r/CalPoly • u/ObjectiveHedgehog132 • Mar 26 '26
Admissions how did i get rejected?
i thought cal poly slo only considered grades and course rigor...
i have a 4.18 CSU GPA, 14 APs, straight As (except one B in 2nd semester of an AP class in sophomore year), took calculus III and intro to linear algebra at SDSU (got As in both)
even though I applied for computer engineering (which I know is competitive), i don't really see what more i couldve done to get in. does anybody think they know why i was rejected?
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u/AL_BLASTER Mar 26 '26
Man reading this this makes me wonder how on earth I was accepted for computer engineering. I only took 3 APs and had a 4.17 csu gpa. Maybe because i took 5 years of english helped me get in? But i doubt it cuz i feel like everyone is gonna hit those recommended years. Honestly you seem more qualified than me, so im sorry you didnt get in.
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u/Conscious-Wolf7727 Mar 26 '26
No same I got in for comp sci and I feel sp bad cause everyone is so deservjng and I had really average stats.
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u/Warm_Cup5199 Mar 26 '26
do you live in SLO county, or are you first gen? both could give you a significant boost. otherwise who knows, sometimes people forget that they include 9th grade in the gpa
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u/Conscious-Wolf7727 Mar 27 '26
Nope im a h4 visa not first gen. I had all As 9th grade and a couple Bs and Cs in my junior and sophomore year. What I think lead to my acceptance was me doing dual enrollment in my local CC and earning my associates in arts.
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u/BagAffectionate2847 Mar 26 '26
You did the best you could, and your accomplishments/grades so far are very impressive. But life moves on, Cal Poly admits based off a back-door calculating.
Good luck in whatever other school thatâs luck enough to have you!
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u/Conscious-Wolf7727 Mar 26 '26
Wait can u explain what back door calculating is pls
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u/kameronn Major: Music, Concentration: House Mar 26 '26
Nobody knows, thatâs why itâs called a back door calculation lol
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u/BagAffectionate2847 Mar 27 '26
back door because no one knows, SLO is almost impossible to fully plan for and itâs no one fault if they get in or get waitlisted/rejected.Â
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u/Last_Measurement4336 Mar 26 '26
They also use their own GPA calculation which is 9-11th a-g course grades with the 8 semester Honor point cap not the CSU GPA. They consider SLO/CP GPA, HS course rigor, # of a-g courses taken above the minimum, local admission area, EC hours/week, if you held a leadership position, if you had a job related to your major, veteran status, first generation status and local admission area status.
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u/Jim_Beaux_ Mar 26 '26
If itâs any consolation, a friend of mine was denied by Cal Poly but was given a full ride scholarship from UC Berkeley. Cal Poly is just super competitive and sometimes their decisions donât make sense from our point of view.
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u/Skyguy62 Mar 26 '26
This was literally me too. Got rejected from SLO, accepted into Berkeley with full ride, then like a month later SLO changed my admission decision and accepted me (I didnât appeal it)
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Mar 26 '26
[removed] â view removed comment
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u/Skyguy62 Mar 26 '26
Yeah I also thought it was weird but they didnât acknowledge the rejection. It was as if they never sent me the rejection letter. At that point I had already gotten into Berkeley so I just kind of shrugged it offâŚ
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u/thisismyburnerac Mar 26 '26
Hope tomorrow brings you admission to Cal.
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u/ObjectiveHedgehog132 Mar 26 '26
im terrified for this decision, but ive kinda lost hope
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u/thisismyburnerac Mar 26 '26
Happy thoughts only.
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u/Many-Artichoke2124 Mar 26 '26
You want to take as close to the recommended number of classes as possible. Most people I know maxed out math/foreign lang/science. The English is questionable as no one from my school had 5 years English and lots got in. I think if you are lacking in the other areas then the English will help. They admit strictly by major so they will not look at you against say a history major. You will only be compared against applicants for your major. Itâs tricky and kids get in the âbackâ door and change majors all the time. Note to future applicants, be wise in major choice and aside from impacted majors you can change majors at Cal Poly.
