Currently I am a junior in California and i have a 2.5 GPA. I’ll be taking my sat in June.
What schools in California would accept a 2.5 gpa?
https://www2.calstate.edu/apply/eligibility-index/Documents/eligibility-index.pdf indicates that if you have a 2.50 HS GPA (calculated the way CSU and UC do it, see https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/ and use the weighted-capped version), you need a 950 SAT score to be CSU eligible. You do need to complete the a-g requirements listed at http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/counselors/files/csu-uc-a-g-comparison-matrix.pdf .
You can calculate your CSU eligibility index by HS_GPA * 800 + SAT. So 2.5 * 800 + 950 = 2950, which is the minimum eligibility index to be admissible to a CSU.
However, many campuses and majors at CSUs are impacted, so they cannot take all CSU eligible applicants. You can use https://www2.calstate.edu/attend/degrees-certificates-credentials/Pages/impacted-degrees.aspx to see that the following campuses are non-impacted: CSUB, CSUCI, CSUDH, CMA, HSU, SFSU, and CSUStan. This will also tell you which majors are impacted and will require a higher eligibility index than 2950.
A few CSU campuses (CSUN and SJSU) give historical admission thresholds, although they can change from one year to another.
https://www.csun.edu/admissions-records/freshman-impaction
http://www.sjsu.edu/admissions/impaction/impactionresultsfreshmen/
More information at the following link, including local areas that may give you preference to your local CSU and redirection if you get shut out of CSUs that you apply to.
https://www2.calstate.edu/attend/impaction-at-the-csu
If you are not satisfied with your CSU or other four year school options, you can start at a community college and attempt to transfer to a CSU or UC. Obviously, it would be desirable to do better in college than you did in high school so that you have more options.
Great info above - The non-impacted CSUs are probably your best target. I’d make a point of applying to a couple of them because the list does change over time.
one additional item to highlight - each CSU has a ‘local area’ where the offer some preference to applicants. (The idea is that most people shouldn’t have to move to attend a CSU) - Each of the 23 campuses now defines that a little differently. but you will note that the non-impacted schools are calling all of CA ‘local’
Not sure where you are in the state but, here’s a table that breaks down how they handle that.
https://www2.calstate.edu/apply/freshman/documents/csulocaladmission-serviceareas.pdf
Another great resource is the schools themselves. Take a tour and make an advisory appointment with whichever CSU is most convenient to you. You can bring your transcript and they will help you size up your chances, maybe even suggest classes for Sr year to maximize your chances of admission.