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Cal Poly San Luis Obispo received 71,185 first-year applications for fall 2025, up 30% from 2021, and admitted 30%. For California residents the rate was 26%. The biggest change is inside the College of Engineering, where demand has surged and admit rates have fallen fast.

Cal Poly engineering admit rates, 2021 vs 2025

Major	Applicants 2021	Applicants 2025	Admit rate 2021	Admit rate 2025
Electrical Engineering	1,035	1,996	54%	36%
Mechanical Engineering	2,979	4,953	23%	13%
Aerospace Engineering	1,780	2,399	16%	12%
Industrial Engineering	199	439	72%	43%
Materials Engineering	214	359	78%	47%
Civil Engineering	1,168	1,833	34%	28%
Computer Science	5,792	4,090	21%	27%

Electrical engineering applicants nearly doubled, from 1,035 to 1,996, and the admit rate fell from 54% to 36%. Mechanical engineering, Cal Poly’s most-applied-to engineering major with 4,953 applicants, admitted just 13%, down from 23%. Computer science is the exception: after peaking in 2023, applications fell and the admit rate more than doubled.

A new Cal Poly campus: the Maritime Academy

Cal Poly also grew in a different way. The CSU trustees voted in November 2024 to fold the California State University Maritime Academy in Vallejo into Cal Poly. The two have operated as one university since July 1, 2025, and the first students enroll at what is now the Cal Poly Maritime Academy, part of the Cal Poly Solano Campus, as Cal Poly students in fall 2026. It is a very different place from San Luis Obispo, focused on maritime, engineering and logistics programs with hands-on training at sea, and much smaller. Cal Poly has said it wants to grow enrollment there.

What to know before you apply

• Cal Poly admits by major, so you compete only with applicants to the same major. The overall 30% rate tells you little about mechanical or aerospace engineering, which admitted 12–13% in 2025.
• Cal Poly uses a 9th–11th grade weighted GPA, so ninth-grade grades count, unlike most CSU campuses.
• Applicants from San Luis Obispo County, northern Santa Barbara County and southern Monterey County can receive extra points as local applicants.
• Compare Cal Poly with UC engineering in our Cal Poly vs UC comparison, and see every Cal Poly major.

Sources: California State University, Applications and Admissions Dashboard by Discipline; Cal Poly News, Cal Poly Maritime Academy (September 2025); Higher Ed Dive (November 2024); Cal Poly selection criteria. Admit rates are first-time freshmen for fall terms; CSU counts every application submitted, including ones later withdrawn or incomplete. ScoreCalc is independent and not affiliated with the University of California or the California State University. Admit rates describe past applicants, not any individual student’s chances.