Transfer Success

Basic materials

Before registration, gather the tools you will use to plan your first quarter: 

Find your Curriculum Sheet and Flowchart

Transfer evaluation

Via your Degree Progress Report (DPR)The Office of the Registrar - Evaluations Unit will look through all of your transcripts and evaluate what you will receive credit for at Cal Poly. Once they finish this transfer evaluation, you will receive an email about how to review your transfer credit. Shortly after you receive your transfer evaluation email, you will also be emailed a copy of your curriculum sheet marked to reflect what you have completed and what you have remaining for your degree. This will be sent from a CLA Advising Academic Advisor.

Recommended Courses by Major

Your department has provided a list of courses they suggest for your fall registration. Seats in some classes have even been saved just for you. These course recommendations will be discussed by an Advisor during Transfer SLO Days.

Fall 2026 registration will be on August 10th at 1 p.m.

• Anthropology and Geography
• Art and Design
• Child Development
• Communication Studies
• Comparative Ethnic Studies
• English
• Graphic Communication
• History
• Interdisciplinary Studies
• Journalism
• Music
• Philosophy
• Political Science
• Psychology
• Sociology
• Sociology (Bachelor's Pathway at Hancock)
• Spanish
• Theatre Arts
  

After you receive notice that your transfer evaluation is complete, review your Degree Progress Report (DPR) to see which major, support, GE and elective requirements you have satisfied  and which ones you still need. 

While reviewing your curriculum sheet or Degree Progress Report, you may ask how certain courses transferred to Cal Poly. You can see further details about your transfer credit in your Poly Profile under "Higher Ed Credits Detail."

Steps on how to find your transfer credit

• Access PolyProfile through your Cal Poly Portal under your PolyProfile Tab. 
• Click on the Higher Ed Credits Detail.
• Under Additional Higher Education Credits Detail, you will find the transcripts we received from you. 
• On the right side, you will find the courses you took and on the left side, you will see how they transferred to Cal Poly.
• If you believe you should have received credit for a course and did not:
  • Transfer credit is reviewed very closely. Advisors are also submitting petitions on your behalf if we have noticed that any applicable credit did not fully transfer. Please note that lower division courses taken at a community college cannot transfer to fulfill upper division courses (3000-4000 level) at Cal Poly.
  • If you believe you should have received credit for a course, you can talk with a CLA Advisor at Transfer SLO Days, email claadvising@calpoly.edu or visit our zoom drop-in advising. If we are unable to confirm transfer credit, you may petition for credit. 

Graduate Writing Requirement (GWR) & United States Cultural Pluralism Requirements (USCP): two graduation requirements you should check early. They may still be needed even if many of your other requirements are transferred.

Once your transfer evaluation is completed, use your DPR to cross off completed requirements on your flowchart. The flowchart is not a personalized graduation plan, but it helps you see what is usually completed earlier in the major and which unmet requirements should be prioritized first. This step gives you a clearer picture of where you are in the curriculum and what should come next.

DPR basics

Once your flowchart is marked, identify the courses you are eligible to take now and compare them with your major’s recommended first-term course list. Focus first on required major and support courses, then add any remaining GE or other needed requirements. Be sure to read notes and prerequisites carefully, since your major may have specific registration guidance or suggested sections for incoming transfers.

 Use Schedule Builder in Student Center to search classes, compare sections and create several possible schedules before registration at 1pm on Aug 10.. Save multiple versions so you have backup options if a course is full, conflicts with another class or requires waitlisting. Schedule Builder is also where you can review seat availability and complete registration.

Schedule Builder Guide

All of the information you will need for registration will be reviewed during Transfer SLO Days and you will have time to ask questions. We will also have Zoom drop-in advising the Friday before registration and the day of registration.

If you make an appointment before Transfer SLO Days, please only schedule after you have received the email that your transfer evaluation is complete. If you have quick general questions, you can email claadvising@calpoly.edu.

The two reasons you may have ended up on a waitlist are:

1. There are no more open seats available in the course. Please select another course.
2. Another transfer student tried to enroll in the course, but since they have enrolled past 15 units or did not meet the course pre-requisites, the waitlist system has been "turned on" and every student after them has been placed on the waitlist. The waitlist process (checking for open seats and adding waitlist students) will run late afternoon on Aug. 10 and then nightly. If you are not enrolled in a waitlisted class by 4 p.m. Aug. 10, select another course and continue to register.

