Cal Poly experienced another highly competitive enrollment year, turning away 10,600 qualified students with a high school GPA of 4.0 or higher. The average GPA for the incoming class is a 4.12. Test score averages were 1409 on the SAT and a composite score of 30 on the ACT.
According to Associate Vice Provost for University Marketing and Enrollment Development James Maraviglia, Cal Poly received 54,664 first-time freshmen applications. Of those who applied, 16,473 were accepted and the university is looking to fill 4,486 spots. In total, the university turned away more than 38,000 first-time freshmen. The exact number of students enrolled at Cal Poly is not known until the Fall as students are conditionally admitted until they submit their final high school transcripts.
As for the breakdown for each college, the College of Engineering had the highest amount of applications totaling in 19,072. For the rest of the colleges, College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences had 4,844, Orfalea College of Business had 7,105, College of Science and Math had 11,924, College of Architecture and Environmental Design had 2,454 and College of Liberal Arts had 9,265.
“I was in shock,” incoming aerospace engineer freshman Jennifer Lai said upon hearing about all of the students turned away. “I knew that Cal Poly was a very competitive school … however, a group of 10,600 students is a large amount of gifted individuals to turn away.”
Overall, 27.7 percent of the overall first-time freshmen class that was accepted submitted their intent to enroll, which is the lowest yield the university has had in the last decade.
According to Maraviglia, this is not the most diverse class yet for first-time freshmen, but it is for upper division transfer students. Of the underrepresented minority first-time freshmen offered admission, 24.5 percent submitted their intent to enroll, which is lower than last year’s 28.2 percent. For upper division transfer students, 58.4 percent of underrepresented minority students submitted their intent to enroll, compared to last year’s 48.8 percent.
“At this time, the incoming first-time freshman class is less diverse than expected, but the incoming transfer class is more diverse than anticipated,” wrote university spokesperson Matt Lazier in an email to Mustang News.
According to Lazier, the exact numbers will not be known until after the university takes its Fall census in early October.
“The university nevertheless remains committed to diversity and inclusion,” Lazier said. “This includes continued efforts to create a campus community that more closely resembles the demographics of the state of California. It also includes ongoing and planned initiatives aimed at positively affecting the campus community through academics, support services and other programming.”
The university received 10,914 upper division transfer student applications and selected 1,711 with an average GPA of 3.4. The university hopes to fill 893 transfer student spots. Of the upper division transfer students offered admission, 56.7 percent submitted their intent to enroll, an increase from last year’s 48.6 percent.