Thank you for your interest in readmission! We are here to help you navigate this process and hope that this page will answer many of your questions about returning to Cal Poly.
You are considered a "former returning student" if you are no longer matriculated at Cal Poly (did not attend for three consecutive quarters and are not on an official leave).
You are considered "not in good standing" if you were formally disqualified from the university, you left with one or more grade point averages below a 2.0 in your last quarter at Cal Poly, and/or if you have one or more registration holds due to academic or administrative probation. If you were formally disqualified, you must meet the readmission criteria prior to returning to the College of Engineering. If you broke your enrollment when you were not in good standing, you must also meet this criteria prior to returning to the College of Engineering.
Step # 1: Review the "Road to Readmission Presentation"
Please read through this presentation in detail before moving forward. This will provide guidance and clarity on the readmission process and will help identify your category for the next step.
Step # 2: Identify Readmission Category
The readmission criteria is based upon how many lower-division units you have left to complete and are available to you at a community college. Readmission is also possible if you only have upper-division units remaining (see Category 3 below). You must create a Readmission Agreement with the College of Engineering indicating the courses you plan to take to meet the readmission criteria (listed below). If you meet the requirements, you are guaranteed readmission to your former major.
Categories
33 Quarter Units (22 Semester Units) of Outstanding Major/Support Coursework at a Community College
Requirements:
- You are advised to assess whether you should return to school immediately or take some time off before enrolling in readmit coursework.
- Complete all lower division major /support coursework that the community college offers. The total must be at least 22 semester units (33 quarter units). However, in many cases it will most likely be higher than 22 units since all lower division major/support coursework must be completed prior to returning to Cal Poly.
- A minimum of a 2.500 grade point average is required in the readmission coursework.
- The College of Engineering will follow the repeat policy of the community college when calculating the readmission GPA.
- To graduate from Cal Poly, a 2.0 CPSLO (cumulative) and Major GPA is required. Even though a 2.5 is required for readmission, a higher GPA may be necessary to meet the 2.0 requirements for graduation.
- You may need to attend more than one community college in order to meet the minimum requirements.
- Community colleges may require prerequisites before enrolling in readmit courses. If the prerequisite is a required major or support course and a C- or below was received in the course at Cal Poly, then that community college course will also be included into the readmission GPA.
- Withdrawals (W's) are acceptable.
- If one of the courses listed in the approved agreement is no longer offered at the community college, please email us for a possible revision to the agreement.
- You are required to be away from Cal Poly for a minimum of one calendar year.
- You must be in good academic standing at the last institution attended.
- No exceptions will be made regarding the above criteria.
18-32 Quarter Units (12-21 Semester Units) of Outstanding Major/Support Coursework at a Community College
Requirements:
- You are advised to assess whether you should return to school immediately or take some time off before enrolling in readmit coursework.
- The Road to the Readmission presentation will help determine whether Category 2 is the correct category. You must complete all outstanding lower-division major/support coursework prior to returning to Cal Poly. This coursework must total between 12-21 semester units (18-32 quarter units).
- If you are eligible for Category 1, you must follow Category 1 requirements.
- A minimum of a 2.750 grade point average is required in the readmission coursework.
- The College of Engineering will follow the repeat policy of the community college when calculating the readmission GPA.
- To graduate from Cal Poly, a 2.0 CPSLO (cumulative) and Major GPA is required. Even though a 2.75 is required for readmission, a higher GPA may be necessary to meet the 2.0 requirements for graduation.
- You may need to attend more than one community college in order to meet minimum requirements.
- Community colleges may require prerequisites before enrolling in readmit courses. If the prerequisite is a required major or support course and a C- or below was received in the course at Cal Poly, then that community college course will also be included into the readmission GPA.
- Withdrawals (W's) are acceptable.
- If one of the courses listed in the approved agreement is no longer offered at the community college, please email us for a possible revision to the agreement.
- You must be in good academic standing at the last institution attended.
- No exceptions will be made regarding the above criteria.
Less than 18 Quarter Units (12 Semester Units) of Outstanding Major/Support Coursework at a Community College
Requirements:
- You are advised to assess whether you should return to school immediately or take some time off before enrolling in readmit coursework.
- Completion of 12 units of upper-division major and/or support coursework with a 2.750 GPA.
- The College of Engineering will follow the repeat policy of the community college when calculating the readmission GPA.
- To graduate from Cal Poly, a 2.0 CPSLO (cumulative) and Major GPA is required. Even though a 2.75 is required for readmission, a higher GPA may be necessary to meet the 2.0 requirements for graduation.
