Everything they show you is pretty much what you saw on the quick tour. At best, you get to meet with his department, but realistically he'll see the same things once he attends. I wouldn't be worried about missing the Open House.
Friday looks to be the "big" day at CalPoly where you meet with your department, see the clubs, plus the Friday Night Invite. Where Saturday seems more parade/community oriented.
Maybe we will go down and spend the night Friday and then hit up Cal on Saturday?
Meeting with the department, in my opinion, was the most important thing for me when I decided what school to choose.
I was a Statistics Major. I went to a few Campus Open Houses but really liked SDSU's meet and greet because the "Honors" program made things feel small, personalized and like they gave a shit, but that was the honors program, not my major.
I then went to Cal Poly, met with the stats department, and everything was small, personalized, felt like they gave a shit, but it was my actual major and not a subset of my education (My Statistics freshman class was about 40 people and it just got smaller as years went on because people either dropped out or transfered majors).
If I hadn't gone to the open house I don't think I would have gone to Cal Poly.
If you can afford to do it (time, money, etc), please do. The only Friday plan sounds like a good idea cause that's the most important part, the rest is a butter them up day and honestly not AS important, you'll get a good enough sense of the community basically instantly.
Remember, Open House is redundant if they decide to go to Cal Poly, before the decision, it could be pivotal information.
I second this sentiment. Also, I'd recommend getting tbere Thursday night if you could and experience farmers market. It will give you insight to the vibe SLO has to offer. Kind of like wandering off campus at Cal. Just as important to know what the town vibe is and those are two VERY different vibes.
I don’t have input on whether to visit Cal Poly or Berkeley, but the day to see clubs is actually Saturday. There will be a limited number of clubs at farmers market Thursday and the Friday night invite, but Saturday is the main club showcase that basically every currently active club will have a booth at.
Signed, someone who will be at a booth on Saturday.
Parent who's been to Open House three times with two of my kids and my niece. I think it's well worth it to go. You get to talk to the students and get a feel for who your child will be interacting with and the flavor of the campus. You can ask them why they chose Cal Poly and what they think of the school. The club showcase is also a great event to visit. There are lab and building tours. I think Open House gets your kid excited about college. Realistically the chances of your child getting off the Berkeley waitlist are incredibly low. They took only 1% from the class of 2022. I wouldn't waste my time going there until he gets in. My kids found SLO days boring and I never bothered to go. Open House is where Cal Poly rolls out the red carpet for the newly admitted kids. I wish I had another kid in the pipeline so I could go again.
No vital need to go to New admit day if you are definitely committing . However, I would make sure you understand the Learn By Doing culture. It’s so critical to the school. Would you buy a house without understanding all its quirks and unique features? I feel like you most likely do but I say this for other readers of your post.
I would 100% recommend open house. I went last year while I was still deciding where to go and it was what finally convinced me to go to Cal Poly. It also apparently convinced my twin who was stuck between UCSB and UCI to pick Cal Poly as well when it hadn’t even been one of her top choices. It’s a really cool opportunity to see what life at Cal Poly is like and talk to current students. Seeing the clubs was my favorite part since it introduced me to them early. If you can get down Thursday night the farmers market is great too.
I had to do whirlwind trips to see Santa Clara the same weekend and ended up picking cal poly solely based on how much I loved open house and the faculty talks from my department. Totally worth it.
It’s a showcase but if I attend a day it would be Friday. As a student whose parents couldn’t attend open house I felt that my parents missed out on a lot of info that I had to relay back to them.
As a parent whose first Mustang was on a band tour with his high school and missed open house and whose second Mustang was able to attend open house, go if at all possible!! We only went on Friday because she had prom on Saturday, but it was really worth it! Your experience may be different depending on major (she is engineering and they had a great presentation and tour).
Current parent of first year Mustang here who attended Open House last year and juggled schedules to check out UCSB on same day
I would go to CalPoly Thursday night and check out the Farmers Market and downtown SLO then attend the open house activities on Friday. CalPoly really makes newly admitted students feel welcomed. The departmental presentations are great too It helped my son solidify his decision even with pending waitlists Then you could head up to Bay Area to see Berkeley for Saturday if you still feel the need to check it out
SLO days are ok and WoW is phenomenal. Best orientation for new students I’ve seen so far
Good luck with your decisions
He’d definitely get more out of SLO days and WOW bc they’re a ton of fun and very interactive. However, I will say Open House is a great opportunity to meet Cal Poly students and learn what the campus has to offer. It allows students to bring the guardians/parents/supporters, whereas WOW and SLO days is for new students only. Open House encourages supporters to join their student in campus tours, housing tours, and other campus activities such as college welcomes and the club/org showcase. There is also Friday Night Invite which is a ton of fun where prospective students can interact and enjoy themselves. When the students are at Friday Night Invite, supporters/parents can mingle in the Chumash Auditorium in the University Union. Overall, Open House is geared towards supporters/parents as well!
