Transfer Students

Future Prospective Transfer Students

If you are a future Cal Poly transfer student, please visit Cal Poly Admissions for application criteria and deadlines.

Expected Graduation Timelines

To help you plan your future at Cal Poly, we believe it is important that you know the typical graduation timelines that you can expect for your major. As a whole, the College of Engineering has a 2-year transfer graduation rate of 8.9% (Fall 2018 admits).

Although this data* serves as a helpful guide, every transfer student is unique in that they bring in varied transfer coursework/credit. Once you begin classes at Cal Poly, we recommend making an appointment with an advisor to determine your expected graduation term.  

Transfer flowcharts are posted under the "Major Specific Resources for..." section below.

*Data source: Based on data calculated from transfer students admitted Fall 2017. The timeline indicated is the term when 50% or more students have completed their degree.

2020-2021 Catalog: Major Specific Documents for Fall 2023 Registration

2022-2026 Catalog: Major Specific Documents for Fall 2023 Registration

Understanding your Curriculum Sheet

Your Curriculum Sheet displays all of your degree course requirements in a one to two page snapshot. 

How to access your Curriculum Sheet

1. Go to the Degree Flowcharts and Curriculum Sheets website
2. Select Your Catalog Year (please see your Poly Profile to determine your catalog year)
3. Select your major
4. Select your concentration (if applicable)
5. Select Curriculum Sheet

The Curriculum Sheet is broken down into four main sections that are described below:

Major Courses

Major courses are the courses that make up your major curriculum. In some majors, this includes technical electives or concentrations.

Support Courses

Support courses are courses chosen by your department to provide foundational support for your Major Courses. In the College of Engineering, these courses sometimes double count as General Education Courses.

General Education (GE) Courses

General Education courses are broken down into several areas. You may notice some of these areas are completed through your Support Courses. In most cases, transfers still need to complete some GE courses at Cal Poly including the Upper Division C. 

Free Electives

Free Electives can be found on a few College of Engineering major curriculum sheets. In general, most students in the College of Engineering do not have Free Electives. If your major has Free Electives, you should have already fulfilled this requirement with transfer credit.

Understanding your Degree Progress Report

Your Degree Progress Report

Your Degree Progress Report (also known as your DPR) is the most important tool to understand as a Cal Poly student. Like the Curriculum Sheet, the Degree Progress Report displays all of your degree requirements to graduate. The Evaluations Unit uses the Degree Progress Report to post your degree so it is important to make sure the courses you have and will be taking are fulfilling the requirements you expected in your DPR.

Your DPR should be ran at least once per quarter to track your progress to degree.

The Degree Progress Report is also broken down into sections that are described below.

As a reminder, your Degree Progress Report will not be accurate until you receive an email from the Office of the Registrar letting you know that your Transfer Evaluation is complete.

How to access your Degree Progress Report

1. Log in to my.calpoly.edu
2. Go to your Student Center under My Apps on the left hand side
3. Click on Degree Progress Report under the drop-down menu and then click on the arrows

How to read your Degree Progress Report

Scrolling through the Degree Progress Report can be a little confusing. It can be helpful to look at the Degree Progress Report with your Curriculum Sheet in hand as it is broken up into sections similarly to your Curriculum Sheet.

The top of your Degree Progress Report will display your Major and current Degree Information.  

Near the top, you will find a Key to help you identify what the icons mean next to each requirement. At this time, you should see Requirements Satisfied and Requirements Not Satisfied. Once you register, you will see the In Progress Icon appear.

Next, you will find general degree requirements. These are important, but don't be concerned because these requirements will be met as you complete your courses. The United States Cultural Pluralism Requirement and the Graduation Writing Requirement are also in this section. We will review both of those requirements below.

Next your General Education Requirements appear. You may have transferred in a majority of these courses.

After GE Courses,  your Major Requirements are listed.

Followed by your Support Course Requirements.

Finally, you will see your technical elective or concentration requirements, depending on your major.

