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A Transfer Students' Guide To Register For Your First Quarter At Cal Poly

Important Dates and Deadlines for Fall 2025 registration

All prospective and conditionally admitted transfer students (those who are admitted but have not received their transfer credit evaluations) should direct questions to admissions@calpoly.edu.

  • On going: Check TO-DO List and take care of any registration holds within Student Center. Read bi-weekly Admissions Newsletter.
  • May - July 15th: Submit any Official Transcripts and AP scores by July 15 (if possible) in order to receive a timely evaluation of your credits. Advisors are not able to accurately advise you until you receive your evaluation in early August (see below). Secure Housing: On campus housing app opens 4/10 until full. On and Off campus housing fill up fast - look early.
  • July 31 (virtual) or August 1-August 2(in-person): Attend SLO Days (Part I) to learn about campus resources and engage in community-building activities.
  • July - August 7: Review registration information by fully reading this entire website and the links to your college page(s). Connect with Disability Resource Center to set up course accommodations as needed.
  • Early August: You will receive an email from evaluations@calpoly.edu when your Degree Progress Report (DPR) and Degree Planner is available. This will show you how your classes transferred to Cal Poly. Once you have received your credit evaluation, you can officially meet with your college advisors. Schedule Builder becomes available to you in your My Cal Poly Portal, under Student Center. You can see what classes and times are available for your department's suggested course list and create tentative schedules (up to 18 units) for Fall 2025.
  • August 6 and 7: Attend Virtual SLO Days (Part II) (assigned by major) and connect with your college advisor(s) to prepare for class registration.
  • August 8: Advising centers available by zoom and email for questions pertaining to registration.
    • BCSM Advising Drop-ins TBD
    • CAED Advising Drop-ins TBD
    • CAFES Advising Drop ins TBD
    • CENG Advising Drop-Ins TBD
    • CLA Advising Drop-ins TBD
    • OCOB Advising Drop-ins TBD
  • August 11: REGISTER FOR CLASSES! Students can enroll in up to 18 units and waitlist up to 16 additional units. View your Student Center for your enrollment time. 
  • August 12 - 14: Transfer students can still make changes to their schedule. Student Center closes at 8pm every Wednesday for maintenance.
  • August 15 - 17: Cal Poly registration system is closed these dates. No students will be able to make any changes to their schedules.
  • August 18: Second round of registration begins (option to enroll in up to 22 units). Some reserved seats will open to all students at this time. Please view Student Center for your specific registration time ("enrollment appointment").
  • August 23 - September 17: Open Enrollment begins. Continue to make necessary changes to your schedule. Some reserved seats will open to all students at this time.
  • September 18: The official first day of classes!
  • September 29: Add/drop deadline (learn what this entails here). This is also the last day to change credit/no credit grading option (consult with an advisor prior to making any changes).

How to Register for Classes

The registration process is different your first fall quarter than your future registration terms. The reason for this is that continuing students registered back in May and departments saved spots for transfer students. Transfer seats have been held for incoming transfers by departments. 

Though the overall process is the same, each college processes course substitutions and a few other smaller pieces differently so your college advising center has created specific transfer registration steps. Please click on your colleges name to learn about how to register as an incoming transfer:

Step 1: Understand how your units transferred to Cal Poly

Transfer credit should be submitted by July 15 to allow maximum processing time, but they will continue to be evaluated and processed by Cal Poly until registration in August. When your transfer evaluation is complete, you will receive an email from the Office of the Registrar - Evaluations Unit. At that time, you will be able to view your transfer credit in PolyProfile using the menu on the right side and understand how those classes apply towards your degree in your Degree Progress Report.

How to find your transfer credit:

  1. Access PolyProfile through your Cal Poly Portal under your Academics Tab.
  2. Click on the Higher Ed Credits Detail link located on the right side of the page.
  3. Under Additional Higher Education Credits Detail, you will find the transcripts we received from you. Please let us know if any are missing.

On the right side, you will find the courses you took and on the left side, you will see how they transferred over to Cal Poly.

