What are the easiest majors to get into at Cal Poly? Here are the top 10 (2024)

Getting accepted into Cal Poly can seem daunting, with so many of its programs severely impacted.

But there are majors in less demand that offer better chances of acceptance for applicants.

For freshmen applicants, the least competitive program when comparing number of applicants to space available was plant sciences, where there was space for three out of every 10 students who applied for fall 2024.

For transfers, the least competitive department was dairy science — but only because for the two spaces available, there were just five applicants to choose from.

Though these majors were more accessible than others, the field does seem to have tightened even on this end of the competitive spectrum.

How hard is it to get into Cal Poly by major? See how programs compare

For the 2022-23 class, the last time The Tribune reported this data, the 10 least competitive majors had space for between 27% and 44% of their applicants.

For the incoming 2024-25 year, that range had shrunk to 21.7% to just over 30%.

This indicates that even the university’s “less competitive” majors are becoming harder to get into.

Here’s a look at the 10 least competitive majors for freshman applicants:

• Plant sciences: 176 applicants, 53 spaces available — 30.1%

• Agricultural systems management: 101 applicants, 30 spaces available — 29.7%

• Dairy science: 52 applicants, 15 spaces available — 28.9%

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• Bioresource and agricultural engineering: 225 applicants, 60 spaces available — 26.7%

• Wine and viticulture: 217 applicants, 57 spaces available — 26.3%

• Agricultural communication: 201 applicants, 53 spaces available — 25.2%

• Industrial technology and packaging: 253 applicants, 60 spaces available — 23.7%

• Recreation, parks and tourism administration: 365 applicants, 82 spaces available — 22.5%

• Liberal studies: 493 applicants, 108 spaces available — 21.9%

• Industrial engineering: 299 applicants, 65 spaces available — 21.7%

And here are the top 10 for transfer applicants:

• Dairy science: 5 applicants, 2 spaces available — 40%

• Agricultural systems management: 9 applicants, 3 spaces available — 33.3%

• Industrial technology and packaging: 12 applicants, 4 spaces available — 33.3%

• Landscape architecture: 39 applicants, 12 spaces available — 30.8%

• Agricultural communication: 24 applicants, 7 spaces available — 29.2%

• City and regional planning: 29 applicants, 8 spaces available — 27.6%

• Plant sciences: 68 applicants, 17 spaces available — 25%

• Manufacturing engineering: 10 applicants, 2 spaces available —20%

• Materials engineering: 27 applicants, 5 spaces available — 18.5%

• Liberal studies: 92 applicants, 17 spaces available — 18.5%

To view all of the majors, see The Tribune’s complete database of applications and space by major.