Looking for the best cal state school for psychology. Also interested in greek life and a bigger student pop. thank!
What are your stats since this can determine which Cal State is best for you academically? Post Capped weighted CSU GPA and ACT/SAT scores.
Best is really subjective - and several of the more popular CSUs have become pretty selective so, they may not be accessible to you.
Without knowing your stats, SDSU, CSULB fit your other criteria but can be tough admits. Chico and Sonoma are smaller but still very residential, active greek scene and somewhat more accessible. Sac and SF are easier admits with active greek scenes.
What are your qualifications and budget?
I am an out-of-state student approaching my senior year.
Freshman Year & Sophmore Year: 3.33 unweighted (my school doesn’t use a weighted GPA system)
Junior Year: 3.83 w/ one college dual enrollment course
cumulative GPA: 3.496
Test Scores: (really, really low but I’ve been studying & plan on retaking them)
ACT: 22
SAT: reading - 600
math - 480
EC’s:
- Environmental AK State Delegate
- Book Club member & state competitor
- Business Club member & national competitor
- GSA group treasurer
- Drama Club member
- Volleyball - junior varsity
Awards/Certifications:
- President’s Environmental Youth Award
- 1st place state Legal Office Procedures Business competition
- Science Fair Behavioral Science Category Winner
- HS’s Student of the Week
- 1st place regional reader’s theater & humorous interpretation for Drama club
- Honor Roll
- Computer Word Processing Certified
- Selected by HS to attend a statewide youth leadership conference
I am part of an Alaska native corporation that will cover a majority of my college tuition so I honestly haven’t been too concerned with costs as of right now.
Hope that helps! Thank you so much!! Any insight is really appreciated.
CSU’s calculate their GPA based on 10-11th grades for the a-g courses only. Below is the list of required a-g courses.
https://www2.calstate.edu/apply/freshman/getting_into_the_csu#hsReqScroll
You get an extra honors point for each semester if an AP/IB course taken 10-11th grade. Honors classes are not weighted for an OOS applicant.
Here is the Rogerhub GPA calculator. Input your grades and # of honors points to get your Capped weighted UC/CSU GPA.
https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/
Then in put your GPA and ACT composite score into the EI calculation (CSU GPA x 200) + (ACT composite x10). You need an EI of 864 to be eligible to apply. CSU’s admit by major and EI.
Psychology is impacted (more qualified applicants than spots) so meeting the minimum EI is not enough. Impacted campuses have additional criteria and higher EI thresholds.
Based on your stats, the top competitive Cal States are probably out of reach such as Cal Poly San Luis Obispbo, San Diego State, Long Beach state but leaves many that would love an full pay OOS applicant.
Below is a list of campuses which are impacted by major. This should help you target some schools. Do you have any specific geographic locations in mind?
https://www.calstate.edu/sas/documents/impactedprogramsmatrix.pdf
This link show 2018 data for average CSU GPA and test scores by CSU campus. Target schools where your CSU GPA and test scores are at least at or above the averages:
https://www2.calstate.edu/attend/counselor-resources/Documents/freshmen-2018-admission-impaction-chart.pdf
https://www.calstate.edu/sas/documents/impactedprogramsmatrix.pdf