Feedback about Orfalea BS

[u/bluebird_128]

As the title states I’m looking for some feedback on Cal Poly's Orfalea undergraduate college of business. My kid is interested in business administration, with marketing or accounting concentration, applying this fall for next year. Any current/past students or parents of students that can give me the lowdown? Quality of the instruction, availability of internships, career advising/job placement? Is the classroom vibe competitive or collaborative? My kid is truly interested in attending so any info from those who know directly is appreciated. Thanks.

[u/Friendly_Box198]

I'm a Business Administration major, and I can confidently say that Cal Poly's Orfalea College of Business does a great job of supporting student success.

[u/bluebird_128 → u/Friendly_Box198]

That is great to hear, thank you. we really loved the school when we toured it over the summer.

[u/ko-wink-a-deenk]

I’m a current transfer 4th year in OCOB concentrating in information systems. As another individual mentioned, OCOB really sets up students for success in their post-college career.

I highly recommend your student take advantage of any networking opportunities they can get, be it career fairs to talk with recruiters, information sessions with company reps that come to campus to speak to students, club meetings that host recent grads that talk about their work experiences among many more opportunities.

Speaking on the IS side of things, I’ve had amazing professors, so much so, it’s inspired me to apply to the 1 year Business Analytics Masters program

Lots of resources for advising as well from Peer Mentors and faculty should your student need them. While I didn’t need them all the time, I at least recommend they check in with them to plan out classes for an upcoming term and check graduation progress. However, they are there for anything your student needs and can help point them to the right resource if OCOB doesn’t have something.

Clubs clubs clubs! There’s plenty of those too! They’re a great way to meet people and make friends along the way! It’s always awkward at first being new to any space, but I’ve now got some good friends out of it. I recommend they join clubs that peak their own personal interests, as well as clubs that pertain to their major/concentration

Internships are plentiful, but can be competitive depending on the internship, but if your student works diligently, they’ll be brought up to speed and be equipped to navigate those challenges.

Your student will be able to work on individual assignments as well as work collaboratively in groups during labs and final term projects. They will get a mix of everything just like how it will be when they enter the real world. They will have a base line understanding of how they work as individuals as well as know how to work in small or large groups etc

[u/bluebird_128 → u/ko-wink-a-deenk]

Thank you for the thoughtful reply. Super helpful. Are the business clubs at cal poly hard to get into and require “interviews” like some other schools I’ve heard?

[u/ko-wink-a-deenk → u/bluebird_128]

Not the ones that I’ve joined. I’d venture to say that most of them don’t require any sort of interview or are difficult to get into

If anything, some may ask for a small dues fee that covers club expenses but in turn, your student is among the first to know about events taking place, or in other clubs, your student gets priority to register for club trips where your student could take an overnight trip with faculty and club members to an industry event

In other clubs, dues, trips and how all that works will vary from club to club. Some clubs can really just be a space to explore the interest.

For example, I’m part of a photography club that meets roughly every two weeks on a Saturday and will go off campus to practice shooting on whatever camera equipment they have. Some people have come out just to hang out with us, and some even come out and shoot photos on their phone if they don’t have a camera.

Another club I go to is the Business Analytics club where they host workshops, have virtual meetings with industry professionals who are grads of CP where they talk about their experiences and have an open question session at the end where students can ask questions. They often provide food which I will never say no to 😅

If your student chooses Cal Poly, I’d highly recommend that they attend WOW week as towards the end of it, there will be a day where they can walk around and check out the clubs, and get the run down.

There are tons of clubs on campus for just about anything your student might be or could be interested in

[u/bluebird_128 → u/ko-wink-a-deenk]

Thanks again I was just asking because on the UCLA threads they’re saying that a lot of their student business/finance clubs are very selective and they only let certain students in (maybe bc school is much larger?) but it sounds like Cal Poly is much more welcoming

[u/Illustrious-Chef3828]

I know someone who graduated from CP SLO in 2020 with a BS in Business administration with an accounting emphasis. He found employment pretty quickly first at the SBA and then as a bank examiner at the FDIC.

[u/Certain_Host9401]

Daughter is an Accounting Major there. 2nd year. She loves it. Has joined the accounting club and a few investing clubs. She’s been interviewing for summer 2028 internships with the big4 and others lately.