Animal Science major at Cal Poly?

I'm super drawn towards Animal Science and considering Cal Poly as one of my options. I'm curious to know more about their program, like hands-on opportunities, internships, class sizes, and how well it prepares me for a future career.

Cal Poly offers a strong Animal Science program renowned for its "learn by doing" philosophy, meaning you'll have numerous hands-on experiences in your courses.

Regarding class sizes, introductory lecture classes may have a larger student population. The student-to-faculty ratio at Cal Poly is 18:1, and the school has 18.7% of its classes with fewer than 20 students. However, your lab, seminar, and workshop classes will be much smaller allowing for individual attention and collaborative work. As you progress into your upper-division classes, you’ll usually find smaller class sizes too.

In terms of hands-on opportunities, Cal Poly has rangeland, croplands, vineyards, orchards, and even a 500-cow dairy operation. Students regularly work with these animals, and in the accompanying laboratories, through applied coursework. You can gain hands-on experience in breeding, nutrition, production, health, and management.

Internships and work experiences are highly encouraged. Many students do internships in wide-ranging areas, such as agriculture marketing, ranch, and feedlot operations, veterinary clinics, and stud farms to name a few. There's also the Cal Poly internship fair where companies in different fields come to connect with students. Students report that these experiences give them a good grounding for future careers.

Upon graduation, many animal science majors from Cal Poly go on to various careers in fields like veterinary medicine, livestock production, and animal welfare. Some graduates of this program also pursue advanced degrees or certifications in related areas.

All in all, Cal Poly's Animal Science program offers plentiful opportunities for applied learning in the field and can well prepare you for a successful career after graduation.