Petition for GWR Substitution

How to Petition to Substitute Alternate Criteria for GWR Completion
 

CSU EO 665 mandates that all students earning a graduate degree from Cal Poly within their first quarter of residency in order to advance to candidacy.

Incoming graduate students who did not earn an undergraduate degree within the CSU or UC system may qualify for a GWR substitution as outlined below. Please review the criteria, and submit a petition to substitute alternate criteria for the GWR if you fit into or more of the following categories: 

• If you have earned a master’s or higher-level graduate degree at a U.S.-accredited institution, provide an unofficial copy of your final transcript with degree conferral date. 
• If you have earned a score of 4.5 or higher on the analytical writing section of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT), provide a copy of your exam score. (Please note: currently we do not accept passing scores on the CBEST, CSET, or TWE as substitution for the GWR.)
• If you have earned a bachelor’s degree from a U.S.-accredited four-year institution that has a specified upper-division writing requirement as part of its general degree requirements, provide an unofficial copy of your transcript with degree conferral date. If your transcript does not specify that you have fulfilled an upper-division writing requirement, you also must provide evidence, such as a catalog excerpt, to indicate that the institution has a campuswide degree requirement; please highlight relevant information.
• If you have earned a grade of C or better in an upper-division writing-intensive course at another U.S.-accredited, four-year institution with work equivalent to that of Cal Poly’s GWR-approved courses, submit the following: 1) a copy of your unofficial transcript with the upper-division course and grade highlighted; 2) a description of the course from the course catalog; and 3) evidence (such as a syllabus) that the course included low and high stakes writing assignments totaling at least 3000 words, a major writing assignment of at least 1500 words, and 35% or more of the final grade based on writing assignments.

To petition for a GWR substitution, collect the appropriate document(s) and submit materials along with the completed Petition for GWR Substitution Form electronically to writingandlearning@calpoly.edu. Please allow two weeks for the office to process your request.