Chances for UCs and CSUs

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Here are my son’s stats:

  • 3.08 GPA
  • SAT: 1280 (690 Read/Write; 590 Math)
  • No AP or Honors classes
  • No special projects, no focus in senior year program of study, no EPP
  • Some community volunteer work (e.g., Operation Gratitude)
  • Extracurricular activities include Jr. State of America; member of a rock band
  • Looking to major in Business
  • California resident

UCs: Riverside, UCMerced, UCDavis, Santa Cruz

CSUs: SDSU, SJSU, Long Beach State, Cal Poly Pomona, CSFullerton, San Francisco State, Sonoma State.

What are his chances? Wondering if it’s even worth applying to the UCs. Thoughts / Feedback??

2

CSU’s admit by Eligibility index (EI) and major. (CSU GPA x800) + (SAT Math + CR)
Your son’s EI is 3745.

For SDSU, he needs around a 4100 to be competitive so a Reach
For CSULB, he needs around 3900 to be competitive so a Reach
For Cal Poly Pomona and Fullerton, a 3800 is competitive so High Match-Low Reach
I think he is good for SFSU and Sonoma state.

For SJSU, it will depend upon which Business concentration he is interested in pursuing. Here are the EI thresholds:
Business Admin. - Accounting: 4450
Business Admin. - Accounting Info Syst: 3400
Business Admin. - Business Analytics: 3200
Business Admin. - Corporate Accounting Finance: 3500
Business Admin. - Entrepreneurship: 3550
Business Admin. - Finance: 3450
Business Admin. - General: 4000
Business Admin. - Global Operations Mgmt: 3200
Business Admin. - Human Resource Mgmt: 3200
Business Admin. - International Business: 3700
Business Admin. - Management: 3600
Business Admin. - Management Info Systems: 3750
Business Admin. - Marketing: 3500

For the UC’s, only UCR has a Business school which is not a direct admit until after Sophomore year.
UCSC and UCM have Business/Econ.

UC’s are also very GPA focused, so if he does not mind attending UC Merced, it will be a High Match-Low Reach but still possible.

Freshman 2015 Admits for UC GPA of 3.0-3.39:

UCM: 42%
UCR: 25%
UCSC: 10%

Good Luck to him and I would probably drop UCSC and add another Match school such as Sac State.

3

Chances are slim for UC’s even Merced which is the least competitive one. But if he has time he might as well give it a try. Probably has better chances at CSU’s especially SF and Sonoma. Too bad that CSU does not have space to talk about extracurriculars or any essays because being part of a rock band is really unique and something colleges don’t see often. If he decides to apply to UC’s he should definitely write an essay about that. Also consider community college and transfer, because this saves a lot of money and he will have a good chance of getting into top tier UC’s if he keeps his grades up. Good Luck!

4

SJSU past EI thresholds are listed here:
2016: http://www.sjsu.edu/admissions/impaction/impactionresultsfreshmen/index.html
2012-2015: http://info.sjsu.edu/static/admission/impaction.html

5

add Sac State to your list.