Cuesta College (San Luis Obispo, CA)

Cuesta Community College

Aug 2010

My daughter is looking at schools and is really interested in going to Cal Poly. But depending on the economy (ours) and whether or not she can get in, she is looking into Cuesta CC as a backup plan. We would love to hear any personal stories about Cuesta--does it feel like a go away to college experience living in a dorm; how easy is it to transfer into Cal Poly after two years; does the success of transferring depend on what major you select or is it more dependent on your GPA; do the Cuesta kids get to know the Cal Poly kids so that coming in as a junior would not be so difficult; how are the classes/professors/advisors at Cuesta? Any input would be greatly appreciated. anonymous

My daughter is in her 2nd year at Cuesta. The first year she lived at a private dorm, called Mustang Village, that is near Cal Poly. It was funky and there was a big party scene but she had some great roommates and moved into an apartment with one of them this summer. She has 2 other roommates, one goes to Cuesta and one goes to Cal Poly. The one at Cal Poly transferred this year from Cuesta. She said it wasn't easy because there were a lot of things she had to do and had to keep on top of but from what I gather Cuesta is a feeder into Cal Poly. There are many professors from Cal Poly that also teach at Cuesta. Because San Luis Obispo is such a small town Cuesta is not a commuter school. Mustang Village will put your daughter with other juniors going to Cuesta and on the application they ask questions about the students so they can place them with other students that like to party or don't, students that care about neatness or not etc. It worked out really well for my daughter in that regard. It does seem like the students from both schools mix quite a bit. My daughter wants to transfer to Cal Poly but she has not started the process yet. My daughter has been really happy at Cuesta and the level of education seems really good from what I've seen. If you have further questions feel free to email me. Jill

From my niece who was there a few years ago, but not with the intention of transfering to Cal Poly:

''Cuesta has a great staff (teachers and administration). I always found them knowledgeable and helpful. I think no matter which college you go to it is important to live in the dorms. I would imagine it is a little bit of a different experience because Poly is walking distance from the dorms and Cuesta is about a 10 min drive. But it is a tradition of going to college and it helps create friendships just the same. Also, Cal Poly has many groups on campus and you don't always have to be a Poly student to join them. I really loved my time there.'' -aunt of former Cuesta student