Chances for CSULB & CSU Fullerton

  • Applied for Fall 2020 as a California non-local transfer student
  • Major: Studio Art
  • Getting AA-T in Studio Art
  • GPA: Will probably be 3.41 after fall 2019, but the CSU campuses will calculate it as 3.51 because of AA-T
  • Golden 4 Done: A, B, B, C
  • Lower-Div Major Core Done: 4.0 gpa in the major

Situation: I’m an independent college counselor working with a student who will likely get a D in his science class this semester. All grades throughout college have been A’s and B’s, except for one C in Math and now this unfortunate D expected in science, which is bringing down the gpa. Will likely NOT retake the class to boost the grade because admission decisions will be in before spring grades come out, and on top of that, not sure if the grade would be better if the class is taken again. It would also make it difficult to take the other classes needed to graduate this spring.

Given the above, trying to get a sense of his admission chances at CSULB and CSUF. I know that not being local is challenging already - will this D pretty much rule-out getting into these schools? I would especially love to hear from other non-local transfers with similar gpa / similar situations who applied last year to get a sense of whether they were accepted or declined. Info online about the non-local gpa cutoff for CSUF was 3.5 in 2019, but I’m not sure if having a D would make the school automatically downgrade the applicant. Info on CSULB non-local gpa cutoff doesn’t seem to be available online at all, so I’m looking for anecdotal evidence of his chances. Their average accepted transfer gpa is 3.3 but that includes local transfers so it’s not a helpful stat.

if its a required class, I think the D will keep him out of both. If he’s got a re-take in process, they could go the other way.

be sure he applies to a non-impacted (or lower threshold) campus.