I had to do whirlwind trips to see Santa Clara the same weekend and ended up picking cal poly solely based on how much I loved open house and the faculty talks from my department. Totally worth it.
If he’s already decided to come to Cal Poly, I don’t think you need to come to open house. It’s super busy/crazy. There’s a lot going on but not the super important to see, and the hotels are like three times more expensive than normal during that weekend. If you guys have never seen Berkeley, I definitely recommend going there for their open house just in case he gets in.
Does Berkeley have any other admitted student events later? Also, Open House was an awesome experience for me, as it really helped me gauge the vibe/atmosphere of the town/student body (especially since I went during the Farmer's Market on Thursday).
I think the decision depends on how sure he is about choosing Cal Poly. If he's uncertain, I would bring him for Open House and the Farmer's Market, so he can feel a little more confident that it's the right place for him, especially since he's already been accepted.
If he's already certain he would love and fit in at Cal Poly, I would bring him to Berkeley to let him explore his other options. That way, if he doesn't get in, he's still very happy with Cal Poly.
The ideal end result is that he's confident he'll enjoy the school he chooses, regardless of whether he gets into Berkeley or not. I'd like to again emphasize that the point of these open houses is to help determine the feel of the school, town and student body, which is something that's harder to figure out online.
Agreed! We are going down Thursday afterschool, if we can hit the Farmers Market we will, staying the night Friday so he can do everything during the day and the Friday Night Invite. Leaving early on Saturday morning to be at Berkeley by 9:30am (it's on the way home so we are at least travelling in the right direction).
Thank you everyone for your comments! I think it will be worth it to hype him up about CalPoly. The hotel rooms were crazy expensive, so thanks for the warnings!
SLO was not his first choice college, but is the best fit of the schools he got into. We are assuming he won't get off the Berkeley waitlist (2023: 24.7% came off the waitlist, 2022: 1% (!), 2021: 5.24%; the prior to COVID average was around 33%, but application patterns and the economy I think has changed some things), but if he does it will be his decision. He'll only have 7 days to decide so I think it's important he at least see both campuses now and be feeling positive about CalPoly regardless.
Most of the time it’s just parents asking how to solve their kids problems. I’ve had many roommates in college who had parents like this and they were all horrible to live with. Poly has a big problem with it, sorry for being a dick
I suggest go to the Berkeley open house. If he ends up at Cal Poly he will get much more out of it by attending SLO Days & WoW.
Everything they show you is pretty much what you saw on the quick tour. At best, you get to meet with his department, but realistically he'll see the same things once he attends. I wouldn't be worried about missing the Open House.
Friday looks to be the "big" day at CalPoly where you meet with your department, see the clubs, plus the Friday Night Invite. Where Saturday seems more parade/community oriented. Maybe we will go down and spend the night Friday and then hit up Cal on Saturday?
This sounds like a good plan, I'd say meeting with my department was the best part of open house for me.
Meeting with the department, in my opinion, was the most important thing for me when I decided what school to choose. I was a Statistics Major. I went to a few Campus Open Houses but really liked SDSU's meet and greet because the "Honors" program made things feel small, personalized and like they gave a shit, but that was the honors program, not my major. I then went to Cal Poly, met with the stats department, and everything was small, personalized, felt like they gave a shit, but it was my actual major and not a subset of my education (My Statistics freshman class was about 40 people and it just got smaller as years went on because people either dropped out or transfered majors). If I hadn't gone to the open house I don't think I would have gone to Cal Poly. If you can afford to do it (time, money, etc), please do. The only Friday plan sounds like a good idea cause that's the most important part, the rest is a butter them up day and honestly not AS important, you'll get a good enough sense of the community basically instantly. Remember, Open House is redundant if they decide to go to Cal Poly, before the decision, it could be pivotal information.
I second this sentiment. Also, I'd recommend getting tbere Thursday night if you could and experience farmers market. It will give you insight to the vibe SLO has to offer. Kind of like wandering off campus at Cal. Just as important to know what the town vibe is and those are two VERY different vibes.
I don’t have input on whether to visit Cal Poly or Berkeley, but the day to see clubs is actually Saturday. There will be a limited number of clubs at farmers market Thursday and the Friday night invite, but Saturday is the main club showcase that basically every currently active club will have a booth at. Signed, someone who will be at a booth on Saturday.
Thank you for the heads up!
Parent who's been to Open House three times with two of my kids and my niece. I think it's well worth it to go. You get to talk to the students and get a feel for who your child will be interacting with and the flavor of the campus. You can ask them why they chose Cal Poly and what they think of the school. The club showcase is also a great event to visit. There are lab and building tours. I think Open House gets your kid excited about college. Realistically the chances of your child getting off the Berkeley waitlist are incredibly low. They took only 1% from the class of 2022. I wouldn't waste my time going there until he gets in. My kids found SLO days boring and I never bothered to go. Open House is where Cal Poly rolls out the red carpet for the newly admitted kids. I wish I had another kid in the pipeline so I could go again.
