Cal Poly San Luis Obispo: Acceptance Rate and Admissions Statistics

Dr. Allen Grove is an Alfred University English professor and a college admissions expert with over 20 years of experience helping students transition to college.

California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly) is a public university with an acceptance rate of 28%. Cal Poly is the most selective of the California State universities, and successful applicants typically have grades and standardized test scores that are significantly above average.

Considering applying to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo? Here are the admissions statistics you should know, including average SAT/ACT scores and GPAs of admitted students.

Why Cal Poly

• Location: San Luis Obispo, California
• Campus Features: Cal Poly's nearly 10,000-acre sprawling campus includes a ranch, arboretum, and a vineyard.
• Student/Faculty Ratio: 18:1
• Athletics: The Cal Poly Mustangs compete in the NCAA Division I Big West Conference for most sports and the Big Sky Conference for football.
• Highlights: Cal Poly ranks among the top undergraduate engineering schools in the country and has highly regarded schools of architecture and agriculture. The school's "learn by doing" philosophy extends to all majors and provides students with significant hands-on experience.

Acceptance Rate

During the 2018-19 admissions cycle, Cal Poly had an acceptance rate of 28%. This means that for every 100 students who applied, 28 were admitted, making Cal Poly's admissions process very competitive.

The admissions data in the graph is self-reported by applicants to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. GPAs are unweighted. Find out how you compare to accepted students, see the real-time graph, and calculate your chances of getting in with a free Cappex account.

Admissions Chances

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, which accepts just over one-quarter of applicants, is a selective state school. In the graph above, the blue and green dots represent accepted students. As the data shows, the majority of students who got into Cal Poly had at least a B+ average, an SAT score (ERW+M) above 1100, and an ACT composite score of 22 or higher. Chances of admission improve as those numbers go up. Realize that in the middle of the graph there's a lot of red hidden behind the green and blue. Some students who have grades and scores that are on target for Cal Poly still get rejected.

What makes the difference between an acceptance and a rejection? Unlike the University of California System, the California State University admission process is not holistic. Except for EOP (Educational Opportunity Program) students, applicants do not need to submit letters of recommendation or an application essay. Instead, admissions are based primarily on GPA and test scores. Cal Poly wants to see strong grades in the most challenging classes available—Advanced Placement, IB, Honors, and dual enrollment classes— the more rigorous your high school record, the better. Students who have taken more science and math than Cal Poly requires have a better chance at admission.