After reviewing your courses, you can access your Degree Progress Report to view your overall degree requirements. This will show what requirements you have completed and what requirements you still need to graduate.

Step 2: Understand Your Student Center and Degree Progress Report

The Student Center will help you:

  • Access your Degree Progress Report (DPR)
  • View registration holds
  • View financial aid information
  • View dates for registration
  • Verify your student schedule (enrolled classes)

Access Student Center by logging into your portal and clicking on it under "my apps".

If you have a hold on your account, you will not be able to register until it is taken care of. You can view holds by clicking "ToDos, Tasks, and Holds" from the menu on the left.

Degree Progress Report (DPR):

The Degree Progress Report (DPR) is a vital tool that should be reviewed at least once per quarter to track your progress to degree. The Evaluations Unit uses the Degree Progress Report to post your degree, so it is important to make sure the courses you enroll in are fulfilling the requirements you intended in your DPR.

Explore the Degree Progress Guide to learn how to read your DPR

Read DPR FAQs

Step 3: Gather Your Curriculum Sheet and Flowchart

Curriculum Sheet

This tool displays all of your degree course requirements in a one page snapshot. It should always be used in conjunction with review of your Degree Progress Report (DPR).

sample curriculum sheet showing where major courses, support courses, and GE courses are on the sheet

How to find a copy of your curriculum sheet:

Go to catalog.calpoly.edu > Degree Flowcharts and Curriculum Sheets

You will learn which catalog you are on once you get an email that your transfer evaluation has been completed.

Flowcharts

These flowcharts display one example of a path towards graduation in 4 years. All transfer students enter Cal Poly at different places in their curriculum. The 4-year flowchart can help transfer students clarify what is typically completed in the first two years and prioritize any of those unmet courses in their first year at Cal Poly. Junior transfers who check their Degree Progress Report and work with advisors regularly can graduate in two years.

A course that is stretched across 2 or more quarters means that you are recommended to take that course during any one of those quarters as long as you have met the necessary prerequisites. Once you have taken the course and passed, you have fulfilled the requirement.

How to find a copy of your flowchart:

Step 4: Review your Major’s Fall Course Recommendations

Your major has provided a list of courses they recommend for your fall registration. Seats have been saved for incoming transfers and will open up on registration day.

First, find your college:

Once you have accessed your major’s list of course recommendations, go to Schedule Builder and get familiar with how to search for classes and build possible schedules. Don’t forget to check for prerequisites within the course descriptions.

Step 5: Understand the Registration Tools

Step 6: Start To Make A Schedule

Schedule Builder is the online scheduling tool that allows students to plan their schedules and enroll for the upcoming quarter. Student Center displays all courses available for the upcoming term, course descriptions, and prerequisites. It allows you to input your availability, and create and save potential schedules.

When searching for available courses in Schedule Builder, all students need to pay attention to PREREQUISITES and SECTION NOTES.

Important Note: Schedule Builder will pull in class options from Degree Planner. You are NOT already registered for these classes. You will register yourself in classes that may or may not be the same as what is in Degree Planner.

Three schedule builder tips we have learned:

  1. Filters don't actually filter until you try to build a schedule.
  2. Class Status filter: If you get this message red X error, one or more class were eliminated due to class status when you try to build a schedule, it probably means you are filtering for "open" classes green check mark next to open and that class is currently full. You can just remove that class and build a schedule without it. If you still want to look at the class and maybe get on the waitlist, then you need to uncheck "open".
  3. If you filter for both Area C GEs and Graduation Writing Requirement (GWR) classes it gives you BOTH C GEs and GWR course, NOT classes that fulfill both. Be careful. Read course descriptions to confirm GE credit or GWR credit.

Review Schedule Builder steps and screenshots to plan and enroll in classes.