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u/ThinkDiscipline4236 Alum Mar 26 '26
Cal poly usually has 80,000 plus applicants for 6,000 seats. It's not just competitive, its absurd. Last year, computer engineering alone had 1,472 applicants for 109 seats. Cal poly can be very selective with its admissions.
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u/Many-Artichoke2124 Mar 26 '26
But they let in at least 3 times the amount of seats because not everyone accepts. Still really competitive but not single digits.
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u/KoreanJoshua Mar 26 '26
How do you have only a 4.18 GPA if you took 14 AP classes and 2 college classes with near straight Aâs?
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u/ObjectiveHedgehog132 Mar 26 '26
well thats csu gpa (which im not sure how they calculate), my cumulative academic gpa is 4.44
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u/wondertacomaster Mar 26 '26
Honestly, you seem like a better student than me at the time I applied, and yet I got in. There's a lot of other factors besides grades and exams, and courses that no one really knows.
You can appeal it if you really want to go here. Otherwise, understand that there's a 99% chance that it's not cuz you lack something. The systems is not entirely 100% fair. Maybe they took enough students in from your highschool, maybe they have some other filters that didn't include you.
At the end of the day, everyone needs luck to get into any university. Unfortunately you didn't have that for cal poly.
Again it's clear you worked hard throughout highschool and almost certainly are just as good as anyone else who got in and deserve it as much as well.
Best of luck!
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u/Ohsaycanyousnark Mar 26 '26
There is an entire algorithm with a point structure for Cal Poly-it includes courses, where you are from in the state, first gen, volunteer hours, job hours, specific classes (10 semesters English, 8 semesters foreign language, etc)-all of those things give you points, some weighted more than others. Your stats are impressive but there is definitley more to it than straight grade/test stats. And you applied to a ridiculously competitive major. I wish you the best wherever you go!
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u/ssneakyelephantt Mar 26 '26
I hear you, but itâs not your fault. There is a randomness and luck factor that is out of your control. Donât sweat it, you seem like a smart kid and Iâm sure you will be successful wherever you end up
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u/WilliamandCharles Mar 26 '26
In state is a lot more competitive than out of state and you applied for a very competitive major.
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u/MereDaPear Mar 26 '26
I thought this was the opposite. Don't they give priority to in state students?
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u/WilliamandCharles Mar 26 '26
Why? Out of state students pay a lot more money and therefore they make a lot more from them.
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u/Professional-Mud3373 Mar 26 '26
OOS pays more but the Cali state system is basically for state kids by law or some kind of charter.
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u/WilliamandCharles Mar 26 '26
I never said that they let in less kids from in state I just meant that theyâre more likely to let in kids from out of state with worse or similar grades. They let in a decent amount of people but itâs still super competitive especially for computer related majors.
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u/Professional-Mud3373 Mar 26 '26
I believe in state minimum is 2.5 and OOS is 3.5 as Googled. Google could be wrong though.
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u/WilliamandCharles Mar 26 '26
I remember I had a 4.25 weighted or something and got in OOS but my friend had a much lower weighted like a 3.4/3.5 maybe and got in and his other stuff was nothing crazy (mine wasnât either but I had much higher grades). I donât remember but Iâm fairly certain that if he was in state he probably wouldâve gotten turned down.
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u/Effective_Tiger_909 Mar 26 '26
In-state tends to be more competitive because by numbers, there are more applicants. Less OOS applicants with higher qualifications and less yield rate for the school.
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u/ChapterBoth763 Mar 26 '26
Poly likes to see concurrent enrollment. Classes taken at the CC level. Specifically Math and English
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u/Economy-Spread3329 Mar 26 '26
My brother is a dumbass and he got in for 2024. I went through something similar with a college this year. I think itâs just a bad year. 81k people applied to slo this time.
