This is getting into the weeds a bit, but here it goes. Cal Poly does super superscore standardized tests. Meaning it will take any combination of SAT/ACT scores that gives the highest combined math/English score. HOWEVER, the admission representative that spoke on campus to our group back in October stated that they do not super superscore using results from the “new” SAT. This may have changed since then, but that is what was stated this past fall. I bring this up only because it may have affected a few folks when calculating their MCA scores.
@kmde307 question, are you a Hayden school partner or in the SLO service area? Appreciate your response to help understand this crazy admission process, thanks.
@calirain my daughter’s friend did the same thing, forgot to list 7th grade algebra and 8th grade geometry. He hasn’t heard yet, and should have gotten in with his stats, ec’s, work experience, etc… I’m afraid it’s a big problem and will tip his admissions decision. He contacted admissions and they weren’t very helpful.
@talguy, that may or may not help. I remember last year contacting the parent of an ME admit whose MCA was lower than some who were rejected. I was scratching my head and so was she. It was only later that she’d learned their school was a Partner school. Those are not the only non-academic adders either. There are quite a few others.
They really need to highlight on the application the importance of putting down junior high algebra 1 and geometry. My son asked me to review his app right before sending it off and he had neglected to put those classes in. I think it is a really easy mistake to make and could be the difference maker for someone on the margin.
@choroidal you wouldn’t be in an eye-care field would you?
What we were told is that they would super score all tests except they would not super score between the new SAT and the old SAT. They would super score two new SATs or two old SATs but not math from the old and reading from the new or vice versa.
@choroidal Is it required to put down those courses? My school adds them to our GPA if we want to put them on our transcripts, and I got Bs, so I never had it done. Most schools assume it was met if you have more advanced courses.
Well, really the semesters of math are meaningless… what would make more sense for rigor is how far a student gets in math. A student who takes trig as a freshman and Calc bc by junior year, exhausting all of his high school math offerings, obviously had to have taken algebra and geometry in junior high, but that isn’t how they look at it. A student who starts out in algebra and never takes Calc AB would get more rigor points.
@soccerslueth the application asked for junior high math and foreign language. They don’t use junior high grades in their GPA calculation but use the number of years in their calculation of rigor and meeting minimum requirements.
@lkg4answers not putting it on my transcript was separate of this one school. It would have effected my overall GPA/class rank/etc, so I couldn’t put it on.
Are you saying it’s only used in rigor? I maxed out math rigor with only some of my high school math, so I didn’t need it either way.
junior high math grades are not counted in the GPA, nor are transcripts required. The semesters of Algebra and above are asked for on the application though. BTW, a student who gets through AB or BC or more, all get the same rigor points as long as they listed 10 total semesters.
That’s my point though, my daughter’s friend somehow didn’t list 7th and 8th grade algebra and geometry. He had trig, Calc AB and Calc BC in high school, then AP stats senior year. He’s only going to show 6 semesters advanced math instead of 10.
@lkg4answers I think what you described about the superscoring is what I remember from that presentation. As always if anyone has questions the admissions office is the best place to ask.
@soccerslueth You put the junior high courses down to get the rigor points. As @Ikg4answers stated the grades from those classes do not count in your GPA. Again, this should really be highlighted better in the application as it is not natural to think of putting down classes from 7th and 8th grade when filling out an application for college. It would be pretty easy for there to be an automatic dropdown box to appear if anyone enters Calc AB or Calc BC on their application to remind the student to enter their junior high math classes.
@eyemgh will see what their response is and have a better understanding. Other admissions have been made from applicants with lesser or similar stats (posts 413 &1067 for example) Finding it hard to believe each of these also acquired these substantial non academic adders to obtain admission. If these “adders” end up providing such a substantial boost to push them over the stats that those who worked hard and achieved their stats, well that just makes the algorithm process disappointing. Really embraced the concept of removing the subjective aspect with an algorithm but it appears based on the weight you have described, it was just cooked into to formula.,
@choroidal, that would probably rank as the most likely reason that a student who thought they had a high MCA got wait listed or denied. That would be a 500 point difference!
@talguy, the whole thing about posting MCAs is to get away from comparing stats. They don’t tell a complete picture. Not only can the adders I referenced make a difference, but on the margins, rigor and ECs can make a huge difference. I didn’t look up the other posters, but do you know their MCAs and your student’s MCA? Were the majors the same?
@soccerslueth I can’t tell you anything with 100% certainty because I don’t work in admissions. When filling out the application, we called SLO admissions because junior high was trimester and HS was semester. The system kept showing that less than a full year of math and/or foreign language was taken in junior high. Admissions said to change junior high to semester as the junior high grades didn’t matter but listing the class was what was important.
As far as HS transcripts, it is my understanding that CSU and UCs only use it as a verification of self reported grades. They calculate their own GPA, not the one your HS uses. I understand class rank/HS calculated GPA could be an issue for other schools but it doesn’t seem to be an issue for CSU and UCs.
In retrospect, I think one of the most valuable things we did was to visit the school, take a tour of the department, the school, the dorms and go to the Admissions Information Session prior to filling out the application. The Admissions Information Session told us about super-scoring, junior high grades, how to calculate EC/work experience, etc.
@eyemgh same major, biology, they had no mca listed which allows the mystery to continue. Our d’s mca is 4490 and from other admitted postings it looks to be in the correct range. Her stats would appear to make her a suitable candidate for CP and that the algorithm has failed to acknowledge all her efforts.
Biology has an expected acceptance rate of 13%. In all of last year’s and this year’s postings of biology in state acceptances, there hasn’t been a score below 4500. IF that’s a representation of reality (and it’s a BIG IF because everything posted here is self calculated, assumed to be accurate, and assumed to be real) and your daughter was wait listed, then it would make sense that she’s near the top of the list.