@gzza73 I’m soo glad to see similar thinking! My son (admitted to SLO for ME) also applied to WPI, Purdue, VT, Georgia Tech, UCB, UCSB, and UCSD. He couldn’t give a whoowie for big sports he just wants a robotics team. Admissions is just such a mystery (you can read all the past year ranges you want but it depends on who else applies in your year). I think my son’s major strategy was throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what stuck! As long as it had a 4+1 option in ME, a fencing club, a robotics club, and a decent rep in engineering with ABET accreditation he gave it a shot. I added guaranteed freshmen housing and available tutoring in the search. We took MIT and Stanford off the list for financial reasons, same with MUDD and Rose Hulman.
@eyemgh
I have read many of your post regarding your opinion of other universities. What is you take on Texas a&m engineering? I was accepted fall19 which I’m strongly considering. Still waiting to hear from cal poly. The one thing that is a plus for texas a&m is their doctoral program which cal poly does not offer.
If a cal poly slo hasnt heard from admissions the first round, would the second round be likely to be a wave of wait listed students?
Why is that a plus in applying as an undergrad? Personally, I can think of many reasons why that might be a disadvantage, but I’d like your thoughts.
As far as A&M goes beyond that, I don’t have much of an opinion. I think it is a solid program like MANY state school UG engineering programs. My main gripe is that it is a generic first year engineering program and competition for major after that is pretty tough. @ucbalumnus can speak to the exact details, but I’m not a fan of attending for a year only to get shut out of your desired major if you don’t make the cut. It seems like unnecessary risk given all the options out there.
I just wanted to throw this out there. For anyone with doubts about SLO not being a great college town, it was voted #1 in CA last year. 