Nov. 7, 2001

Contact:  Teresa Hendrix
(805) 756-7266

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Cal Poly Remains Top Choice for Top Students

SAN LUIS OBISPO -- Cal Poly remains one of the top choices for
California's top students, according to fall 2001 data from the
university's Admitted Student Questionnaire.

The report was prepared for the College Board by Applied Educational
Research Inc., an independent national organization.

The report looked at students accepted to Cal Poly as well as other
universities in California and across the nation.  It also tabulated
which universities prospective students applied to in addition to Cal
Poly.

The College Board report shows that undergraduates accepted to Cal Poly
in 2001 were most likely to attend the university, even when also
accepted to University of California campuses or a number of private
universities.  Undergraduate students accepted at Cal Poly as well as
other California State University campuses were also most likely to
choose Cal Poly.

The university's top five competitors in terms of attracting students
in 2001 were UC Davis, UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara, UCLA and UC
Berkeley.  Those five universities drew the largest number of
applications from students who also applied to Cal Poly.

"The report gives us a good idea how we rate in terms of our
competition," said Cal Poly's Executive Director of Admissions and
Recruitment James Maraviglia.  "It highlights our strengths and areas
with room for improvement.  But it shows we are clearly California's
university of choice."

Only UCLA and UC Berkeley, two nationally recognized campuses, were
slightly more likely to be the universities of choice for students also
accepted to Cal Poly for 2001.

Here's how Cal Poly fared this year in attracting "cross-admitted"
students compared to the top 20 universities that also accepted Cal
Poly undergraduate applicants:

For fall, Cal Poly received applications from 18,886 first-time
freshmen and 4,339 undergraduate transfer students.  Of those, 10,673
were selected for admission.  Of the newly accepted first-time
freshmen, 3,450 enrolled.  When combined with the new transfer
students, a total of almost 4,600 newly accepted students chose Cal
Poly this year.  The average GPA for new first-time freshmen is 3.64 --
the highest in the university's history, said Maraviglia.

Maraviglia credits the university's historic "learn-by-doing"
philosophy, hands-on approach to learning, excellent faculty, coastal
California setting, and job placement of previous graduates as the
reasons top students continue to choose Cal Poly.

"We have an outstanding faculty dedicated to teaching undergraduates,
and frankly students like that.  And our 'hands-on' curriculum is
totally different than any of the research-oriented universities -- and
vastly different to that found at the 'commuter' state campuses.  Also,
our programs receive great exposure, which in turn means our graduates
are very successful in getting great jobs. These factors all bring
high-quality students to our campus," Maraviglia said.

"You couple that with the wonderful setting here in San Luis Obispo and
the actual price of going to school at Cal Poly and you quickly realize
why students year-in and year-out rate us as one of the top choices in
the country.  We're one of the best undergraduate values in the
nation," Maraviglia explained.

Another highlight of the report:  newly admitted Cal Poly students
reported using the college Web site, a campus visit and letters and
printed materials sent out by the university after their acceptance to
learn about Cal Poly before enrolling.

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(NOTE TO EDITORS:  For more information on the College Board
cross-admissions report, contact James Maraviglia at (805) 756-2913. 
For more details on fall 2001 enrollment data at Cal Poly, contact
Bonnie Krupp, research and planning analyst, (805) 756-5406.  For a
four-page copy of the report, contact Teresa Hendrix at (805) 756-7266.)