Hi all, I’m new to this site so sorry if I mess anything up. I’m a junior this year and I’m looking to colleges to apply to next year. I want to major in computer science, and I’m in California.
The problem is that my GPA is awful. In my freshman and sophomore years my GPA was around the 1.5-2.5 mark, but I have a high upward trend (~1.5 GPA first term of sophomore year, up to a 3.0 in the second term, and now a 4.0 in my junior year). Even if I keep my 4.0 for the rest of this school year, I’m estimating that my GPA will be around a 2.5 by the time I apply to colleges.
Because of this I’ve considered community college, which is a great and affordable option for me, but (sorry if this is TMI) I’m transgender and my parents don’t want to let me transition. One of the main reasons I want to go to a college is because that’ll finally put me in an environment where I can transition comfortably. I’m not sure if I would be able to convince my parents to let me attend a community college away from my town, but I am aware that community college is an option and I’m trying to figure out if it would be a good one.
I’ve been looking around for colleges I could get into, but I’m really not sure what I’m doing lol. What colleges could I get into for computer science, even with my awful GPA? Here’s a bit more info if it’ll help:
~2.5 GPA, I got a 1230 on the PSAT in sophomore year (I’m confident that I could get a better score on the actual SAT, but I haven’t taken it yet)
Not from a competitive school/area
Mixed race, and fluent in English and Japanese
I would like to attend a college in a large city, or at least a coastal town. I like the ocean a lot lol
I’m in the process of teaching myself Python and I’m pretty good at Photoshop. Not sure if those count as ECs but better than nothing I guess lol
Like I’ve said, I’m also considering community college but because of my personal situation I’d prefer to attend a 4-year university. If anyone has any recommendations please let me know, thank you!
My nephew had a similar gpa and trajectory. Freshman year 1.7gpa, sophomore 2.5, junior 3.5. GPA when he applied this fall was 2.66. He is in NJ and applied EA wherever he could. He doesn’t have many ECs and no leadership roles but he did work and do some volunteering. He got a 26 on the ACT and submitted the score where he could. He hasn’t taken any APs or Honors classes until this year.
So far, he’s been accepted at the following schools:
SUNY Oswego
Rowan
Iowa State University
Ohio Northern
Penn State (Behrens)
University of Missouri-Columbia
SUNY University at Buffalo
PURDUE
University of Utah
He applied with Undecided as his major for all schools except Rowan (Bioinformatics) and Ohio Northern (Engineering.)
Several schools have said they want to see first term grades and he’s been deferred or waitlisted at a few others.
So, you can definitely get into college with your stats.
As a California resident, I would look at the Cal states especially your local CSU where you have priority and some of the non-impacted campuses for CS.
Cal states only use 10-11th grades in their GPA calculation. You can use this calculator to determine your CSU capped weighted GPA at end of Junior year.
The Cal states admit by Eligibility index (calculation using CSU capped weighted GPA and ACT/SAT test scores) however, this year they are test blind. For next year, no determination has been made if they will continue to be test blind. Having a High ACT or SAT score can compensate for a lower CSU GPA so consider prepping and trying to fit one of these tests by November of Senior year.
Below is the local service area’s for the Cal states so as a local, your campus will give you priority for admission but if CS is impacted, then the major is not guaranteed.
This link shows impacted campuses and majors, so if you target the Cal state campuses where CS is not impacted, you do have a chance at an acceptance.
Based on this years impacted matrix, CS is not impacted at Bakersfield, Channel Islands, Chico, Dominguez Hills, Humboldt, Sacramento, East Bay, Northridge, San Bernardino, San Francisco, San Marcos, Sonoma and Stanislaus, so many options.
Ithaca College is not urban or coastal but has above average transgender resources (even a voice modification program) and the acceptance rate is 73% (92% if you apply early.)
U Vermont also ranks pretty high for transgender students (67% acceptance rate).
@hinabina: What is your college budget since posters are listing a lot of out of state schools which could be expensive based on your family income? There are good options in California so you do not need to go Out of state for a solid education.
Also look into the Western University Exchange (WUE). The Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE) is an agreement among WICHE’s 16 member states and territories, through which 160+ participating public colleges and universities provide steep nonresident tuition savings for Western students.
Through WUE, eligible students can choose from hundreds of undergraduate programs outside their home state, and pay no more than 150 percent of that institution’s resident tuition rate.
Thank you for the link, I’ll look into it! As for budget, I don’t have a specific amount in mind because I haven’t asked my parents about that, so I don’t really know how financially accessible out-of-state or private colleges would be for me, but I’ll ask them about it when I can. But I do want to keep costs as low as possible as a general rule.
Each school website should have a net price calculator (NPC) to determine costs. It is an estimate but will not be accurate for business owners, divorced parents or self employed. I suggest you run the NPC’s for several schools of interest with your parents and then discuss the results with them.
