Out of 17,540 applicants, Cal Poly’s College of Engineering selected 5,196 students — one of them being only 15-years old.
Incoming electrical engineering freshman Ashton Mitchell will be 16-years old when he starts at Cal Poly in the fall. The College of Engineering selected 29 percent of applicants, making it the most difficult college to get into for freshmen.
“In seventh grade at some point I just randomly thought, ‘Oh, I’m not really being challenged in math.’ I told my dad about it, and it turned into something where I was constantly being more challenged,” Ashton said.
After skipping two grades and attending online school, Ashton has been taking college level and core classes in a homeschool format. He chose Cal Poly because of its resources and facilities.
“I like to design things and build things that help people, and I eventually narrowed it down to electrical engineering,” Ashton said.
As Mitchell prepares for his college transition in the fall, his mother Jencarl Mitchell said she is optimistic about his college decision.
“All along I was always concerned about him skipping grades. You know, wanting him to be challenged, but not suffer socially…I feel like the school is very supportive,” Jencarl said. “I’ve already been very impressed with the parents on the Facebook page that we joined.”
After years of hard work, Mitchell said that he is looking forward to the social opportunities Cal Poly offers.
“I think that will be cool for me to get out there and socialize more, considering I’ve been focused more on schooling for the last two years,” Ashton said.