California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
Responses from the Student Interview
From a student who identifies as Major: Biomedical Engineering
Minor: None
Student Self Identifies as: Caucasian Heterosexual Female
Summary
I play intramural sports, I’m part of the Society of Women Engineers, I’m in the Biomedical Engineering Society, and the American Medical Student Association.
Background
Gender Identity: Female
Race/Ethnicity: Caucasian
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual
High School Experience: Public school in Half Moon Bay, CA with a graduating class of about 210 students. There was a culture of going to college.
First-Generation College Student: No
Major: Biomedical Engineering
Minor: None
Extracurricular Activities: I play intramural sports, I’m part of the Society of Women Engineers, I’m in the Biomedical Engineering Society, and the American Medical Student Association.
Did any of your extracurricular activities have a particularly big impact on your experience?
The Biomedical Engineering Society has because they have networking events where you get to meet professors and I think I’m going to get a research opportunity out of that. I’m speaking to the professor later this week. That’s also been helpful because the upperclassmen will tell you about which professors and classes to take. They hold a specific meeting for that. The AMSA does the same thing with helping us pick classes and they also provide a lot of information about medical school, which is nice because I want to go to medical school after graduation.
Academic Experience
Can you describe the weekly coursework for your STEM prerequisite classes?
I don’t take any Biomedical Engineering Classes until my third or fourth year because I have to take so many prerequisites. This semester I am taking calculus, technical writing, and a general biology class. For the calculus classes, you have homework problems and for the technical writing class I have writing assignments. For most classes, the exams make up the final grade, but for chemistry, the labs make up about 30% of the final grade, which is a fair amount.
Is there anything you feel your major’s department does especially well or poorly?
All Biomedical Engineering freshmen have to take two seminar classes called BMED 101 and 102 where you go in and listen to someone from the department talk or someone who is in industry talk. When the people from industry talk, it’s super interesting because it makes me realize I might want to be a clinical engineer instead of going to medical school or I may want to go to medical school and then go into research and development. It’s great because it introduces you to those paths, but I do think that having two classes is unnecessary. I think the department should get rid of BMED 102.
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
I think it’s really collaborative. People aren’t cutthroat. People are really nice and if you ask for help, they’ll give you help. That’s been my experience in all of my classes. Especially in calculus, I would work with a guy on the floor below me who he helped me a lot. In my science classes, all of my lab partners and people at my table are also super helpful. People are willing to work with you, you just have to ask.
How accessible are your professors?
They’re really accessible. They have office hours and you can always email them. They’re willing to meet outside of class and some you can talk to right after class. I usually just go talk to the professor if I have a problem. If I’m having a grading issue, I’ll email the grader and that information is on the professor’s website. But, if I’m having a problem with an assignment, I’ll go to office hours and they’re usually super helpful. People always told me to go to office hours and during the first quarter I didn’t go, but this quarter I am going and I think it’s made a huge difference.
Why did you pick your major? Are you happy with your choice?
So far, I’m happy with it. I chose Biomedical Engineering because I didn’t know if I wanted to do engineering or go to medical school. I could see myself working in a hospital as a surgeon or as an engineer, so I picked Biomedical Engineering because there are so many different ways I can go with it.
How was transitioning academically as a freshman? Were there any resources available that helped you adapt?
Cal Poly SLO has study sessions where you sign up for groups and it’s based on the classes you’re taking. I was in a chemistry study group that was super helpful because my study session leader and other students were able to help me get full credit on the labs which I wouldn’t have been able to do by myself. In college, you have to think at a higher efficiency than in high school so it is nice to have people to help me. Also, office hours are helpful. When I ask my peers, especially in the dorms, I can always find somebody who has taken the class or is currently taking the class who can help.
How do you like the quarter system? How has it impacted your academic experience?
The quarter system is fast. I don’t really know what it’s like compared to the semester system, but it flies by and you cram a lot into a little amount of time. I’m okay with it. There’s never been an issue where I wished I went to a semester school. You just have to get through ten weeks.
Reasons to Attend
1) If you like learning by doing, that’s the school’s motto. A lot of the labs are very hands-on and when you get to upper-division classes, they get even more hands-on so you get project experience that you can talk about in interviews.
2) There are really good research opportunities. There are lots of professors looking for undergraduate research because Cal Poly SLO doesn’t have a big graduate program. [About 4% of the total enrollment are graduate students.]
3) There is a strong connection with alumni who can help facilitate employment. There are companies that have strong connections with Cal Poly SLO because alumni do really well there.
4) If you want small classes taught by professors and not teaching assistants. [About 75% of classes have 39 students or less and about 3.5% of classes have 100 students or more.]
Reasons Not to Attend
1) If you want really fast Wi-Fi that never has issues. There have been a couple of times that it’s been really frustrating and I’ve needed to use hotspots. [See Mustang News article, “Why Cal Poly WiFi ‘sucks’ – and how IT is planning to fix it.”]
