Chances of getting into a UC/CSU

I recently submitted my applications for CSU & UCs and was wondering what my chances are of getting into each of them with my major. I already have a general idea of where I’m going to get rejected and accepted into based on my academic profile, but I just wanted some better insight into them and see what my chances are. (I know there are other factors like my essays/PIQs but based off just this I wanna see what my chances are)

UC GPA (W): 3.727
CSU GPA (W): 3.87
ACT/SAT: n/a
-did not submit AP scores, around 6 activities & awards (most notably from UC Berkeley ATDP Program for 2 years & OneGoal for 2 years)

Here are the UCs and CSUs I applied to and my “guess” of if I’m going to get accepted or not:

  • UC Berkeley (Engineering Undeclared) (<5% chance, kinda applied as a joke lol)
  • UC Irvine (Information & CS Undeclared) (<15% chance)
  • UC San Diego (Undeclared) (<20% chance)
  • UC Davis (Physical Sciences Undeclared) (<30% chance)
  • UC Santa Cruz (Computer Engineering B.S.) (<50% chance)
  • San Jose State University (Computer Engineering) (<30% chance)
  • California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Computer Engineering) (<30% chance)
  • San Francisco State University (Computer Science) (<80% chance/safe)
  • California State University, Los Angeles (Computer Science) (<80% chance)
  • California State University, East Bay (Computer Science) (safe)

Here is some UC admit data for 2020. Competitive majors will have lower admit rates and require higher stats.

Which CSU is your local CSU? East Bay?

2020 Freshman admit rates for UC GPA of 3.40-3.79 capped weighted and not major specific:

UCB: 2%

UCLA: 1%

UCSD: 8%

UCSB: 9%

UCI: 9%

UCD: 17%

UCSC: 59%

UCR: 65%

UCM: 95%

So based on the admit rates, all the UC’s on your list are either Reach or Low Reach schools.

SJSU admits by an impaction index so you can calculate your index and compare with the thresholds for last year’s CE admits which was 3800.

Also one question, usually your CSU and UC Capped weighted GPA are the same unless you took DE/CC courses?

Did you use the RogerHub calculator to determine all 3 of your UC GPA’s? How is your HS course rigor since you stated you did not report AP scores?

https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/

For the Cal states: SFSU, CSUEB are likely. CSULA if not local is probably a Match. Cal Poly Pomona would be a High Match/Low Reach.

Best of luck.

Ah, I see, and yeah my local CSU is East Bay and according to my school counselor, we’re guaranteed admission as long as we meet the CSU 2.5 GPA threshold.

Interesting, so the average admit index was 3800? I used the calculations they provided on the website and it seems a bit off. Like, you would need to be above a 5.0GPA to hit the 3800 index. My index is sitting at a 3176 so I’m not too sure how that would translate into acceptance rates.

Yeah typically they should be the same and I was confused as well that they were different but I think it’s just because that CSU’s take into account the +'s and ='s when calculating GPA whereas UCs do not. I also took 2 college-prep courses (at UC Berkeley’s summer ATDP program) and one of them was UC honors designated/weighted, so that bumped up my GPA quite a bit too but I’m not sure why my CSU GPA is higher.

The two courses I took in particular:
-Elements of Web Design (G) (Full year course) A x2
-Web Development (C-III/G) (Half-year course) (UC Honors Designated) A

I used this calculator: winningivyprep/uc-gpa-calculator
and my HS course rigor is I guess average? I took AP World History my sophomore year, AP Comp Sci A my junior year, and AP Comp Sci P, Gov, and Lang this year. I chose not to report the scores, because I uh didn’t pass those two exams, but did recieve A/Bs in those classes.

There is a modified impaction index for Engineering so you need to calculate your Math GPA x400 and add to the standard index.

CSU’s do not consider + or - in their GPA calculation although they allow you to report them. Usually the difference is DE or CC classes which are counted twice in the CSU calculation.

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with a 3.9ish UC CPA, all of the UCs except UCR and UCM are going to be reaches.

As for CSUs, You have a good shot at CPP. SF, LA and East bay are highly likely to take you. I’d add Chico as a highly residential option with a very solid rep - and Sac as a good program with a lower cost of living.

good luck

Recalculate your HS GPA with GPA Calculator for the University of California – RogerHub . Use the weighted capped version for the table below.

Fall 2020 admission rates by campus and HS GPA range from Freshman fall admissions summary | University of California :

Campus 4.20+ 3.80-4.19 3.40-3.79 3.00-3.39
Berkeley 37% 14% 2% 1%
Davis 86% 55% 16% 7%
Irvine 60% 38% 9% 1%
Los Angeles 38% 8% 1% 1%
Merced 98% 97% 95% 88%
Riverside 97% 90% 65% 30%
San Diego 78% 39% 8% 1%
Santa Barbara 81% 40% 9% 2%
Santa Cruz 92% 82% 59% 26%

These are for the whole campus. Different divisions or majors may have different levels selectivity (usually, engineering and computer science majors are more selective).

SFSU is not campus impacted, and CS is not an impacted major there, so minimum CSU requirements should result in admission: Impaction | Future Students

CSUEB describes its admission procedure at California Residents and CA High School Graduates . As a local area applicant, you need a CSUEB index of 2000 or higher. The basic CSUEB index is GPA * 800, which should be easily over 2000 for you. CS is not an impacted major at CSUEB.

Well I did include Photography Beginners in my CSU application (which is a CC course offered at my high school) so that’s probably why it made a different between my UC and CSU GPAs?

ah thanks, looks like sfsu will probably be my safest bet then

Yeah I figured, UCs are highly competitive not just nationwide, but worldwide (with UC Berkeley & UCLA) so my chances of getting in with my current academic profile is ehh. I think I’m banking on getting into a good CSU though honestly at this point it’s whatever, like it would certainly be nice to get into a good UC/CSU but even if I don’t it’s not the end of the world haha.

and thanks haha, I think most likely I’ll stay where I am (Bay Area) and go local-ish but still move out on campus and around San Francisco.

Ah I see, I fall into the 3.40-3.79 GPA range. Thanks for providing me with the table.

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