Chance me for Cal Ploy SLO Software Engineer or Any Cal State/UC

Colleges and Universities A-Z California State University - GENERAL
1

Hi everyone,

I am currently a high school junior and I have taken two AP classes, but currently have 19 transferable college credit from a community college and plan to graduate with my AA degree in communications. My GPA is currently a 3.65 I have done many extracurricular programs at my high school and have not taken the SAT yet. But I am wondering if there is anything that I should be prepared for when applying and any recommendations to get into a SLO. Also if you can recommend me more colleges to apply to that will be great. I wanna be really prepared :slight_smile: thanks.

2

SLO admits by MCA points and major. You want to have an above average CP GPA (9-11th grades) capped at 8 semesters of UC approved Honors/AP/IB or DE courses taken 10-11th grades for the extra honors points.
A competitive SAT which is above the average, several hours/week of EC’s and if you have a job that is major related is very helpful. Also when filling out your CSU application, include any HS Math or Foreign language courses taken in Middle school for the course rigor points.

This is the 2018 Freshman profile for the College of Engineering.

Average CP GPA: 4.21
Average ACT: 32
Average SAT: 1481

MCA information: https://mca.netlify.com/

Aim for an MCA point score of 4700+ for Software Engineering.

Academic MCA:

The maximum GPA they will use is 4.2, even though you can have a higher calculated CP GPA. A 4.2 is worth 2250 MCA points. Thus, multiply your CP GPA by 535.7 and you’ll get your MCA points for GPA.

The next biggest thing is test scores. The odd thing, likely because they wanted it to total a nice round number, is that the max score is 1650, even though the max SAT score is 1600. Multiply the total of your best SAT CR and your best SAT math by 1.03125 to get your MCA test points. If you took the ACT, they convert and vice versa.

The third largest section is the class rigor score, worth 750 points. In this section you get zero points for meeting the minimum admission requirements and adders for more than the minimum. The bonuses in order of power are (min semesters/max total semesters/bonus per extra semester/total possible bonus): math 6/10/125/500, lab science 4/8/50/200, English 8/10/50/100, foreign language 4/8/25/100, visual performance 2/4/25/50, no bonus points for social sciences or electives. As with GPA, you can actually score higher than the maximum, but 750 is the most they will count.

Finally, work and ECs, worth 350 points. Work (hours per week/bonus): 0/0, 1-5/20, 6-10/40, 11-15/60, 16-20/80, 21+/100, add 50 points if work is major related. ECs (hours per week/bonus): 0/0, 1-5/30, 6-10/60, 11-15/90, ‪16-20/120‬, 21+/150, add 60 points for leadership role.

There are also other Non-Academic Bonus Points:

CA vet/701, Hayden Partner School/700, faculty/staff dependent/700, service area of CP/500, either parent with some or no HS, but who DIDN’T GRADUATE FROM HS/300 (per parent).

3

Are you looking specifically for a Software Engineering major vs. Computer Science? CS or SE are both impacted majors at the majority of the Cal States so the higher your CSU GPA and test scores, the better.

First calculate your UC GPA/CSU GPA using this calculator: https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/

Post UC GPA unweighted, UC Capped Weighted GPA (same as the CSU GPA) and the Fully weighted UC GPA.

Having no test scores makes it difficult to recommend any schools but I would first look at your local Cal state where you have priority.

You can look up your local CSU here: https://www2.calstate.edu/apply/freshman/documents/csulocaladmission-serviceareas.pdf

How Cal States admit:

The Cal states admit by major and eligibility index. They really only consider GPA/Test scores/Geographic location and HS course rigor. Other than Cal Poly SLO, your EC’s are not considered.

Then calculate your Eligibility index:
If you took the Redesigned SAT:
(CSU capped weighted GPA X 800) + (SAT Evidence Based Reading & Writing (EBRW) + Math Score) = Eligibility Index

Eligibility index for ACT:
(CSU capped weighted GPA X 200) + (ACT Composite x10)= Eligibility Index

**CSULB and SJSU use a modified EI for STEM/Engineering majors:
http://www.sjsu.edu/admissions/impaction/impactionresultsfreshmen/index.html

You will then be ranked based on EI and major and they accept from the top down until all spots are filled.

Since you have not test scores, it is difficult to recommend any schools currently. Based just on your GPA, for the UC’s look at UC Merced and Riverside. Under a 4.0 UC capped weighted GPA will make the rest of UC’s a difficult admit for CS/SE.