California State Universities

I’m currently a senior in high school and just like any other senior at this time of the month, I’m stressing and panicking about college applications, although I just realized that A-G classes must all be passed with a “C-” or higher, but on my official transcript I have one solid D (for one semester) in Pre-Calculus from my junior year.

My current unweighted GPA stands at a 3.41 and am currently in the midst of waiting to take my SAT’s (tomorrow morning) although I have taken various practice tests that range my score(s) between 1400 and 1550. I also, in my opinion, think that I have had enough time to study for the test. The rest of my transcript is primarily filled with A’s and B’s and only a few C’s. In addition, once I complete my four years in high school I will have taken three AP classes, all presumably passing.

For any help that I can get right now as I begin to panic yet again, I am hoping for any of you to know if my application would be considered unqualified with that one D that curses my transcript. (If legitimately considered unqualified, would there be any way to make up that class in the spring of 2016 for one semester? How will that work on my application?)

I plan to apply to three California State University colleges:

  • San Francisco State University
  • Cal State East Bay
  • San Jose State University

(I am a resident of the San Francisco Bay Area.)

Thank you all in advance. (P.S. I’m new to this site so please excuse any errors in foruming!)

From the CSU website:
https://secure.csumentor.edu/planning/high_school/subjects.asp

HOW TO MAKE UP MISSING COURSES

If you didn’t take all the required high school courses or earned D grades in some of them, you have several options to make up these courses and qualify for CSU admission.

*You can complete appropriate high school courses with a grade of C or better either in summer school or in adult school. Courses in this category must be those found on the high school or adult school UC “a-g” course lists. Some adult schools may not have a-g course lists.

*You may also complete college courses with a grade of C or better in the missing subject areas.

+Finally, you can earn an acceptable score on examinations such as the SAT subject examinations, Advanced Placement examinations, or International Baccalaureate examinations.

Did you pass AP Calculus???

The D grade will count in your GPA.

However, the minimum math requirement for CSU frosh admission is geometry and algebra 2. In addition, if the D grade in precalculus was in the first semester, but you got a C or higher in the second semester, the second semester validates the first semester.
http://www.calstate.edu/counselors/preparing/

You can calculate your GPA for CSU purposes as described at:
http://www.csumentor.edu/planning/high_school/gpa_calculator.asp

You can calculate your CSU eligibility index as described at:
http://www.csumentor.edu/planning/high_school/elig_index_calculator.asp

According to http://www.calstate.edu/sas/impactionsearch/ , CSUEB is not impacted on the campus level and not impacted for any major except for nursing. So minimum CSU eligibility should admit to non-nursing majors at CSUEB.

SJSU publishes its past thresholds by major at http://info.sjsu.edu/static/admission/impaction.html .

SFSU is impacted on the campus level and for many majors. See https://www.sfsu.edu/future/apply/impacted.html .

I passed second semester Pre-Calculus with a C, so should I be worried of being unqualified for admissions?

Thank you for the additional help and information! I really appreciate it.

The C in second semester precalculus validates the first semester. It should also validate the entire math requirement for admission to CSU. Although even if you did not have a C or higher in precalculus, having C or higher in geometry and algebra 2 would be enough to meet the math requirement.

If you intend to take calculus later, you may want to try these quizzes on precalculus material and review the areas which are not your strongest.
http://www.math.buffalo.edu/rur/rurci3.cgi
http://math.tntech.edu/e-math/placement/index.html
https://math.berkeley.edu/courses/choosing/placement-exam