Cal State Apply GPA calculation seems wrong?

The GPA calculated within Cal State Apply is 4.17.

In 10th and 11th grade, we have 16 HS academic classes, 8 DE classes, and 3 summer CCC classes. All classes are semester-based and all grades are A.

I believe the calculation should be

((16+82+32)4+8)/(16+82+3*2)=160/38=4.21

I cannot figure out why the GPA calculated by the system is 4.17. All DE classes are marked as transferable. I tried emailing but haven’t got a reply after a week. I read through the application guide. Should I be concerned that the GPA calculated by the system seems wrong?

Thank you for your help!

The formula didn’t display right.

((16+8x2+3x2)x4+8)/(16+8x2+3*2)=160/38=4.21

Are the 16 academic classes = 8 courses that are 2 semesters each?

If so then 16 semesters + 8DE x2 + 3CC x2= 38 semesters of A’s?

Plug that into the CSU GPA calculator and I get the 4.21 GPA.

Something might be entered wrong in the CSU application??

The courses/grades include any taken in the summer between 9th and 10th grade and any taken in the summer between 11th grade?

Thank you for your replies! I tried to insert screen shots from CSU Apply but it doesn’t let me post. Yes, HS courses from 10th and 11th grade are 8 courses, 2 semesters each.

DE courses from 10th and 11th grade are 8 courses, 1 semester each. Additionally, 1 course in the summer after 10th grade and 2 courses in the summer after 11th grade.

I believe everything is entered correctly, but the GPA calculation is 4.17.

I cannot figure out what is wrong. Thank you for your help!

As long as all the self-reported information is correct, the CSU campuses will calculate the correct GPA. Are the DE and CC courses reported under the College Coursework?

SJSU in particular stated that they recalculate the GPA for their impaction index and do not use the CSU Apply GPA.

How do students report dual enrollment/college courses for CSU admissions?
Dual enrollment/college courses must be reported on the CSU application (Cal State Apply) as college courses. They should be reported under the appropriate college and cannot be reported on the application as high school coursework. Once the college coursework is entered the student will need to match them to the appropriate “a-g” subject area.

Just an FYI regarding SJSU and college courses. This was an issue for the Class of 2024 and 2025 since a few applicants stated that their CSU GPA should have met their major threshold for the Impaction index but they were denied.

This information is from a 2024 applicant that did not know why they were denied and I had a similar question posed to me this year for the Class of 2024. I do not know if they still recalculate the GPA as stated in the 2024 post and if they do not use CC courses in their recalculation.

I was told that they do not simply use the CalState GPA but calculate the GPA again for their impacted programs. They did not enter any of his community college courses because they were not shown in the high school coursework section. The community college classes are in a separate section on the CalState Apply form, just under Standardized Tests.
I think the system is broken. Basically, if he had AP courses that were listed in the high school coursework section, the decision would have been different.
We have been asked to file an appeal and should find out within 3 weeks.
If there is anyone else out there with community college course credits, please be aware that they were probably not included in the weighted GPA calculation at SJSU would result in an incorrect calculation of the EI.

SJSU said that they only included coursework in the “High School Coursework” section of the CalState Application. Since his community college courses were listed in the “Colleges Attended” section, they ignored those.

I think that it’s an oversight on their part to not look at the community colleges courses and include it in their calculation of the GPA, especially since CalState is already including them. Unfortunately, there is no way of fixing this oversight without going through the appeal process.

Thank you for your reply! I hope the GPA gets recalculated, but fear that all the stats get processed automatically without being looked at. You would think that the CSU Apply platform is running without bugs after processing so many students each year.

We did enter DE and CC courses under “College Attended” section and manually match them to the A-G category.

Under A-G subjects in CSU Apply, it reads,

Total Years Required: 15
Total Years: 40
Calculated GPA: 4.17

Under College Coursework, it reads,
Transfer
Type: Year
Quality Points: 192
Graded Hours: 48
Units Earned: 76
GPA Score: 4

I verified that the total A-G years is correct at 40, but I don’t understand where the 4.17 is coming from.

8th: 3 (2 math, 1 foreign language)
9th: 4 HS +4 DE = 8
10/11th: 8HS + 8DE + 3 CC = 19
12th IP: 3HS + 5DE + 2 CC =10

Thank you for sending info on prior posts about SJSU GPA calculation issues. It’s frustrating for that family to go through the appeal process.

I guess there is nothing much I can do.

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“Transfer” may be an issue since he is applying as a First time Freshman with college credit. I would verify that this is correct. It has been awhile since I saw the actual CSU application and update.

Edited: Disregard the “Transfer” comment. I found this in the CSU application guide:

In your Extended Profile, you indicated you are a First Time Freshman applicant. However, based on the college attendance dates you entered, it appears you are a transfer student." If you are a current high school student and are taking college courses, this message does not apply to you. Select I understand and have reviewed.

I agree nothing can be done but it is helpful to know your GPA. I would email CSU application Liaison out of curiosity.

I’m not sure this is helpful, but we had a question about credit for a college course so I called Cal Poly SLO’s admissions office, and much to my surprise I got through to an actual person who was very helpful. Perhaps you could try calling one of the CSU’s to which your student is applying and ask for confirmation of the GPA there?

Thank you all. I just emailed the CSU application liaison again with the whole application downloaded to a PDF. Hopefully it will be easier to understand what my question is this time. If I don’t hear back, I will try calling CSU SLO.

I will report back if I get an answer. Thank you for your help!

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Cal Poly SLO replied that they would re-calculate GPA and not use the GPA from Cal State Apply. I have not heard back from CSU application liaison.

By playing with the A-G matching, I figured out what’s causing the variance. Cal State Apply calculates GPA correctly for grades earned in high schools, taking only grades earned after 9th grade. But for grades earned in Dual Enrollment, the Cal State Apply system includes grades earned in 9th grade.

In my daughter’s case, instead of

((16+8x2+3x2)x4+8)/(16+8x2+3*2)=160/38=4.21

Cal State Apply added 4 DE courses from 9th grade, so the calculation becomes

((16+12x2+3x2)x4+8)/(16+12x2+3*2)=192/46=4.17

I sent another email to CSU application liaison. Not sure if they will respond.

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Cal Poly SLO does not use the CSU GPA calculation since they include all 9th a-g course grades along with 10th and 11th.

The rest of the CSU’s calculate their GPA based on 10-11th a-g course grades. Interesting that the 9th grader DE courses are being calculated into the CSU GPA.