standards, admission to Cal Poly SLO is at least as competitive as most of the University of Calfifornia (UC) schools. The mid 50% of SAT scores in Math (25th percentile to 75th percentile) for students accepted at Cal Poly SLO is 560 to 670 which puts you in the bottom 25% for all students admitted. The bottom 25% is made up mainly of atheletes and expectations for SAT Math scores in the sciences such as Biology would be above the 50th percentile or about 615. Unless you can raise your Math SAT substantially I am afraid your chances for admittance to Cal Poly SLO are poor. </p>
<p>Your scores are competetive for the other CSUs and you may want to look at the Biology programs of some of these schools as more realistic alternatives.</p>
<p>Thankfully, neither of you two “know it alls” are going to hold me back from trying to get into Cal Poly SLO. I will take the ACT, and I will get into Cal Poly, even though both of you seem to think I’m an idiot, despite the fact that the SAT does not measure intelligence. It’s a strategy test.</p>
<p>I hate how you are in denial.
Accept it. SAT 1870, even without studying, is a really bad score, judging by the competitive applicant pool you want to apply to.</p>
<p>Best of luck to you, in raising your SAT score.
But if you post a chances thread, you should expect some harsh advices too. That is how people learn.
I never said you are an idiot. Don’t worry, I am a classics major, not even applying to Cal Poly Slo.</p>
<p>Collegebound90, I never said that you were an idiot or would not get accepted at Cal Poly SLO, what I was trying to point out is that Cal Poly SLO is a particularly competetive school and your SAT scores to date in Math do not compare favorably with those of students that that school normally admits. Remember I also said that your SAT scores, including Math, would make you very competetive at the 22 other CSUs in California.</p>
<p>By all means apply to Cal Poly SLO and I hope you get in but please do not be disapointed if you are one of the many well qualified applicants that that school is unable to admit each year because of the large number of applicants they receive with even stronger credentials.</p>
<p>@collegebound90, please don’t be so hostile. There’s a ton of debate about the SAT, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t one of the most important factors in college admissions.</p>
<p>That being said, I wouldn’t say SLO is as competitive as most UCs. If you could bump your math SAT I score to a 630 or so, I’d say you’d be in.</p>
<p>An 1870 is fine for SLO. Plenty of people with 1870s get into Irvine, which is more selective than Cal Poly.</p>
<p>personally i think you should take the ACT because it is the preferred test at cal poly slo (i spoke to admissions and they gave me this information)
i have been to slo and have spoken to a few students
your gpa is great and your sat scores are not bad at all, but improvement is always better
cal poly’s admission is based on major, since you are required to declare a major when applying.
i personally spoke to an alumni who got about 1650 on his SAT and got accepted into the computer engineering program, but I’m not sure what his gpa was or extracurricular activities were
as advice, make sure you continue to take both the SAT and the ACT because you will more than likely continue to do better.
the admissions person told us they care more about your gpa and how rigorous your schedule was, and and then the standardized test scores, and extracurriculars are compared to the other applicants
best of luck, i am also going to apply there :)</p>