Both California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo and the University of California, Davis are extraordinarily competitive public universities in California, but Cal Poly is generally considered slightly harder to get into for undergraduate admissions due to its unique major-specific selection process. While UC Davis reviews applicants through a broader holistic campus lens, Cal Poly applicants must apply directly to a specific major within a designated college. Because capacity is severely restricted in premier programs like engineering and architecture, acceptance rates for individual majors at Cal Poly can plummet significantly lower than the university's overall acceptance average.