Hi, I’m wondering about the Sciences (D) in the A-G requirements for the Cal Poly at San Luis Obispo freshman application. It seems to have broken them down into D1 - Biology, and D2 - Physical Science. Whenever I try to put Honors Chemistry and AP Physics 1 under Physical Science - D2 it severely damages my GPA (they’re both A+ though). If I put them under G, College Preparatory Elective, also it takes down my GPA (-0.1). Can I just not assign these 2 classes and leave them on under High School coursework in the application, or do I have to remove them even though they are pretty important classes (unless there’s a better place to assign these 2 classes). I meet all the A-G requirements without them (21.5 year-credits), and my weighted GPA is 4.57 without them; it’s 4.47 with them under G - College Preparatory Elective. Thanks
You have to report all a-g courses on your CSU application including grades so there is no option to omit. If your transcript does not match your self-reported academic record and if you are accepted and enroll, your admission could be rescinded. Chemistry and Physics are Physical science classes that need to be reported either both in the D2 section or one in the D2 Section and one in the G section.
The CSU GPA caps the # of Honors points at 8 semesters (OOS Honors classes do not get the extra points) so the more a-g courses you add to your application, the lower the calculated GPA will get due to the cap. A -.1 difference is Negligible. Also the maximum calculated CSU capped weighted GPA is 4.4 regardless of what your HS transcript states.
Also note Cal poly SLO uses 9-11th a-g grades for their GPA calculation with the same 8 semester Honors point cap while the rest of the CSU’s use 10-11th grades. The CSU application calculates the CSU capped weighted GPA not the SLO GPA.
Great, thank you so much for that. I’ll include both those classes under D2. Now that you mention that the transcript must match the self-reported academic record, should I report and assign everything on my transcript other that PE, Health, and Personal Finance. Or should I also leave out lower level electives like Cal State Apply seems to want (if they don’t fit A-G). And how do I know if an elective fits the G requirement if I’m OOS? For example does Computer Programming 3 at my HS count as G or should I leave it off (it’s a somewhat advanced class but not honors).
Computer programming HS courses usually go under category G based on the a-g list for in-state CA students.
k, I have AP Computer Science A, and Advanced Projects in Computer Programming under G, but should lower level electives such as Intro to Computer Programming, Intro to Business, and Engineering 1 & 2 /intro go under G? Cal State Apply apply warns not to put “non college preparatory electives” on your application, but “college preparatory elective” isn’t very well defined. Thanks
You are a HS student correct? What do you mean by lower level courses?
Yes, I’m a HS senior. My HS counselor told me to only include higher level “truly college preparatory electives.” I assumed this meant AP or Honors electives and that the intro / non advanced electives should be left off the application. Is he correct about this, or would I be rejected if I left these non advanced (and I assume non college preparatory) electives off the application (they’re all A’s, so either way I’m not covering up anything I think).
You report all classes that fall within the a-g course descriptions regardless if they are non-honors, AP, IB etc. if your transcript does not match your application, then your acceptance can be rescinded. SLO also does not allow you to make changes or update your application once submitted.
For OOS applicants it is difficult to do the a-g matching. You can use this link and type in your courses to see if any HS in CA offer similar courses that are on the a-g list. Better to report them then not.
K, can I simply report them all on the application, yet not assign them to an A-G requirement if I already meet those requirements?
If you used the a-g link I provided, the classes you listed above all look to fall in category G based on some CA high schools so that is where I would list them. You will not penalized if they are in the wrong category and the Application will let you know if there is an error. If so, then you can list them under Non a-g.
k, I did that. Does it matter that my GPA is now only a 4.36 (on my HS transcript it’s 4.5, the highest in my class)? I still have 9 AP classes, but is a 4.36 still competitive? Seems strange that my weighted GPA would be so low with all A’s and mostly honors / AP courses. (last question I believe, you’ve been very helpful so far) Thanks
The Cal states including Cal Poly calculate their own GPA. Cal Poly SLO uses 9-11th grades for the a-g courses with an 8 semester honors point cap for AP/IB classes taken 10-11th. Your CSU GPA will not match your HS GPA.
@JamesG2, Cal Poly’s MCA will reward you for having a more rigorous schedule, especially extra courses in Math, Science, and/or English. Like @Gumbymom said, don’t worry about negligible differences in GPA.
@JamesG2: The maximum Capped weighted CSU GPA is 4.4 since you can only get up to 8 honors points for the calculation even though you may have taken more than 8 semesters of qualified Honors classes (AP/IB). Since there is a cap for the CSU GPA, the more classes you take (even though all A’s) the lower your CSU GPA. The capped weighted CSU GPA was intended to level the field for applicants that do not have access to AP/IB classes. It is a catch 22, if you want a 4.4 CSU GPA, you take less classes with the 8 semester honors points, but schools like SLO look at HS course rigor so taking the bare minimum a-g courses will not make your competitive.