I’d encourage the student to take a tour of their local CSU with their parent. Most of the campuses will offer a sit-down with an admissions counselor after the tour, you can schedule it in advance. Bring transcripts, test scores and lay them on the table and ask for help mapping a path into the campus and be honest about what it takes to gain admission. All 23 CSUs favor ‘local’ applicants and all of them want to see students succeed, especially first gen. It will be a welcoming session. The UCs will do this too but, the path to admission isn’t as predictable and ‘local’ doesn’t get you anything.
Also, the a-g matrix linked by Ucbalumnus above is crucial. If the student is short one semester of one category, they won’t be admitted - regardless of their other qualifications. This is true for all 9 UCs and 23 CSUs.