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u/aerospikesRcoolBut Mar 26 '26
Yea honestly this is crazy. Youâre a transfer student? From a CSU? I might be wrong but Iâm pretty sure they just prioritize CC transfers and uni to uni transfers are just really uncommon
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u/ObjectiveHedgehog132 Mar 26 '26
oh no, im just a high school student, the csu gpa was just something that was listed on my grade portal that I thought they used for admission
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u/jlb-1964 Mar 26 '26
There are many top kids from each HS in CA that probably had higher CSU GPA. It is hard to understand I know, but many kids go from the top of their class with straight As and lots of APs, 6 years of science /math and 5 years of English. There just arenât enough spots for everyone that is qualified.
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u/Effective_Tiger_909 Mar 26 '26
My OOS daughter got into CalPoly for Animal Science in 2024, but got waitlisted at Davis. She only had 1 AP going into her senior year; she took 4 APs in total. She applied with a 3.83. In retrospect, I think CalPoly looks for students who will thrive in a "Learn by Doing" environment and are team oriented and outgoing vs a lone smart wolf. My daughter was extremely well-rounded - athletic, artistic and a coach. She is bright but academics were never her end all and she never put 100% into high school. Colleges look for fit too, not just academics. With that, she decided to go to Davis. đ
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u/WontRememberThisID Mar 26 '26
The keywords in your post are "out of state". It's much easier for out of state to get in. Like all other state colleges, Cal Poly loves the extra tuition they can charge out of state students. A few years ago the Tribune posted some stats for OOS admits by state and the overall acceptance percentage was something like 58%, whereas for in-state it was like 29%.
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u/sunshinesister Mar 26 '26
Unfortunately there is an element of luck that plays into college admissions - thereâs only so many people and there are plenty of people like yourself that were very qualified and still did not get a spot. Being good enough and doing all the right things is all you can do- but life has to have it in the cards for you. You ARE good enough and you are going to be a fantastic computer scientist. CP SLO just isnt the road youll take to get there.
Good luck from an elder Zillennial who was also blind sided during the college admissions process- shot rocked my world lol. But hey I turned out OK and everything worked out great in the end.
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u/SirYerbo Mar 26 '26
Honestly without essays itâs a toss up. There are probably a handful of kids with the same exact stats. They probably flip a coin.
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u/Whathappened98765432 Mar 26 '26
Do you go to a very competitive high school? They compare you with your peers as well, so you at a slight disadvantage if you go to a very competitive hs versus going to a hs that is the dumps.
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u/Weird_Illustrator845 Mar 26 '26 edited Mar 26 '26
You inadvertently put yourself in a tough spot by applying to one of the most competitive majors. Youâd likely be a shoe-in for a non impacted major.
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u/gothic_dolphin Mar 26 '26
They didnt like that you were late for that event that one time and they remember the time your breath smelt kind of bad even though you brushed your teeth later
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u/LowNeighborhood3191 Mar 26 '26
SO, my daughter applied as the architectural engineering program and got in with the first wave. While her GPA at the time, was a 4.4 (it is now a 4.6), she did sign up to take an extra English and Math class at the community college. She also has 6 years of lab science. She doesn't have the extra foreign language requirement but took 2 years of Engineering Project Lead the Ways Classes that our also dual enrollment classes. I had read on another post that if you take 5 years of math you get 500 points, 4 or more years of science is 250 points, 5 or more years of English is 100 points, etc, but that you only get up to a certain amount of points so she would have been maxed with the English, math, and science she had anyways. The formula also gives additional points for volunteer hours, leadership, work related to major, if you are 1st gen, low income, or live in certain zip codes, etc. I am wondering if those who got in had more of these points than those who may have had a higher GPA?
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u/Hello_Its_ur_mom Mar 27 '26
Your is the only response on the thread that understands admissions are based on the algo. While I dont doubt the number of points assigned, the algo also weight to certain catagories. Much more weight is given to certain zip codes. both in and out of state. you get more weight if your first gen from Santa Barbara but less weight if first gen from LA. As far as I know, cal poly has never disclosed the full algo. IMO it's kinda crappy for statefunded school not be transparent.
