Admissions

STAY BUSY! Go to the gym, play intramural sports, go to school events like plays, get involved in ROTC, just do something. Your classes will be busy depending on your major but if you live on campus you need to keep yourself active and give yourself an advantage.

If you know the college you really want to go to, get involved right now. It is never to early. I advise you to look out for the programs like Upward Bound and apply for EOP if you can, it will help you a lot. Find out about this college as much as you can through their website- csupomona.edu

Find a way to get priority registration! Registration at any college is hectic and stressful. Since everyone is competing for those core classes it is a slim chance that you will get the classes you want or need, much less the days and times you prefer. Priority registration is given to honors students and athletes, among others. Call the registrar's office to see if you fit in any priority categories. There is one category that fits almost anyone. Four your pledge (or 5 year for those architecture and engineering students) guarantees priority registration for those who pledge that they will not change their major. Now if you do decide to change your major you can just drop out of the pledge. The only penalty is that you no longer get priority registration. I am a four year pledge student and I got to register many weeks before everyone else. I am extremely grateful that I got every class I wanted with reasonable times without any stress whatsoever.

I advise prospective students to definitely go on a tour of the campus. You learn a lot about the faculty and the way the school is run, but also the history of Cal Poly. If you do decide on enrolling, I strongly advise you to get a Road Map for your major because it helps you organize which classes you should take.

try to know what you want to major in! you can become part of the 4 year pledge that guarantees that you will graduate in 4 years. i would recommend living on campus your first year as well, and also try to get involved in at least one club (even if it's just the one from your major). also, use the resources they offer here! most are free, and can be very helpful when you're struggling with a subject or you need help practicing for a job interview.

Live in the dorms your first year. Opportunities may come up to live in the suites, but the suites aren't very social because they're all upperclassmen and many of them live with their friends and thus have no reason to socialize. The dorms are great for your first year, you'll make tons of friends and meet a lot of new people and they're just generally a lot more fun.
Also, don't worry about not knowing what major to declare. It seems like a big deal, but so many people are undeclared their first year of college. You'll have plenty of time to figure out what it is you want to do.

Visit the campus before you apply, for every school, while classes are in session. By going to the schools you apply to you get a feel for the atmosphere of the college and if you go while classes are in session you'll be able to experience a day that you may experience a million more times in the years after high school. Also ask questions, the worst thing that could happen is you decide you want to go to a school and find out their dorms are only for certain people of certain ages or you can only take certain classes your freshman year instead of picking the classes that you want to take.

If you're thinking about attending Cal Poly, my first advice would be to earn good grades. It is moderately challenging to be accepted into Cal Poly because six of their programs, including animal science, have been impacted by the California budget. My second advice would be to visit the campus just to get the feel of it (you should visit any school you wish to apply to). My third piece of advice is to take orientation and welcome week seriously. I did not pay much attention during orientation and skipped welcome week. I missed a lot of vital information and I was forced to find the answers to my questions on my own time.

You should go check out the campus for yourself to be 100% sure. It is a very green campus, beautiful anywhere you walk. Which by the way you will do alot of possibly. It is a big campus but there are shuttle buses to take you were you need. Lots of hills for sure. Food at cafeteria could be better but there are plenty of other places to eat at: panda express, carls jr, subway, taco bell, starbucks, etc...
Weather is nice can get cold at night because of the hills so close by.

Have an idea as to what you want to do before attending, but if planning to apply as an undeclared major CPP is very accommodating towards your needs.
There is a bit of a stigma associated with CPP that: CPP is a difficult school; CPP is a rigorous school, but every one is very accommodating to each others needs--do not be afraid to attend a "hard" school.
Be ready to get engaged, work hard, and have fun.
Oh, and join RISE if you can, it's a program whose purpose is to help incoming freshman get acclimated to the college environment.