Most UC web sites refer to the weighted-capped version unless otherwise stated.
CSU uses the same weighted-capped HS GPA as UC, with one exception: if you have taken transferable college courses while in high school, CSU counts each one twice, while UC counts each one once.
For CSU, California residents need a 2.5 recalculated HS GPA. This should result in admission to non-impacted majors at non-impacted campuses. If the campus is impacted or the major is impacted at the campus, the threshold will be competitively determined (each campus may have its own method).
For UC, the minimum HS GPA is 3.0, but admission is more competitive so that a 3.0 HS GPA is not that likely to result in admission.
Of these, Bakersfield, Channel Islands, Dominguez Hills, Humboldt, San Francisco, and Stanislaus are not impacted at the campus level. They are open to all CSU-eligible applicants (though impacted majors will have a higher competitively determined threshold for admission).
Chico, East Bay, Northridge, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Marcos, and Sonoma are impacted at the campus level, so they will have a competitively determined admission threshold (though if CS is not an impacted major, it will not have a higher threshold than the campus).
So based on the above link provided by @ucbalumnus, the Cal states have suspended the use of SAT/ACT scores in their admissions review for Fall 2023. GPA will be a major factor, but as outlined, there are several CSU’s that can be a good option.
Definitely get your college budget finalized before considering a list of potential colleges.
It sounds like OP likely has some Ds and/or Fs, so even though the UCs don’t use freshman grades in the GPA calculation, how would they look at those Ds/Fs? Maybe OP can confirm if there are Ds/Fs, and if they are in A-G courses.
With a predicted GPA of 2.5, the UC’s would not be possible since a 3.0 is minimum as a CA resident. I agree that if there are D’s and F’s in some a-g courses, this could be problematic especially English where 4 years is a minimum requirement for the UC’s and Cal states.
Maybe look at a community college with dorms where you can get an on campus experience. A quick google should bring up a list of options, I know there are many in CA as well as WA. Also take a look at La Verne and Whittier.
As others have noted, you must have D’s and/or F’s pulling down your GPA. Have you looked at the possibility of doing credit recovery, to replace some of those grades? This would have a more dramatic impact on your cumulative GPA than just trying to pull it up with good grades in new classes. Can you repeat classes in summer school, or through approved online credit recovery? A lot of CA school systems permit BYU Online classes to be used for this, and many are self paced, so you could churn several out over the summer and boost your GPA before submitting applications in the fall.
Humboldt State was mentioned above as a CSU that isn’t impacted for CS. Humboldt is working with the CSU Board of Trustees on a proposal to make HSU the third Cal Poly campus. I’m not sure how quickly this will happen if it goes forward… but it may be that you could get in under the current not-too-competitive admissions process, but benefit from upcoming strengthening of the curriculum and reputation (not that the reputation is poor now, but becoming a Cal Poly will elevate it further). It’s definitely not in a big city, but Arcata is a coastal town. And it’s an LGBTQ-friendly campus.
In terms of big city schools, Portland State could be worth a look. It’s a WUE school, so relatively affordable for CA students. Both the city and the university are trans-friendly, and the computer science department has a particularly strong reputation. It’s primarily a commuter school, but there is a nice residential sub-community in the dorms. You need a 3.0 GPA to be auto-admitted, but they’ll consider applications with sub-3.0 GPA’s holistically. There’s also a steady flow of transfer students from Portland Community College into PSU, and there are privately-run dorms that will take PCC students as well as PSU students, so that’s a possible pathway too.
Do investigate the possibilities for credit recovery this summer - it could really expand your options.
That’s quite a turnaround. You should be very proud.
It looks like your CSU GPA (from grades 10 and 11) is going to be in the mid 3s, so, most of the CSUs are probably open to you. One thing to check is the A-G requirements, you need to earn a C or better in all of them. You may need to re-take one or 2.
You need to chat with your parents about a budget - though CSU tuition is pretty reasonable, dorms/rent add up quickly.
For CS, I’d apply to Chico, Humboldt, Sacramento, East Bay, Northridge, Monterey, San Francisco, Sonoma and your local CSU. Assuming you’ve met the a-g requirement, they are all likely to accept you. Visit them in the coming months, do some research about cost and I am sure a choice will become clear.
Thank you all for the replies! Concerning the A-G requirements, I’m pretty confident that I meet them – I have failed A-G courses, but am currently making them up or will likely have the opportunity to in my senior year. I’m also set to talk to my counselor this week, so hopefully I would be able to figure things out more then.
CSU/UC applications are submitted in the Fall of Senior year usually by Nov 30th although the deadline was extended for this years applicants. English is a hard requirement so make sure you have 3 years of passing grades (C or higher) at time of application or it will be flagged for ineligibility and you are unable to submit. If English is a repeat course, get it completed before Senior year.