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u/Silly_Smile_6193 Mar 26 '26
Go to community college and transfer if u wanna go that badly, that's what I did! I'm sure with your stats you got into several other great schools
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Mar 26 '26
Grade inflation is a thing, so there were obviously many like you. Diversify your didactic portfolio and youâll be better off.
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u/ComprehensiveMoose51 Mar 26 '26
Hilarious that all you children are so worried about your GPA. In the real world no one gives a shit. Itâs about what youâve done and how well you do it. Some of the worst applications Iâve reviewed are the high GPA kids, no work experience and no life experience. Be smarter than the system.
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u/Crentistthedentist02 Mar 27 '26
Iâve talked with an admissions counselor an they confirmed that extra circulars do matter. For what itâs worth
I donât know how they measure so donât ask
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u/Owen_Gallagher4 Mar 27 '26
Happy to share my experience in case it helps. I had a 3.55 UWGPA out of state and somehow got in. I genuinely didn't think it was going to happen. But I think what made the difference wasn't my GPA; it was showing I knew what I wanted to study. I applied for Econ (4% acceptance). So in high school, I took 6 business classes (graduated with a business cord) and AP Macro and Micro + the required 5 years of English, 4 years of Spanish, 3 years of art, 5 years of math, and the standard 4 years of science.
The point I'm trying to make is that they don't care about GPA. They care about what your coursework tells. I personally know people with higher GPAs than me who got rejected. So if it didn't work out, don't be too hard on yourself. It's a tough system. Another school will be lucky to have you
If you want better context, I made a YouTube vid: https://youtu.be/D_BDsFIMzaE
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u/Realistic_Act_3832 Mar 27 '26
I got put on the wait list years ago when transferring out of CC and then I got sent an email stating that I withdrew from the waiting list. I absolutely did not since I wanted to go there. I called and they werenât very helpful. They pretty much told me there was nothing they could do. And none of the info they gave me was helpful.
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u/Mai_username_taken Mar 28 '26
It is just a crapshoot after a certain point and while thereâs always more you could have done, it seems you tried really hard and it still just didnât work out. Sorry to hear it. You will still go very far in life if you have passion for something and donât burn yourself out. Keep your head up đ
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u/cpmustangnews Apr 29 '26
Hi there! One thing I learned after I moved to Cal Poly was that admissions are VERY major-dependent. Certain majors, usually the lesser-known or not as popular, have higher acceptance rates simply because not as many people apply under that major. More popular majors, such as engineering for example, have extremely low acceptance rates because SO many people apply. That said, it is really really hard to change your major once you're accepted, because Cal Poly places you in courses associated to your major day-1, as opposed to your junior year like most UCs. Given your credentials, you're an INCREDIBLE student. But you had 2 things going against you: You applied under a VERY popular majorâwhich was absolutely the right thing to do if that is what you want to do. You also don't have the opportunity to submit any essays or written words when applying to Cal Poly since it is a state school. That means that you didn't have the opportunity to brag about yourself and your accomplishments, an opportunity you have for many other applications, like UCs. You're MORE THAN QUALIFIED to be at Cal Poly, don't let the rejection hinder your confidence and motivation. I recommend getting your GE classes fulfilled at a community college or even another state school if you live in CA, and then transfer to Cal Poly your junior year! We have a GREAT transfer program and you'll even save money. I hope this helps.
- Eva Grove, Mustang News Social Media Coordinator @ Cal Poly SLO
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u/BaldoHado Mar 26 '26
As someone also from the sd area, I have a feeling itâs really location based. There really are too many cracked people from sd. When I got in a few years ago, some of the smartest people at my school with 15+ aps got rejected. And some of the people from less competitive areas with no where close to the same stats got in
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u/Right_One_1770 Mar 26 '26
What is your racial and socioeconomic status?