2) Don’t go if you want a flat campus. It’s really hilly. I don’t bike because it’s easier for me to walk to classes. I know people who use their bikes but not many.
Around Campus
Where have you lived on and around campus?
Freshman: Sierra Madre Community with one roommate.
How do you like the residential community system?
I like the community. I’m in the Engineering Learning Community so almost everyone in my building is an engineer or science major. I like the learning communities because I like how a lot of people are taking the same classes as me. I’ve heard from other engineers that people in other buildings have different personalities or don’t study as much as us, so I like that you can find people that are similar to you. At the same time, all of my friends are engineers. I live with them and I take classes with them, so almost everyone I interact with is an engineer. It’s fine, but I wish I knew more people outside of engineering.
How was transitioning from your hometown to San Luis Obispo, CA in terms of location?
It wasn’t bad because my hometown is similar to San Luis Obispo. It’s a rural, agriculture-based community by the coast, so it is very similar to my hometown. The town is a nice town.
Can you describe the level of safety you’ve experienced on and around campus?
I feel safe. In general, I don’t find myself in situations where I don’t feel safe.
Social Opportunities
What kind of weekend activities or nightlife do you like to participate in?
I like to hike or go to the beach. I also study a lot on the weekends. I like to get homework out of the way on the weekends because during the week I play intramural sports and do other stuff. Going to parties is a thing here too. If you’re a girl, you can get into any frat party. Those happen mostly on Friday and Saturday nights. Parties happen in off-campus houses and also in the frat houses, there are dorm parties sometimes at well.
What is the impact of Greek life on the weekend options at Cal Poly SLO?
Greek life parties are a big thing that happens on the weekend. I’m not in Greek life, but I have friends in Greek life. You don’t have to be in Greek life to have fun or make friends. Most guys join Greek life to be able to get into parties. I go to Greek life parties because I have a friend in a fraternity and he’ll send me an invite to a party and I’ll send the invite to some of my friends, but he can only invite girls. What I like about fraternity parties is they have rules for safety, like having sober people at the party in case anything happens. [About 6% of men join fraternities and 10% of women join sororities.]
How happy are you with the weekend activities or nightlife at your school? Is there anything you would change if you could?
I wish there was more to do in the town. It’s not a city, it’s a big town, so I find that once I’ve gone downtown a few times, I don’t want to go because there’s not a whole lot to do. It’s not like San Francisco where you can go sightseeing or to the malls.
Campus Culture
How did you meet your closest friends?
I met them through my building. I hang out with my roommate a lot and I got lucky because she’s nice. I also really like the people on my floor and the floor below me. The two people I’m going to room with next year are on my floor this year.
How would you describe the overall social scene at Cal Poly SLO?
It’s really social, I like it. When you think about people in engineering, the stereotype is they aren’t that social, but mostly everyone in my dorm is an engineer and is social and will talk to you. If you ask people to go do something, they’ll usually go do it.
To what extent do people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
I’m not really sure about sexual orientation because I don’t ask people how they identify themselves. For me, you can be whatever and I’ll still hang out with you. In terms of race, I don’t think it’s common to see racially diverse groups on campus because the school is very White. Yes, you’ll see different races walking and talking and it’s totally normal. It’s just that because there are so many White people, you’re more likely to see groups of White people together. [The undergraduate population is about 54% White, 13% Asian, 17% Hispanic, and 0.8% Black.]
To what extent do people in Greek life and not in Greek life mix socially?
I think they mix a lot. People in Greek life will invite people not in Greek life to parties because you see each other in and out of classes.
How do you like the size of Cal Poly SLO in terms of undergraduate enrollment? How has it impacted your experience? [There are about 20,400 undergraduate students at Cal Poly SLO.]
I don’t notice the size and it’s not something I care that much about. Cal Poly SLO doesn’t have huge lectures. My lecture for Math is about 30 people and I can speak directly to the professor and learn from them. It allows me to get closer with them and if I need help with something, it’s easier to go talk to them in office hours because they recognize me and know me. Personally, I think how the school handles the size makes the biggest difference and Cal Poly SLO handles it really well. [About 75% of classes have 39 students or less and about 3.5% of classes have 100 students or more.]
Careers
Have you done any career preparation through the career services or your classes?
I’m in a technical writing class and I had to make a resume. That was super helpful when I’m looking at internships. For the BMED 101 and 102 seminars, we had to look into career options, both jobs we can get now and jobs for after graduation. One of the assignments in BMED 102 was to go to a career fair and speak with a representative from a company, so I did that. I like that the classes help you prepare for the internship and job search because I wouldn’t have gone to the career fair unless I was forced to, and now that I sucked it up and went, I realize that it’s not that bad. I’m now more likely to go to the others in the future.
Have you learned any computer programs or computer languages that will be helpful professionally?
I’ve had to work with Excel for chemistry. I’ll learn statistics software later on and I’ll learn a coding language when I take a computer engineering class later on.