- Withdrawals are acceptable.
- The 12 units may be completed at Cal Poly via Open University or at another university via Open University (also known as Extended Education or Continuing Education). These two options are explained in more detail below.
- If you have 1-2 lower-division major and/or support courses to complete at a community college, complete those courses first AND then complete the remaining units at Cal Poly or another university. Work with Dawn Sirois in Engineering Student Services to create a Readmission Agreement.
- GEs may be taken at the community college, but they will not be included in the readmission GPA.
Category 3: Option # 1 Completing Requirements at Cal Poly
- If you choose to take courses at Cal Poly, please review the Open University website for deadlines, fees, forms, etc.
- When you are ready to begin the enrollment process, please email Dawn Sirois with your request. Please include which quarter you plan to enroll and the course(s) you plan to crash into.
- The College of Engineering recommends spreading the 12 units over 2-3 quarters. Taking all 12 units in 1 quarter is not recommended
- You will be sent an email requiring your agreement to the terms to enroll via Open University while going through the readmission process. (This email will override your registration hold and allows Open University to enroll you into Cal Poly courses after you submit their enrollment forms.)
- If you decide to spread the units over multiple quarters, approval is required each quarter. Please email Dawn Sirois at the end of the quarter (once grades are posted), and a new email will be sent for the next quarter under the condition that your previous quarter’s grades are a C or higher and the readmit courses can average to a 2.750 GPA.
- You are responsible for submitting Open University enrollment paperwork by their deadlines.
- The College of Engineering recommends contacting the instructors of the courses that you plan to enroll in prior to the first week of school. This will give you the opportunity to explain your situation, inform them that you will need their digtal signature on the enrollment form, and that your name will appear on a separate roster for the course via Open University. Once the quarter begins, attending office hours and study groups are highly encouraged.
- Once you have secured a seat(s) in the readmit course(s), please email Dawn Sirois. At that time, a Readmission Agreement will be created by Engineering Student Services.
- Meeting your readmission criteria guarantees you a spot back in your former major.
- Former students must submit their application to the Cal Poly Admissions Office. The application and deadlines can be found on the Admissions Returning Students website.
- If you are reapplying to winter or spring quarters, the application is reviewed once Open University’s grades are posted. Therefore, you will be crashing into courses during the first week of school. Our recommendation is to meet with the instructors in advance to discuss the possibility of enrollment in the class. CSC students should be aware of the high enrollment and impaction in CSC courses.
Category 3: Option # 2 Completing Requirements at Another University
- If you choose to take courses at another university, please identify 3-5 courses at the university that look similar to Cal Poly courses. Send Dawn Sirois the course descriptions to begin the substitution/review process. Please identify which Cal Poly course it looks equivalent to within the email. This review process by the department could take several weeks. For CSC courses, a course syllabus is also required. Most universities have an enrollment system similar to Cal Poly’s Open University (often called Extended Education, Continuing Education, etc).
- If the university is not a part of the CSU system, there is a chance that the Registrar’s Office will first need to determine whether the course is baccalaureate level prior to submitting the course substitutions to the department for review.
- Once the substitutions are returned to Engineering Student Services, Dawn Sirois will work with you to create a Readmission Agreement based upon the outcome of the course substitutions.
- The College of Engineering recommends spreading the 12 units over 2-3 terms. Taking all 12 units in 1 term is not recommended.
- Meeting your readmission criteria guarantees you a spot back in your former major.
- Former students must submit their application to the Cal Poly Admissions Office. The application and deadlines can be found on the Admissions Returning Students website.
- If you are reapplying to winter or spring quarters, the application is reviewed once Engineering Student Services receives your final grades. For example, if your last course is during Fall Semester, transcripts may not become available until mid-January, and Cal Poly typically resumes in early January. Therefore, please ask your instructor(s) to email your grade at the end of the term to Dawn Sirois, in order to expedite the readmission application review process. A final transcript is still needed by the Cal Poly Admissions Office as soon as it becomes available. Since registration may have already occurred, you may be crashing into courses during the first week of school. Our recommendation is to contact the instructors in advance to discuss the possibility of enrollment in the class. CSC students should be aware of the high enrollment and impaction in CSC courses.
Step # 3: Submit a Readmission Agreement
Please start the Readmission Agreement. After you submit the agreement, it will be reviewed by an advisor and the advisor will contact you with the next steps.
The Admissions website provides more information on application term deadlines and the readmission application. Prior to submitting the application, you must confirm with your advisor that you are eligible to apply for readmission.