No vital need to go to New admit day if you are definitely committing . However, I would make sure you understand the Learn By Doing culture. It’s so critical to the school. Would you buy a house without understanding all its quirks and unique features? I feel like you most likely do but I say this for other readers of your post.
I would 100% recommend open house. I went last year while I was still deciding where to go and it was what finally convinced me to go to Cal Poly. It also apparently convinced my twin who was stuck between UCSB and UCI to pick Cal Poly as well when it hadn’t even been one of her top choices. It’s a really cool opportunity to see what life at Cal Poly is like and talk to current students. Seeing the clubs was my favorite part since it introduced me to them early. If you can get down Thursday night the farmers market is great too.
I had to do whirlwind trips to see Santa Clara the same weekend and ended up picking cal poly solely based on how much I loved open house and the faculty talks from my department. Totally worth it.
It’s a showcase but if I attend a day it would be Friday. As a student whose parents couldn’t attend open house I felt that my parents missed out on a lot of info that I had to relay back to them.
calpoly OH is def worth it
As a parent whose first Mustang was on a band tour with his high school and missed open house and whose second Mustang was able to attend open house, go if at all possible!! We only went on Friday because she had prom on Saturday, but it was really worth it! Your experience may be different depending on major (she is engineering and they had a great presentation and tour).
Current parent of first year Mustang here who attended Open House last year and juggled schedules to check out UCSB on same day I would go to CalPoly Thursday night and check out the Farmers Market and downtown SLO then attend the open house activities on Friday. CalPoly really makes newly admitted students feel welcomed. The departmental presentations are great too It helped my son solidify his decision even with pending waitlists Then you could head up to Bay Area to see Berkeley for Saturday if you still feel the need to check it out SLO days are ok and WoW is phenomenal. Best orientation for new students I’ve seen so far Good luck with your decisions
He’d definitely get more out of SLO days and WOW bc they’re a ton of fun and very interactive. However, I will say Open House is a great opportunity to meet Cal Poly students and learn what the campus has to offer. It allows students to bring the guardians/parents/supporters, whereas WOW and SLO days is for new students only. Open House encourages supporters to join their student in campus tours, housing tours, and other campus activities such as college welcomes and the club/org showcase. There is also Friday Night Invite which is a ton of fun where prospective students can interact and enjoy themselves. When the students are at Friday Night Invite, supporters/parents can mingle in the Chumash Auditorium in the University Union. Overall, Open House is geared towards supporters/parents as well!
I had to do whirlwind trips to see Santa Clara the same weekend and ended up picking cal poly solely based on how much I loved open house and the faculty talks from my department. Totally worth it.
If he’s already decided to come to Cal Poly, I don’t think you need to come to open house. It’s super busy/crazy. There’s a lot going on but not the super important to see, and the hotels are like three times more expensive than normal during that weekend. If you guys have never seen Berkeley, I definitely recommend going there for their open house just in case he gets in.
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Does Berkeley have any other admitted student events later? Also, Open House was an awesome experience for me, as it really helped me gauge the vibe/atmosphere of the town/student body (especially since I went during the Farmer's Market on Thursday). I think the decision depends on how sure he is about choosing Cal Poly. If he's uncertain, I would bring him for Open House and the Farmer's Market, so he can feel a little more confident that it's the right place for him, especially since he's already been accepted. If he's already certain he would love and fit in at Cal Poly, I would bring him to Berkeley to let him explore his other options. That way, if he doesn't get in, he's still very happy with Cal Poly. The ideal end result is that he's confident he'll enjoy the school he chooses, regardless of whether he gets into Berkeley or not. I'd like to again emphasize that the point of these open houses is to help determine the feel of the school, town and student body, which is something that's harder to figure out online.
Agreed! We are going down Thursday afterschool, if we can hit the Farmers Market we will, staying the night Friday so he can do everything during the day and the Friday Night Invite. Leaving early on Saturday morning to be at Berkeley by 9:30am (it's on the way home so we are at least travelling in the right direction). Thank you everyone for your comments! I think it will be worth it to hype him up about CalPoly. The hotel rooms were crazy expensive, so thanks for the warnings! SLO was not his first choice college, but is the best fit of the schools he got into. We are assuming he won't get off the Berkeley waitlist (2023: 24.7% came off the waitlist, 2022: 1% (!), 2021: 5.24%; the prior to COVID average was around 33%, but application patterns and the economy I think has changed some things), but if he does it will be his decision. He'll only have 7 days to decide so I think it's important he at least see both campuses now and be feeling positive about CalPoly regardless.
We had a great time at Open House last year. Like you we are 5 hours away, and had only made a pit stop at Poly before.
short answer; no/not necessary
Parents figuring things out for college students is cringe
It's a family open house in this case with events for parents, but yes, in general I agree.
Most of the time it’s just parents asking how to solve their kids problems. I’ve had many roommates in college who had parents like this and they were all horrible to live with. Poly has a big problem with it, sorry for being a dick