Hey yall I’m new to CC, I created an account to post this. I lived in SLO when I was little and I love it, but now I go to school in NYC (junior). I knew about Cal Poly and I toured it, and weighing all my other options I’ve essentially already decided that I want to ED to Cal Poly this year, almost certainly in [aerospace] engineering. I go to Hunter College High school, which is one of the best high schools in the country, and all of our classes are reportable as honors classes (besides AP’s), so the weighted GPA is very enticing. My current weighted GPA would be a 4.7, unweighted 3.7, not including junior year, but I’ve been getting all B range grades junior year. This probably won’t lower my GPA below the maxed out 4.2, but I don’t know how it will affect my chances or if CP admissions pay more attention to junior year grades. My ACT is 34 composite, 35 science, 33 math, 35 english. I have like 18 hrs/wk ECs from sports, and summer job in STEM education camp that will give me work hours for my field (not sure how many on average/week for 12mos, but maybe 10-15). I meet all the requirements for semesters of classes. Will being from New York or from a prestigious high school help me? Will my unweighted junior year grades kill me?
Thanks famalam B-) I know its real early but I’m stressin’
Your HS has no relevance. Your weighted Poly weighted GPA won’t be as high as your HS weighted GPA, because Poly only counts 8 semesters of honors/AP and spreads them out over three years. Unlike other CSUs and UCs they also include freshman grades. Your junior grades will hurt, but no more than any other year. Your ACT is great. That will help. Being from out of state also helps. Calculate your Poly CSU GPA and then your MCA (see post #52 in Confused About MCA) and report back. Good luck!
Thanks eyemgh. Does middle school count for extra semesters?
Recalculated GPA and calculated MCA. I got 4,713
Your MCA looks competitive but from what I understand, OOS honors courses are not given the extra honors point boost, only AP/IB or DE courses. @eyemgh correct me if I am wrong but middle school courses in Math (Algebra/Geometry) and Foreign Language would add toward the semester bonus points in these areas?
Starting with algebra, they count, even of it was taken in 7th grade. I think language does too as long as they are high school level language classes. I’d verify though. Also true on the honors vs AP/IB, I believe. Remember, those are capped at 8 semesters and the GPA as far as the MCA goes is capped at 4.2.
@Gumbymom Taken from the Cal Poly admissions website:
College prep GPA Calculated by Cal Poly for 9th -11th grade coursework designated on the application (with honors points granted for courses designated as “honors,” “college,” “advanced placement" or “international baccalaureate” on a high school transcript, for up to eight semesters).
@JJOlay: I would confirm this with admissions since SLO is a Cal State school and the rest of the Cal States will only give honors points for UC approved “honors” classes. UC approved honors classes are for in-state California students only, not OOS.
Both my son’s were in-state but not all their HS designated honors classes were UC approved so they did not receive the additional honors points.
Thanks @Gumbymom. Another question -do you know if A- and B+ are disregarded in the Cal Poly app, like in the UC apps? Are they bumped to A and B, respectively?
Also, if middle school counts for extra semesters, do you include your grades in those classes on the application? Or just list that you completed them?
You enter +/- grades on the CSU application but they do not affect the GPA calculation. The extra Middle school semesters are reported with grades on the CSU application under 8th grade according to the CSU application instructions.
http://www.calstate.edu/sas/onestopkiosk/documents/freshmaninstructions.pdf
@Gumbymom even if said semesters were in 7th grade?
If I remember correctly, my son listed both Algebra and Geometry under 8th as stated in the instructions even though he took Alebra in 7th grade.
@Gumbymom sorry for so many questions, but I have one more. Is there any verdict on whether or not the GPA is 10-11 or 9-11? And if the former, are 8 semesters of honors/ap still applicable?
GPA is 9-11 and only 8 semesters of honors are counted. That’s why CP GPAs are lower than UC GPAs. The honors are diluted over more hours.
Ok, thanks. I saw a bunch of stuff from the 2015 ED thread of people saying they used their 10-11 GPA’s so I was so I was wondering.
Hahaha another one: my mom attended Cal Poly, how many bonus MCA points does that give me?
On the CSU application, you report your CSU GPA 10-11th grades since all CSU’s except SLO use this calculation. SLO will recalculate your GPA based on the self-reported 9-11th grades, that is why you see people posting their CSU GPA not usually their CP GPA.
Sorry to hop in here, have a quick question. We will be applying next year for my daughter. I see that points are given to those, whose parents have not received a college degree. So should we check it even though we have degrees from other countries. I asked the same question in the other thread too. Thank you.