Our suggestions:

CHECK OTHER SECTIONS FOR OPEN SEATS: 
You may be waitlisted in a section of a course, however a different section may have available seats. Look at other sections and register or waitlist for those as well.

BACK UP COURSES: 
We encouraged you to identify all courses you meet the pre-requisites for, using your curriculum sheet, Degree Progress Report (DPR), flowchart, recommended courses, and write them down as back-up courses. Use those options to continue to register or waitlist in any classes in your major, support or unmet general education. You can waitlist for up to 12 units!

RECOMMENDED COURSE LIST: See step #1

ZOOM DROP-IN ADVISING: Use our Zoom Drop-in Advising for continue registration assistance.

Permission number instructions will differ depending on your major. For fall registration, you should not need permission numbers unless otherwise noted on your recommended course list.

In the future, any necessary permission numbers are generally provided by the instructor or the department and will be noted in Schedule Builder. These are typically internships, senior projects and some classes.

Refer to "Transfer Credit" in Step #2.

We recommend staying between 12 – 16 units; 4 – 5 classes depending on whether the courses selected are 3 or 4 semester units.

If you have any questions please reach out to our office by emailing claadvising@calpoly.edu

Here are some important things to do during your first semester at Cal Poly.

Dates and Deadlines

It can be hard to keep track of all the dates! There are calendars for future enrollment and deadlines that are good to be aware of.

Cal Poly Policies

It is important to know that academic policies you were familiar with at your previous campus will likely be different at Cal Poly. Here are some key policies:

• Academic Probation
• Credit/No Credit
• Course Withdrawal/Term Withdrawal
• Grade Forgiveness/Course Repeat

Registration for Future Quarters

From now on, you will register as a continuing student. The overall process remains the same, but the details will be slightly different from when you registered for fall semester.

Each semester you will be given a date/time for registration, which will be listed on the right side of the Student Center, two weeks prior to the start of registration. This date and time is based on your actual academic progress level (how many degree applicable units you have completed). Your level can be found on your academic progress gauge in PolyProfile (found on a Tab in your Cal Poly Portal). It will be updated during week 4 of each semester.

We recommend that all new transfer students meet with CLA Advising to review their transfer credit, academic progress level and plan for graduation. In many cases, students will also be advised to meet with their Faculty Advisor or Department Chair.

After your first Fall registration, seats are no longer held for new transfer students. But there may be seats held for majors in major courses!

Getting Connected 

Faculty and Staff | People to Introduce yourself to

• Get to know CLA Advising as a resource to help you transition to Cal Poly and set yourself up to graduate on time!
• We highly recommend connecting with your faculty advisor right away.
• Your major department's administrative staff is a great resource.
• Schedule an appointment with your CLA career counselor.
• Chat with our college librarian.

Transfer Center Events

The Transfer Center is a great resource and physical space to connect with current transfer students, find community, study, meet with academic coaches and more.

• Stop by their space – Bldg 52 Rm E 30 – for coffee, a place to study or heat up your lunch, to connect with a transfer student assistant, and more.
• Attend a Transfer Center Program or Event – bowling, study breaks, dialogues, and more!
• During October we celebrate National Transfer Student Week!
• Email transfer@calpoly.edu for any questions you may have or for support in connecting to resources across campus. 

Second Quarter through Graduation

Here are some ways to get involved once you start feeling settled at Cal Poly.

Clubs & Programs

• Join a CLA club
• Join a club outside CLA
• Participate with the Cross Cultural Centers, Dream Center, Men and Masculinities. 

Leadership

• CLA Underrepresented Students Network (CLA USN)
• Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship 
• Center for Leadership
• Center for Service in Action

Research Opportunities

Talk with your Faculty Advisor and Department Chair about research opportunities in your department!

• Office of Student Research
• BEACon Faculty Research Projects
• CSU Student Research Competition

Your best resource for graduate school planning will be your Faculty Advisors. They have been through it, they love to talk about it, and they have great information!

If you are a pre-health student, please visit the College of Science and Math Advising Center to discuss your health career plans and journey to becoming a competitive applicant.

For additional career support and graduate school planning, don't forget about your Career Counselor! They even have great online resources!