Step 7: Register for Classes

Registration appointments:

  • 1st Round: allows students to enroll up to 18 units and waitlist up to an 16 additional units.
  • 2nd Round: allows students to register in up to 22 units (if they desire - talk to an advisor about taking on a fuller course load) and waitlist up to 16 additional units.
  • Open Enrollment: occurs after 2nd Round concludes and allows students to continue making changes to their schedules. The same unit limits from Round 2 apply. All specific dates for each respective quarter can be found at the Registrar's website.

View Registration Demos

Although we hope that registration runs smoothly without any glitches, there is always the possibility that technology issues arise.

You should be prepared for potential issues with the system becoming overwhelmed with transfer registration and slowing down. If this happens, please know you are not alone and this is most likely occurring across the system. Here are some tips, should this occur:

  • Do not continuously refresh your screen right after you have selected enroll. Every time you click refresh, you may be placing yourself further down the wait list.
  • Only refresh your screen if the loading icon disappears or continuously runs after a full minute

circle loading icon- The Loading Icon will appear in the top right hand corner in PeopleSoft

So you ended up on a Waitlist...that's okay! We will review your next steps.

First, it is important to mention again that registration for new transfer students is very unusual. The process is different because you are registering after other continuing students. Although departments do their best to reserve seats for transfer students, sometimes you end up on a wait list. The two reasons you may have ended up on a waitlist are:

  1. There are no more open seats available in the course
  2. Another transfer student tried to enroll in the course, but since they have enrolled past 18 units or did not meet the course pre-requisites, the wait list system has been "turned on" and every student after them has been placed on the waitlist

If you are still on the waitlist after 1pm....

  • Remember those backup courses: We encouraged you to identify all courses you meet the pre-requisites for and write them down as back-up courses. Now use those options to continue to register or waitlist in any classes that you need. Remember you can waitlist for up to 16 units!
  • Check out other sections: You may be waitlisted in a section of a course, however a different section has available seats. Take a look at other sections and register for or waitlist those as well.
  • Review your suggested course list: Some courses require a permission number to enroll. If a permission number is needed, we have indicated this on your major's fall suggested course list.

 

For all future registration terms, you will be given a date/time for registration, which is listed on the right side of the Student Center. This date and time is based on your actual academic progress level (how many degree applicable units you have completed), which is found on your academic progress gauge in PolyProfile during week 4 of first fall quarter.

Incoming Transfer Registration FAQ

What do I have transfer credit in?

Please submit any transfer credit (transcripts or AP scores) by July 15th if possible. Sometime in early August (up until you attend SLO Days), you will receive an email from evaluations@calpoly.edu when your Degree Progress Report (DPR) and Degree Planner is available. This will show you how your classes transferred to Cal Poly. 

Please do not email evaluations about the status of your DPR. They are working hard and have promised to have them done before you register. 

When can I meet with an advisor?

The afternoon program of SLO Days is dedicated to time with your college advising center. Additionally, on the Friday after SLO Days before you register, your advising center will be available via zoom drop-ins and email to get your questions answered.

Until you receive an email from evaluations@calpoly.edu (in early August up until you attend SLO Days) when your Degree Progress Report (DPR) and Degree Planner is available, your advisor is not able to meet with you. An accurate DPR is necessary in order to properly advise you. We know this can be hard to wait for but we promise there will be time to help get your questions answered before you register.

What should I take?

Your major has provided a list of courses they recommend for your fall registration. Seats have been saved for incoming transfers and will open up on registration day.

How many units should I enroll in for my first quarter at Cal Poly?

Your fall suggested course list will include a recommendation of how many units you should register for in fall quarter.

To be a full-time student at Cal Poly, you must be enrolled in 12 or more units.

To find your fall suggested course list, click on the link for your college:

If I have transfer credit that did not count for a Cal Poly course, what can I do?

You may petition for it to count toward your degree.

Please note: Advisors are also submitting petitions on your behalf if we have noticed that your credit did not fully articulate. You may receive a notice that a form was completed for you.

Check out the Transfer Center's FAQ website for answers to other commonly asked questions by incoming and current transfers. 

After You Register

Check out the Planning Calendars

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.

Explore your college's transfer resources and college specific supports

Learn about 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.

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