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Prospective Students

We are happy that you are considering Cal Poly for your college degree. Although we have more than 18,000 students on campus, we focus on providing you with an undergraduate education that will pave the way for success. Cal Poly has the reputation of combining a small college atmosphere with the advantages of a major comprehensive, polytechnic university.

Chemistry is the central science. It sits at the nexus of the theoretical sciences (physics and math), life sciences (biology) and applied technologies (medicine, engineering and agriculture). The Chemistry & Biochemistry Department here is one of the best in the country. You can see the nuts and bolts of our programs and courses by looking on the Academics page.

The instructional faculty consists of about 40 tenured and tenure track lecturers, emeriti professors and part-time instructors. Our tenure track faculty teach both labs and lectures, so you will not have a graduate student teaching assistant for an instructor. Your instructors have a minimum of five office hours per week and almost all of them can be reached through email 24-7 (or maybe 18-6). And if you prefer to meet with them face to face, that’s also an option. To learn more about our staff see our Faculty page under About Us.

If you need to speak to a member of our staff, technical or office, please don’t hesitate. Our staff is friendly and willing to help you out anytime during the day.

In addition to being academically successful, we also encourage students to embrace our family atmosphere. We host seminars, ice cream socials, picnics, intramural sports teams and get-togethers for our students and faculty.  Another way students can get involved is to participate in clubs that are offered within the Department. For more information, see the Clubs page under Current Students.

Extensive undergraduate research projects are also available for students to participate in. For more information on the specific research areas, see our Research page.

The College of Science and Mathematics opened the Warren J. Baker Center for Science and Mathematics, located in the heart of the campus, in September 2013.  Equipped with state-of-the-art labs, studio classrooms and study areas, it sets a high standard for university science facilities across the country. To learn more about our facilities, see the New Facilities page under Prospective Students.

Use the CAL POLY Admissions link to find all of the information you need to become a Mustang.

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