Admissions

Though it is primarily an Engineering and Agricultural school, our other majors have a lot to offer..take Liberal Arts for instance. Our Performing arts Centers...yes that's plural...and Music facilities and Band are state of the art and Best of the West as you can get.
If there are any Animal Science perspective Aggie's for Cal Poly i can answer any question you may have as well. Also! Any incoming Freshmen have questions about the school or the town I am also bursting with info as a 2009 Week Of Welcome orientation Leader aka WOW!

and one more thing....if your coming to Cal Poly? WOW is a must!!

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Cal Poly is one of the few CSU's that take extra curricular activities into account in their applications so make sure you add them all in!

Definitely visit the school to get a feel for the campus which is absolutely beautiful, I fell in love with it the moment I laid eyes on it for the first time.

My main tip though is APPLY TO CAL POLY. A lot of students are put off by the fact that it is a CSU and not a UC but the level of education and the value for it is unparalleled in the UC system.

If you are considering going to Cal Poly, you will hear these things a lot, but I’ll say them anyway. Go to WOW and live on campus! WOW will introduce you to tons of people that may or may not end up being your friends, but more importantly it shows you all the things to do in town and the clubs on campus. It basically introduces you to your new home. Everyone does WOW; if you don’t you will definitely be left out. Also, there’s nothing like the experience of living on campus. It’s hard to meet people your first year if you don’t. I would recommend dorms over the apartments because the dorms are much more social. Other tips:
If you aren’t in love with your major, consider other options and do it early! The longer you are in a major at this school, the harder it is to switch. It’s not as hard as they make it sound, but it is still pretty difficult. It will also depend on how drastic the switch is. If you’re switching from Mechanical Engineering to Electrical Engineering, it should be relatively easy. If you’re going from English to Physics you will have difficulties.
Don’t overload yourself the first quarter! If you go to SOAR, they will probably tell you to take 16 units (depending on your major) and make it sound like you are way behind if you don’t. I took 13 my first quarter and I’m still right on track. Take time to get involved, try different clubs, and just have fun your first quarter. You’ll probably end up getting distracting with the stuff either way, and you don’t your GPA to suffer for it.
Be organized! The quarter system is FAST! You have to plan ahead and know when assignments are coming up.

Get the meal plan with the most plus dollars because there are only 4 places to use the actual meal credits and 2 of those places basically serve the same food. Plus, the places where they only accept plus dollars have a higher quality of food.

Get ready to work hard if you are studying a major such as engineering, and make sure that you are doing what you are interested in! If you like what you're learning, you'll be prepared to work hard for your degree. Try to take advantage of EVERYTHING Cal Poly has to offer!!!

Definitely bring a bike because you will use it. It's a quick way for you to get to class or downtown.
Attend WOW. Week of Welcome is a weeklong event that happens every year before classes start. New freshmen come a week before classes start and move into their dorms. They are placed in groups of 8 or 9 students and their WOW leaders show them SLO and what it has to offer. It's a great way to learn about where you'll be living for the next 4 years at least. WOW taught me alot about SLO that I never knew.

It's helpful to know what field you would like to pursue. But it doesn't have to be exactly what you want to do. Just don't pick something you are going to hate :)

First make a chart of what you are looking for in a college. Then as you visit each college fill in the chart by listing the characteristics that the particular college had to offer. Write down your initial reaction about the college you just visited because you will forget. Compare the diffrent colleges on your list and select the one with the most qualities of your ideal college. Remember to keep location from home, expenses, and major in mind when selecting.

take classes in hs related to your major like drafting ad cad for architecture. and if your out of state ca calls gpa a 5 point scale, which pretty much no other state does, the go by weighted gpa.

When taking AP courses in high school, research which passing grades you will get credit for and if those classes apply to your major. Also, research the major you will be choosing to enroll with because you start taking classes within that major your first quarter.