Parking Downtown
Fun fact, you don’t always need to pay to park downtown! Most students tend to gravitate towards the parking structures or metered areas, but there are a few hidden areas to leave your car without hurting your budget. Palm Street does not require a permit, and contains quite a few blocks of free parking space. Also, if you’re looking to have a late night study session at one of downtown SLO’s popular coffee shops, make sure to stay a little past 11 p.m, because by then most of the structures will have closed and you can leave without having to pay the hourly fee.
Pocket Points
For those of you who haven’t heard of this app, you need to download it right away. It’s an app that gives students rewards for not using their phones during class. All you need to do is open the app and lock your phone, and while it’s locked, you will accumulate points depending on how long you go without using your phone and how many other students happen to be using the app at the same time as you. The beautiful thing is that the points you earn can be used to get discounts at some of your favorite San Luis Obispo locations! Participating restaurants include The Neighborhood Acai and Juice Bar, Mr. Pickles, Pita Pit, and Teaberry.
Slo Do Co Weekly Specials
If you follow Slo Do Co on Instagram or Snapchat, then you might be aware of the specialty donut weekly schedule, which is the world’s greatest gift to mankind. Monday’s feature Pecan Pie Pillows, which usually tend to come out of the oven around 10 a.m. Tuesday and Thursday’s feature “Doffles”, which are specialty treats made from pouring donut batter into a waffle iron and covering them in frosting. Basically, Leslie Knope’s dream. Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday’s are made extra special with Milk and Cookies Pillows. It’s literally a donut filled with chocolate chip cookie dough. Need we say more?
Cal Poly App
Can’t find your class? Wanting to know the rec center group exercise hours? The Cal Poly app is the perfect solution to any of your school related needs. Complete with a campus GPS, full recreation center and dining schedule, and an emergency campus safety feature, this is something every student should have for any help they made need at Cal Poly on a day to day basis. It even lets you find the time and place for the next escort van coming your way!
Robert E Kennedy Library
There are so many resources available both in the library and on their website. Here are a few:
Course Reserves! Don’t buy $200 science textbooks that will only be used for one quarter. The front desk of the library has tons of textbooks (put on reserve by your professor) ready for 2 hour, 4 hour, or sometimes even overnight checkout. All you need is your Polycard and the course of the textbook you want to check out (AKA CHEM 127, or MATH 141). Not sure if they have your textbook? Search “ search polycat” in Google, click on the first link, then click on the “course reserves tab”. Search by the course abbreviation and if they have it, you can even see if it’s available right then or not!
You can also use Polycat if you’re looking for any book the library may have. Quick tip: search by the author of your book’s last name and first name. Any book they have by that author will pop up with it’s call number (the book locations). After you have the call number, go to the front desk for help finding it!
The library is transitioning much of the books in the stacks to online Ebooks – when you search Polycat, if you find a link to an Ebook, don’t hesitate to click through the links and download the PDF or book onto your computer!
Can’t find a book in Polycat? Search Link+ or InterLibrary Loans. Link+ is a network of all CSU libraries where you can request to check out a book from one of these libraries; it usually takes 3-5 days to ship it to Cal Poly but you can check it out for 3 weeks and renew it up to one time. ILL is a network of ALL university libraries in the US; it usually takes 5-7 days to process the request and ship it to Cal Poly, they have varying checkout periods, and can usually be renewed up to one time.
If you’re writing a research paper, the library pays for academic journals subscriptions just for this reason! From the main library website, click on the “Databases A-Z” link and search away! All the articles are peer reviewed and reliable. If you have any questions, go to the research help desk in room 111 by the elevators!
Secret Study Spots
Surprise! You don’t have to study in the library if you want to study on campus.
Check out the Koi Pond and the Rose Garden as study spots when the weather is nice (let’s be honest, which is 90% of the year). Sandwiched between the Spanos Stadium, the Business Building and California Boulevard, these quiet spots are rarely occupied but have plenty of seating and ambiance for studying.
Also check out the Baker Building! Our newest science building addition has 6 floors of comfy couches, new tables and seating and lobby space to fit your study space needs.
The UU is a great place to study with seating by Starbucks, upstairs near the ASI offices and neat the Chumash Auditorium doors. The UU also has a quiet study space next to the side doors by the computer stations on the second floor.
On the next sunny day, check out the Eucalyptus Grove in Poly Canyon. It’s only a quarter mile walk from the entrance of Poly Canyon and is on the left hand side of the pathway – you’ll know you’re there when you smell the refreshing eucalyptus leaves!