Cal Poly applications fail to break record for first time in years. How many applied
More than 79,000 students applied to attend Cal Poly in the fall — and it’s the first year in a while the total wasn’t a record-breaker.
According to university spokesperson Keegan Koberl, Cal Poly received 81,095 applications during the most recent admissions cycle — but that number includes both Cal Poly SLO and Cal Poly Maritime Academy, formerly known as Cal Maritime, which merged into a Cal Poly campus.
Of those, 79,400 were for SLO, Koberl confirmed to The Tribune in May.
The San Luis Obispo campus received 81,910 applications last year, which the university said at the time was the first year Cal Poly received more than 80,000 applications.
According to Koberl, the last time that the university saw fewer applications from one year to the next was during the 2020 admissions cycle.
Cal Poly is known as the most competitive California State University campus and is chronically impacted — meaning it has fewer available spots than qualified applicants for all of its programs.
Last year, some majors had seats available for less than 3% of applicants.
What to know as decisions go out
In late March, some of the 79,400 students who applied to Cal Poly had already received their decisions — but others were still waiting.
According to the university, all students would be notified of their admissions decisions by April 1. Those decisions can be seen through the Cal Poly applications portal.
Accepted students have until May 1 to accept their admission.
Steps like applying for housing and choosing a meal plan will follow their confirmation.
That process can take longer for waitlisted students.
Cal Poly typically starts accepting student off the waitlist after accepted student give up their spots. That process typically lasts until July 15, but can take longer.
“There are no ‘rankings’ on the waitlist, and only the application materials that were reviewed initially will be used in any waitlist decisions,” the university’s website says.
If you are an eligible California resident who has been waitlisted or denied admission to Cal Poly, you could potentially be redirected to a non-impacted California State University campus.
The CSU will inform students of available campuses via email, according to the admissions website.
If you have questions, the Cal Poly admissions office can be reached via email at admissions@calpoly.edu.
Meanwhile, students who were not accepted have a two-week window to appeal an admissions decision — though the likelihood of the rejection being overturned is very low, according to Cal Poly’s admissions appeal website.
“For an appeal to have merit, it must contain new, serious and compelling information that clearly shows you to be academically stronger than had been earlier evidenced,” the website said. “Neither grades received in the current academic year nor mistakes made on the application are a basis for an appeal or the reversal of a decision.”
Students who file appeals will hear back within three weeks of the university receiving their application, according to the website.
This story was originally published March 27, 2026 at 12:00 PM.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story included an inaccurate number of applications received by the San Luis Obispo campus during the 2025-26 admissions cycle because it included the Maritime Academy as well. The correct number is 79,400.
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