It is so important that you READ all the notes for each section in the DPR. Not reading the notes may mean you miss important information and take a class that is not necessary. If you have any questions, let us know at eadvise@calpoly.edu. We are here to help!

Your Transfer Credit

While reviewing your Curriculum Sheet or Degree Progress Report, you may ask how certain courses transferred to Cal Poly. You can see further details about your transfer credit in your Poly Profile under "Higher Ed Credits Detail."

Transfer credit will continue to be evaluated and processed by Cal Poly until registration. When your transfer evaluation is complete, you will receive an email from the Office of the Registrar - Evaluations Unit. At that time, you will be able to view your transfer credit transcripts in PolyProfile, and how those classes apply towards your degree in your Degree Progress Report.

Steps on how to find your transfer credit

1. Access PolyProfile through your Cal Poly Portal under your Academics Tab. 
2. Click on the Higher Ed Credits Detail link located on the right side of the page.
3. Under Additional Higher Education Credits Detail, you will find the transcripts we received from you. 
4. On the right side, you will find the courses you took and on the left side, you will see how they transferred over to Cal Poly.
5. After reviewing your courses, you can access your Degree Progress Report to view your overall degree requirements.  You can then see what you have completed and what you still need to graduate.

IF YOU BELIEVE YOU SHOULD HAVE RECEIVED CREDIT FOR A COURSE AND DID NOT:

You may petition for it to count toward your degree.

Please note: Advisors are also submitting petitions on your behalf if we have noticed that your credit did not fully articulate. You may receive a notice that a form was completed for you.

Depending on the type of course you want credit for, you will complete one of the two forms below. Please email us at eadvise@calpoly.edu if you have any questions.

• Major or Support Course Substitution Form
• General Education (GE) Course Substitution/Petition Form

Graduate Writing Requirement (GWR) & United States Cultural Pluralism Requirement (USCP)

There are two requirements that are important for you to know about. Since you may be transferring in a majority of your General Education (GE) courses, you will want to review both requirements below so you are not adding extra work while completing your degree. 

Graduation Writing Requirement (GWR)

The Graduation Writing Requirement (GWR) is a CSU-mandated program designed to ensure that student can write proficiently before they enter the professional workforce. All Cal Poly students who are seeking a degree must fulfill the GWR before a diploma can be awarded.

• Undergraduate students with 90 or more completed units should attempt to fulfill the GWR before their senior year.

There are two ways to fulfill the GWR:

1. 1. Pass a GWR-certified upper-division course with a C or better on a major writing assignment and a final course grade of C or better with at least 35% of the final grade based on the cumulative grade of all writing projects; OR,
   2. Earn a passing score on a GWR Portfolio (*Note: the GWR Portfolio has replaced the Writing Proficiency Exam in response to the March 2020 CSU suspension of in-person GWR testing).

GWR Information for Transfer Students

For more More information about the GWR, please visit the GWR website. 

United States Cultural Pluralism (USCP) Requirement

Students are required to complete one USCP course. This course also fulfills a requirement for Major, Support, General Education, or Free Elective category.

What are USCP courses? 

USCP courses must fulfill all of the criteria according to AS-836-17 and they must also address the Diversity Learning Objectives (DLOs).

How this will look in your DPR:

You can explore what courses count for the USCP requirement on the Catalog website. 

Planning to take a USCP or GWR course in Fall 2023? We've prepared a list of USCP & GWR courses that are being offered in Fall 2023.

Understanding your Flowchart

Your Flowchart

Your Flowchart is one example of a path towards graduation. All transfer students enter Cal Poly at different places in their curriculum. 

In Step # 1, you were asked to download two flowcharts, which we will review in detail below and in this Flowchart video.

4-Year Standard Flowchart

This flowchart displays the most efficient path towards graduation in 4 years. All transfer students enter at different places in their curriculum. You may prefer to use this flowchart over the transfer flowchart if you have more classes in your GE or support areas left to complete. Please note that some introductory major courses may differ for a transfer student in some majors. The Suggested Course List (described below) will further explain what transfer students should take to fulfill these requirements. 

