Selection Criteria for Transfer Students

Beyond the basic qualifications for the California State University, Cal Poly considers other factors for admission for transfer students. We require you to declare a major when submitting your application and our selection process evaluates you compared to other applicants within the same major. When we review your application, we consider:

Your Intended Program of Study

We evaluate and admit students by their major and admission is competitive in all majors. Each major has its own selection criteria and required coursework for transfer students to have completed in order to be considered competitive during the selection process.

Number of Units Completed

All transfer applicants must have a minimum of 60 transferable semester (90 quarter) units completed prior to transfer. For admission to the fall quarter, applicants must have the coursework completed no later than the end of the previous spring.

General Education or IGETC courses

As a transfer applicant, you must have completed four required General Education courses, with a grade of C- or better. We call these courses the “Golden Four.” They include:

• Critical Thinking (Some engineering majors are excluded from this requirement)
• Math Concepts/Quantitative Reasoning
• Oral Communication
• Written Communication

Beyond these requirements, applicants will receive consideration for any General Education courses completed. Transfer students are not expected to fully complete all GE-Breadth or IGETC (Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum) requirements. If your current institution does not have a GE-Breadth or IGETC curriculum, you can reference Cal Poly’s General Education curriculum.

GPA

Although the CSU requires an overall college GPA of at least 2.00 for transfer, Cal Poly is highly impacted and admits typically have a higher GPA. Transfer students also must be in good standing at the last college or university attended.

Extracurricular Activities and Work Experience

Cal Poly takes your activities such as work experience, internships, volunteer programs and extracurricular activities into consideration. We are also interested in any leadership roles you may have held in these activities.

Other Variables

Cal Poly is an impacted campus and admission is competitive in all majors. While GPA is important, it is impossible to predict a candidate’s chances by looking at this alone. Cal Poly considers other factors for admission deemed important to our campus. All candidates are objectively evaluated by the cognitive and non-cognitive variables such as veteran status, area of residence and more under our faculty-mandated Multi-Criteria Admission (MCA) process. We encourage students to apply to the program they feel best fits their academic and professional goals.

Architecture, Music, and Art and Design Applicants

Select applicants will be notified in mid-January to submit a portfolio. More information is available through the Architecture Department, Music Department and the Art and Design Department.

Transfer Student Profiles