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u/Fmag9215 Mar 26 '26
Ah yes. In a school where 50% is white and 50% is non-white, literally 50/50, this was THE deciding factor. đ¤Śââď¸
might as well flip a coin.
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u/Right_One_1770 Mar 26 '26
You proved my point. CalPoly is still pushing DEI stuff: https://diversity.calpoly.edu
They eliminated early decision admission for highly qualified students b/c âtoo manyâ a White students were accepting.
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u/Fmag9215 Mar 26 '26
If you think DEI means accepting less qualified people because of their race, you need to stop drinking what imbecile in chief is feeding you. Lol. Parroting faux news and you want ppl to believe ur more accomplished than your cousins đ
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u/ObjectiveHedgehog132 Mar 26 '26
white, upper middle classish
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u/Right_One_1770 Mar 26 '26
My cousin is 1/2 Pacific Islander and 1/2 White. He checked the P.I. box. He is getting a PhD now and itâs a full ride. Iâm not from the P.I. Side of the family. Wanna hear about my Costa Rican cousins that check the âHispanicâ box?
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u/Fmag9215 Mar 26 '26
You can point to their accomplishments all you want and be as reductive all you want. Keep ignoring the fact that there are plenty of other people who checked the same boxes as your cousins and arenât receiving full ride scholarships and whatever else they are earning.
What it really sounds like truly is that you are bitter that your family members are accomplishing more than you because of their hard work, so you reduce their hard work and intelligence to race because you canât bear the thought that you arenât as hard working or as smart as they are.
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u/Right_One_1770 Mar 26 '26
I am equally accomplished. We are all high performers. I am the oldest of the cousins and I encouraged them to check the box. The facts remain: they were chosen over equally qualified applicants who did not. We laugh about our âmixedâ family and how we benefit from DEI. The first person in the family to attend college did so in the 1640s. LOL. Itâs not just admissions either. Grants work the same way.
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u/Fmag9215 Mar 26 '26
Prove it. Prove why they benefitted while others who checked the same boxes didnât.
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u/Many-Artichoke2124 Mar 26 '26
I know tons of white people that check the Hispanic box. People will do whatever it takes sometimes.
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u/andrewgrhogg Mar 26 '26
Flabbergasting to me that nobody on this Reddit forum seems to understand how Cal poly slo actually accepts candidates. They basically only look at grades because thatâs all theyâve got on your application and then after that they do whatâs called yield protection. So if you are way up at the top of the grade curve with a ton of APs they will accept a few of those sorts of people, but mostly will reject them because they assume that youâre gonna get into UC and youâre gonna have a preference for that over Cal poly and therefore reject their admission offer. And they want as high a percentage as possible of their admission offers to be accepted by the student to make it look like theyâre a wanted school.
I see a lot of people on this Reddit and a lot of other forums talking about how hard Cal poly is to get into but itâs really not. Itâs just a total crapshoot. Youâll get a ton of people getting offers in the middle tier of GPAs. Very few getting offers at the top tier and very few getting offers at the bottom tier. So if you do get accepted, donât think youâre special, youâre just lucky and if you got rejected, you probably just got pushed out because they assume youâre gonna get in somewhere else and accept that offer instead.
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u/Careful_Lavishness61 Mar 26 '26
sometimes they reject you because youâre overqualified. i have a friend who got into ucsd, ucsb, and berkeley, but got rejected from SDSU. she was overqualified and they knew she wouldnât commit to SDSU so they didnât accept her. you have an amazing college application so you have better chances of getting into and committing to the UCs
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u/Responsible_Stock_15 Mar 26 '26 edited Mar 26 '26
They also strongly recommend 4 yrs foreign language, 2 years art, 5 years math and 5 years English. I think you need these in addition to basically As in stem classes and maxing out the honors/AP boosts. If you did all of that then there's nothing else you could have done.
https://www.calpoly.edu/admissions/first-year-student/selection-criteria/high-school-course-requirements#:~:text=Four%20years%20of%20English%20are,or%20taking%20a%20college%20course.