Transfer Flowchart

Engineering Student Services worked really hard to create special flowcharts for our College of Engineering students.

This flowchart was created specifically for transfer students. It shows the quickest way to graduation for a student who has transferred in the maximum amount of credit that they could from a CA community college.

Many students may have courses in the left hand column that they still need to complete at Cal Poly and should adjust the flowchart accordingly or use the 4-Year Standard Flowchart. You should use this flowchart if you have completed a majority, if not all, of the coursework listed on the left-hand side.  

How to read your Flowchart

Your flowchart displays your Degree Requirements in different colors. 

• Orange Courses = Support Courses
• Green Courses = General Education Courses
• Yellow Courses = Major Courses
• Pink Courses = Concentration Courses, if you major has a concentration option

A course that is stretched across 2 or more quarters just means that you can take that course during any one of those quarters. It does not mean you must take this course multiple times.

Each course that is listed has courses in smaller green text listed below. These courses are the pre-requisites required in order to take that course. For example, a student must take MATH 241, ME 211 or ARCE 211 in order to register for Engineering Dynamics: ME 212.

Check off Your Completed Coursework

Now it's your turn!

We have reviewed your Flowchart options. Take a moment to pull up your fillable Flowchart (or use a printed version) and check off coursework you have already completed. 

You can use your Degree Progress Report (DPR) to identify courses you have credit for. If your evaluation is not complete and you are unable to view your transfer credit in your DPR, do your best to read the course titles and check off courses you believe you have completed. You will want to refer back to your DPR prior to registration.

For example, we have checked off the courses in the image below.

If you are using the Transfer Flowchart, you will want to first check any courses on the left hand side of the document that you have completed.

Registration Worksheet

Download your Registration Worksheet (link to pdf)

Ideal Courses: Courses you should prioritize taking during Fall Quarter.

Back-Up Courses: Other courses you meet the pre-requisites for and you can take if your ideal courses do not work out.

Understanding your Suggested Course list

Your Suggested Course List

Your Suggested Course List is just that - courses that we suggest transfers take during their first quarter at Cal Poly. There are specific notes about introductory courses and sections that may be relevant to consider for registration. Please make sure you read this document in its entirety. This document has essential information for you to be able to successfully register for the correct courses in fall quarter. 

Every major will be slightly different, but in general they will include the following sections to help you prioritize your fall schedule:

1. High Priority Courses
2. Mid Priority Courses
3. Low Priority Courses
4. General Degree Requirements Notes
5. Additional Notes
6. Contact Information for our office and your Department

Please download your list from Step # 1 above.

Understanding Schedule Builder

Check out this video to learn how to use Schedule Builder as a student.

We encourage you to practice using Schedule Builder and explore the schedule builder FAQs.

• Practice searching for upper level GE courses (Upper Division C).
  • Check out this video if you need support!
• Practice using the filters by searching for class with a face-to-face mode of instruction.
  • Below is a table that further describes the different class modalities:

Three schedule builder tips we have learned:

1. Filters don't actually filter until you try to build a schedule. 
2. Class Status filter: If you get an error when you try to build a schedule, it probably means you are filtering for "open" classes and that class is currently full. You can just remove that class and build a schedule without it. If you still want to look at the class and maybe get on the waitlist, then you need to uncheck "open".
3. If you filter for both Area C GEs and Graduation Writing Requirement (GWR) classes  it gives you BOTH C GEs and GWR course, NOT classes that fulfill both. Be careful. Read course descriptions to confirm GE credit or GWR credit.

Saving Schedules in Schedule Builder

Below we have provided tips and screenshots to help you save schedules in Schedule Builder

Step 1: Select the term and use the Expanded Filters to Add Courses

Step 2: View more information by Selecting Sections and reviewing the Class Notes for details on Reserved Seats for new transfer students

Step 3: Once you have Added Courses, select Build Schedule

Step 4: View Different Schedules

Step 5: Click the Heart icon to Add Favorite Schedules which you can access later or add to your Enrollment Shopping Cart (remember to create back-up schedules)