How tough is it to get into Cal Poly? Compare acceptance rates by major
Another year with a record-high number of applicants vying for a spot at Cal Poly means the competition for an available seat is fiercer than ever.
The San Luis Obispo university campus received more than 73,000 applications for fall 2023, according to data published in late March.
But it has seats for just about 8% of that, or 6,166 students, among its more than 60 majors.
That’s an increase in space available compared to previous years — thanks to a budget boost from the California governor — but it still means that many first-time freshman and transfer hopefuls won’t get to enroll at Cal Poly.
The most competitive major for first-time freshmen at Cal Poly remains psychology. More than 3,500 hopeful freshmen applied for one of only 73 available seats, or 2% of the applicant pool, the university’s data show.
Second to psychology is software engineering, with space available for 25 of the 795 applicants, or 3%.
Kinesiology and marine sciences follow, each having space for about 4% of their applicants, according to Cal Poly data.
Some 27 Cal Poly majors are in the single digits when it comes to the ratio of seats available to total applications.
At the other end, the program with the best acceptance rate is bioresource and agricultural engineering, which has room for 60 of its 169 freshman applicants, or 36%.
Other programs that have room for at least 30% of applicants include manufacturing engineering at 33%, dairy science at 32%, plant sciences at 32%, and industrial technology and packaging at 31%.
The program with the highest overall number of applicants was business administration at 7,907, followed by biological sciences at 4,336 and mechanical engineering with 3,638.
Tribune’s databases show how many applications each major received
Want to see how each major compares?
Search The Tribune’s database for how many first-time freshman applications each major at Cal Poly received for fall 2023:
Search The Tribune’s database for how many transfer applications each major at Cal Poly received for fall 2023:
This story was originally published April 7, 2023 at 9:00 AM.
