<p>Hello i'm a community college student that finished his associates degree in Math & Science, specifically Computer Science. I live in New Jersey but would like to move to California and so i was thinking about the California State University schools. Specifically i was looking at California State Fullerton and California State Polytechnic University Pomona. My GPA is only 2.5 so i don't know if it's within my reach or not. Based on collegeboard.com the GPA admittance rate gives me hope but you never know.</p>
<p>from what i’ve heard csu only accepts about 2% out of state students and with a 2.5 gpa from community college, imho it will be hard to get accepted</p>
<p>now if you were a california resident it would be a whole different story because csu accepts almost anyone with gpa of at least 2.0</p>
<p>Yeah i read about it being harder for out of state students, it really has been my dream to get into a CSU(i know a lot of people probably say that but it’s true!). Anyways thank you for the quick reply. I can only apply and see what happens =/</p>
<p>Actually, no, currently students need more than a 2.0 to transfer into a CSU. The cut-off is quite a bit higher these days for in-state students. The “minimum” listed is a hold over from the old days where kids could transfer with a 2.0 into most campuses. Some majors at campuses are changing their requirements… for example I believe journalism at SJSU raised its min. trans. gpa to 2.4 or 2.6… and realistically students needed a 2.8 to actually get in. This kind of thing is happening all over in the CSUs. Things have changed a lot in the past three years.</p>
<p>OOS with less than about a 3.5 probably shouldn’t even bother with most of the CSUs. Maybe some of the less popular campus that aren’t impacted, but no way with SFSU, SJSU, Fullerton, CalPoly, etc.</p>
<p>Put another way, a California resident (friend) with a 3.3 transfer gpa was rejected from SJSU. An OOS transfer would be in the bucket that comes AFTER that (space permitting, I think a 2% figure is probably realistic)… and it would take a looooong time before a CSU like SJSU would need to scrape down to OOS students with a 2.5 transfer. Won’t happen. </p>
<p>I’m mostly familiar with Bay Area CSUs… but any popular campus is going to be very similar. </p>
<p>Also note the CSUs admit by <em>major</em> and students compete for spots within the major… so that will come into play as well. Dig around on the web sites, much of this information is published but it does take some searching.</p>
<p>no way you are getting into Fullerton
This year if you were not in their surrounding area you had to have AT LEAST a 3.7. Remember all the CSUs look at are gpa and the area you are coming from.</p>
<p>I am assume it is the same with Cal Poly Pomona. It is because of the budget cuts and the schools want to make sure each california student has a place to go, so if you had a 2.5 and lived in their area then you would be good.</p>
<p>are the UC schools the same in terms of taking priorities of cal residents? I was also considering University of California: Merced since it is the easiest UC to get into and isn’t as picky at the moment. </p>
<p>One last thing. By surrounding areas do you mean coming from a surrounding community college or just being a resident in general? Because i was thinking of taking a year off from school and living in California just to kind of try and making it on my own.</p>
<p>Best for CSU facts.</p>
<p><a href=“Cal State Apply | CSU”>Cal State Apply | CSU;
<p>Some schools give you last years minimum admission index by major.</p>
<p><a href=“California State University-Los Angeles (CSULA, Cal State LA) History and Academics - Los Angeles, CA”>California State University-Los Angeles (CSULA, Cal State LA) History and Academics - Los Angeles, CA;
<p><a href=“http://arweb.sdsu.edu/es/admissions/res_impactedgpa.html[/url]”>http://arweb.sdsu.edu/es/admissions/res_impactedgpa.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://www.calstate.edu/SAS/impactioninfo.shtml[/url]”>http://www.calstate.edu/SAS/impactioninfo.shtml</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://dsa.csupomona.edu/admissions/ftf_impaction.asp[/url]”>http://dsa.csupomona.edu/admissions/ftf_impaction.asp</a></p>
<p>What i got out of that was:</p>
<p>*all CSU are impacted, most even at upper division. -1
*You need a 2.0 for my major at the very least and to even be considered a 2.5 +0
*^The above GPA doesn’t apply to you if you’re out of state since cal resident get priority. -1
*Transfer students get priority +1?</p>
<p>so yeah… i’m in need of some luck here xD</p>
<p>My best advice is to come up with a different transfer plan. There are a few less competitive private colleges in California that might take a 2.5 gpa transfer student, though even that would still be a bit tough. I’m thinking of places like Holy Names (Oakland), Notre Dame (Belmont) and Dominican University (San Rafael). You’d have to do further research and see if they are actually a gpa-match for you. </p>
<p>You can always do the lottery ticket approach — apply to a few of the less popular CA publics and see if you luck out… because it really is whether or not the college dips deeply into the OOS bucket. However, like a lotto ticket, those long-shot apps and fees are usually money thrown away because the odds of that happening are just too low.</p>
<p>Freshmen OOS candidates to any UC need a minimum 3.4 GPA, not sure if this holds for transfers. If it doesn’t, Merced could be a good possibility as it is under enrolled. But paying $50K/yr for Merced is not something most would do.</p>
<p>Also, how old are you? If you’re nearing 24 and can hold off until then, you can become a resident by living in CA for a year and then getting in gets easier and it’s way cheaper.</p>
<p>If OP moves to California and becomes a resident (by living here a year, working, and not going to school and any other hoops that are required) it would move him up only one bucket–and his gpa is probably still too low.</p>
<p>The CSU transfer buckets currently are</p>
<p>1: Local. Local is defined NOT by where the student lives, but which college a student took the MAJORITY of college credits. The OP would have to take 1 or 2 <em>more</em> years of classes at a California Community College (CCC) to then overcome all his prior credits. If he currently has 45 OOS credits, he would have to take 46 CCC in order to finally fit in the “Local” bucket. This Local bucket is great for students with low gpas because lately this is the one CSUs are mandated to take from quite deeply.</p>
<p>2: California Resident, Non-Local. Even this bucket needs anywhere from a 2.8 - 3.7 these days to get into many CSUs. My friend was in this bucket and refused at SJSU with a 3.3 transfer gpa. I believe an earlier post listed a 3.7 for Fullerton. At best, maybe the OP could try for this bucket, but he can <em>not</em> get into bucket #1 until the <em>majority</em> of his credits come from a CCC.</p>
<p>3: OOS.</p>
<p>As I see it, the move from bucket #3 to bucket #2 probably won’t help him at most of the CSUs. From what I am reading, the impaction problem is getting worse, not better. Next year (Fall 2011), <em>every</em> major at SJSU will be considered impacted. Thus, the school will likely fill up almost entirely from bucket #1.</p>