A great school, especially for "Learn by Doing"

I enjoyed my tour of the college when I visited, plus I loved the vibe of the college town. Everyone I met there was super friendly, and the college heavily uses the Learn By Doing/hands-on learning approach. My class sizes there would be much smaller than at other California schools, but I would still get affordable California resident tuition. I got full-ride scholarships to two other schools, including research grants, but the people and weather here were incredible, so I turned the scholarships down.

I've been very satisfied with what's I've learned in all my classes. Especially in public health, all the subjects are really interesting and give me an awesome understanding of the field.

Faculty-student ratios are really excellent compared to other state colleges. Most of my classes have been about 30-40 students to 1 Ph.D. level professor. There are some larger general ed/intro classes, but the professors are still excellent. The only classes I've had taught by non-doctorate professors or TAs are lab sections or discussion sections.

There are major job fairs every quarter, and almost everyone I know has graduated with multiple different job offers in their field of study. Many employers are interested specifically in Cal Poly students because of their hands-on experience.

I lived on campus for two years in apartments, which was expensive but very convenient and included maid service, and now I live in an off-campus apartment, which is also nice. Bus passes are included with tuition, which makes getting around town very easy.

My test scores were good enough to get in (ACT: 32, SAT: 1510), and I knew that I wanted to pursue a career in healthcare. Initially, I was in the Biology department, which has incredible labs and lots of research opportunities. I switched to Public Health since it is a new program with very passionate professors and small dedicated class sizes.

Tuition for in-state residents is about $3200 per quarter. I didn't receive any loans, and I don't know anything about international scholarships. There are very few actual scholarships available at Cal Poly (like at most CSUs), but loans and grants are available for students who demonstrate financial need.

No

There are one to two midterms in each quarter-long class, and a final at the end of almost every quarter. It's usually taken with the rest of the people in your class.