Acceptance letters were mailed, and the deadline for students to confirm their future college has passed, which means the Cal Poly freshman class, and transfer students, of 2015 are set.
Comparing the present Cal Poly to 10 years ago, there are some big changes. Year to year, the change isn’t drastic, but between 2001 to 2011 the changes are immense.
“The numbers are constantly changing based on the work enrollment committees have done,” said Jim Maraviglia, vice provost for marketing and enrollment development. “For example, the class of 2015 has the least amount of Caucasian people in the last decade.”
The stigma that getting accepted into college is becoming more difficult is supported by the fact that the average grade point average (GPA) for the incoming class of 2015 was a 3.92, and the average ACT score was 29, according to the admission projections and admission trend report.
Maraviglia said although Cal Poly is a great school and becomes more and more challenging to get into each year, “it really depends on your major.”
He said many people question how Cal Poly Admissions was able to let more freshmen in this year than last year.
“The answer to this question is simply that the enrollment advancement team has been dedicated to working on helping students graduate on time,” Maraviglia said.
Nikki Shiber, a prospective incoming agricultural science freshman from Livingston, Calif., said Cal Poly has always been her dream school, especially since her dad is an alumnus.
“Cal Poly is such a great school, and the majors are so impacted,” Shiber said. “Being selected to attend Cal Poly and watching my hard work pay off is extremely exciting.”
Shiber is not the only freshman who found it challenging to gain admittance to Cal Poly.
Ali Perez, a prospective incoming biological sciences freshman from Simi Valley, Calif., said she heard from a lot of friends that Cal Poly was very difficult to get into.
“I also heard a rumor that they didn’t particularly like private school kids,” Perez said. “I am glad that turned out to be a rumor because I am really excited to attend a school with so much fun and school spirit.”
Cal Poly transfer students said they had it even harder when applying to the university. Kevin Nakiso, an economics transfer student from Cuesta College said it was extremely competitive to get in.
“I didn’t expect to get in, to be honest,” Nakiso said. “I’m lucky that I was applying under econ, a less impacted major. Otherwise I don’t think I would have gotten in. Transferring from Cuesta was another plus as well.”
Cal Poly Admissions has seen a change in admissions during the past decade in areas such as number of students accepted, number of students that applied, ethnic breakdown and men versus women, according to the admission projections and admission trend report.
For example, in fall 2001, 67 percent of Cal Poly students were Caucasian, 10.4 percent were Hispanic, 12 percent were Asian American and 0.8 percent were African American.
In fall 2010, the percentages were 63.8 Caucasian, 12.3 Hispanic, 9.9 Asian American and 0.5 African American.
The 2011 report is subject to change, though, because not every student committed will attend in the fall, Maraviglia said. This data also does not include numbers regarding transfer students, which has an entirely different breakdown.
The finalized admission report will be available in October.