High school students wishing to enter CAL POLY SLO as freshmen will compete for selection only against other freshmen applying for the same major through a point-based evaluation of four academic categories and one non-academic category. Only two of them will be addressed here. For further information, consult the web site for CAL POLY SLO.
CATEGORY 1: College prep GPA
This GPA is constructed by CAL POLY and comes from courses you have taken in grades 9 through 11, with honors points granted for courses designated as "honors" on a high school transcript, for up to eight semesters.
CATEGORY 2: CSU Required Coursework
| Course | CSU Semester-Units Required | CAL POLY Semester-Units Desired |
| English | 8 | 10 |
| Algebra | 4 | 4 |
| Geometry | 2 | 2 |
| Advanced Math | 0 | 4 |
| Foreign Language | 4 | 4 |
| *Lab Science | 4 | 8 |
| Social Sciences | 4 | 4 |
| Visual Performing Arts | 2 | 2 |
| **Electives | 2 | 2 |
* Must include 1 year of a Biological and 1 year of a Physical Science
** Electives can be taken in grades 9 through 12 but must fall within the following subject areas (above): Visual and Performing Arts, History, Social Science, English, Advanced Mathematics, Science and languages other than English.
NOTES:
If you are planning to major in math or engineering, it will greatly weigh
in your favor in the selection process to have completed as many advanced math
and science courses as possible before graduating from high
school. In order to do this, you may want to explore the possibility of
taking some courses at Porterville College. For example, PC offers the complete
3-semester Calculus sequence , calculus-based physics for scientists and engineers,
and chemistry.
We also offer elementary and intermediate algebra and introductory statistics every summer for high school students interested in getting a head start on their math courses. Indeed, over the years many students from the high schools have completed the entire calculus sequence at Porterville College while still attending high school!