Prospective Transfer Students
Information For Prospective Transfer Students
Prospective transfer students should review all admission information posted on the Cal Poly Admissions web site. Admission to Cal Poly is handled by the Admissions Office, not by individual academic departments. You can view prospective student information 24/7 through Cal Poly's Admissions web site. The site contains all official admission information and most questions regarding the admission process and qualifications are answered on this site.
Visit our page Landscape Architecture Videos to see a slide show of student life in the department as well as student work.
Key Questions
The key questions that prospective transfer students need to research and answer are:
- What courses must I take to apply for admission?
- Which community colleges offer these courses?
Resources to help you answer these questions are provided below.
Transfer Criteria
The Transfer Selection Criteria for the Landscape Architecture program provides information required to answer the first question - coursework required before a student applies to transfer into the Landscape Architecture program at Cal Poly.
ASSIST
ASSIST is an online student-transfer information system that shows how course credits earned at one public California college or university can be applied when transferred to another. ASSIST is the official repository of articulation for California's public colleges and universities and provides the most accurate and up-to-date information about student transfer in California. Use ASSIST to research which California Community Colleges offer the courses identified in the Transfer Selection Criteria.
Course Substitutions for Community College Coursework
ASSIST recognizes official course articulations between Cal Poly and the California Community College System. In addition to those courses identified in ASSIST, it is possible for transfer students to receive credit for select landscape architecture major courses through a portfolio review.
Begin by reviewing LA course descriptions in the Cal Poly Catalog and compare them with courses you have successfully completed at a Community College. Some possibilities to consider include LA 101 Introduction to Landscape Architecture, LA 170 Principles of Design Communication, LA 202 Design Fundamentals I and LA 243 Materials and Techniques of Landscape Construction. LA major courses may take two or more community college courses to cover course content.
Receiving course substitution credit may reduce your class load and your time to graduation. After you have been fully accepted by Cal Poly, you can request a meeting to begin the review process. Call the Landscape Architecture Department at 805-756-1319 to make an appointment for a portfolio review or meet with a faculty advisor. You should bring with you copies of syllabi for the course(s) you have taken, adequate examples of your work (not photos, but actual coursework), and your transcript showing the grade(s) earned.
Transfer Student Curriculum
Download the 2022-26 course curriculum PDF, HERE.
