<p>Hi there
I am the parent of a high school senior with applications in at several CSUs. As most people in my position know, the CSUs use a simple formula to determine eligibility each year. (core GPA for grades 10 &11 x 800 + SAT reading and math) So, a GPA of 3.0 and a two segment SAT score of 1000 yields an index of 3400. More info and an ACT conversion here:</p>
<p>I find it really frustrating that the CSUs are so guarded with their threshold Indexes. Call or talk to an admissions counselor and it's really tough to get a straight answer to a simple question, where do you draw the line? Though lower thresholds are offered to local students and some campuses vary widely by major, the only school to post a clear table of what it takes is San Jose. </p>
<p>I thought I'd list what I've found and other could add or correct me. These aren't official numbers but, i think a pretty good representation of where they draw their lines. They all vary a bit by major - hot majors like nursing could be much higher. </p>
<p>Cal Poly SLO - uses a slightly different index but, 4000+
SDSU 4000+
Long Beach 3800
Pomona 3700
Chico 3650
Fullerton 3800
Sonoma 3300
Humboldt 3300
Fresno 3300
Northridge: 3200
SF State: 3100
Sacramento 2900
Monterey Bay 2900
San Jose - all over the place by major see this table: SJSU</a> Admission</p>
<p>I know that's only half of the list but, that's what I've found. I don't think most of the others are far from the state standard of 2900 but, would love to be proven wrong.</p>
<p>Anyone with additional or differing insight?</p>
<p>I was pretty surprised by some of the SJSU thresholds… It is really helpful to have those statistics available. My son has also applied to several CSU’s for fall 2013. I am glad he did not apply to San Jose for Computer Science, as he would have been denied. ( but he would have passed the threshold for computer engineering) After trying to research with Naviance, cappex, common data sets, and looking over some of the statistics on this board, the mystery factors of service area and major variables make it really difficult to predict admissions for a lot of the schools. I found a Fullerton impaction report which supports your findings for non-local FTF admits. How did you find the numbers for the other schools? I think publishing the cut-offs ,like San Jose does,would really help future applicants in choosing their CSU target schools more accurately. Thanks for the post!</p>
<p>[CSUMentor</a> - Plan for College - High School Students - GPA Calculator](<a href=“Cal State Apply | CSU”>Cal State Apply | CSU)
Here’s another useful link that gives detail on how the CSUs calculate your GPA (and supplies a calculator) It’s important to note, they don’t consider + or -. Non-a-g classes don’t count and they cap your AP points @ 8 (2 year long coursed sophomore and jr year). These can both have a big impact on your kid’s GPA so, use the calculator.</p>
<p>As a life long N Cal resident, the one that surprised me the most was Chico - you need a B+ average and good SAT score to get in. When did that happen? Obviously, it’s a much more competitive school than it was 20+ years ago. (it was also my favorite tour)</p>
<p>Some of the numbers above come directly from admissions counselors at the school after a perspective student tour (Chico, SDSU and Sonoma).<br>
They each said they start with a limit (SDSU’s case 4100) and quickly admit applicants well above that score. They also quickly reject kids well below or that haven’t completed the a-g requirements (i understand this is more common than you’d think) The threshold is then adjusted (typically down) to fill out the class. The closer you are to the cutoff, the longer they take to respond. I found a research paper on the Cal Poly SLO admission criteria. It’s really complex - awarding points for different courses. (i can’t find the link - it was a look at the admit criteria as predictors of academic success. The best predictor was Math SAT.)
I’ll post the link if i can find it.
The others are interpolated from a variety of sources, which is why i wanted to test them here. Glad to get the confirmation on Fullerton.</p>
<p>For non-impacted majors at non-impacted campuses, the minimum is 2900 in-state and 3502 out-of-state.</p>
<p>For impacted campuses or majors, the thresholds are determined after rank ordering the applicants and determining where the cutoff should be to admit the desired number of students. For obvious reasons, these are not known ahead of time. For SJSU, the fall 2012 thresholds can give you an idea, but may not necessarily be the same for fall 2013.</p>
<p>As the SJSU table indicates, major can make a huge difference (e.g. 2900 (3502 out-of-state) for chemical engineering versus 4000 for chemistry and 4600 for occupational therapy). It would not be surprising if such variation exists at other CSUs.</p>
<p>The big campuses get tens of thousands of applications each year. The student profile doesn’t change that much year to year. I know Chico and Sonoma have used the same ‘first cut’ number for several years in a row. SDSU’s has edged up a bit each year. I’m sure the same is true at Long Beach, Pomona and perhaps Fullerton. A year to year 50 point bump is a lot. The application window closes today. I bet all of the CSUs have known for months within 50 pts of where they will draw their line for 2013.</p>
<p>That SJSU table is really telling but, it seems to be just them. It makes their Common Data Set report almost useless. I can’t find any other campuses where the major make that much of a difference (and it’s not just one hot major). Sac State admits for most majors at the 2900 level. Nursing, however, is above 4000. Obviously, it opens them up to major arbitrage but, there are ways to manage that. I wish other schools offered similar info - they’d sure get fewer $55 apps (maybe that’s why they don’t).</p>
<p>Privates and UCs make no bones of their black box approach. I guess the fact that the CSUs use a simple numeric formula to determine eligibility is what makes me want to see it.</p>
<p>According to the application confirmation my daughter received, Sonoma State will process applications on a rolling basis (in the order received) starting December 1, 2012. There goal is to notify all applicants of an admission decision by March 15, 2013.</p>
<p>Wouldn’t it be nice to know by Christmas :)</p>
<p>But that may be because (a) no other CSU campus publishes tables like SJSU does, and (b) most other CSU campuses have only a few impacted majors, with most majors being admitted at either the CSU baseline of 2900, or a higher campus baseline based on campus impaction.</p>
<p>Perhaps Naviance scatterplots at high schools with a lot of applicants to CSUs may be informative here.</p>
<p>Regarding major arbitrage, note that CSUs may require applying to change major, at least if the destination major is impacted (SJSU requires applying for any change of major). So one shouldn’t expect to get in under a non-impacted major and then easily switch to an impacted major later.</p>
<p>A true major arbitrage situation would be where two majors have very similar courses and curricula, but one is much less impacted than the other. An example would be software engineering versus computer science at SJSU.</p>
<p>Great points, thanks! I’ve seen some self reported scatterplots but, the local admits really pollute to the pool. I’ll check and see if i can get one from just his high school.</p>
<p>I’ve also heard Chico and Sonoma will start sending admission notices soon. I too hope to hear soon.</p>
<p>Bakersfield (nursing impacted)
Channel Islands (nursing impacted)
Dominguez Hills (no impacted majors)
East Bay (business and nursing (basic) impacted)
Maritime Academy (marine transportation impacted, has physical and health requirements)
Monterey Bay (no impacted majors)
Stanislaus (nursing impacted)</p>
<p>Some campus impacted CSUs may admit local area freshmen applicants at the CSU baseline eligibility index, even though they may have higher standards otherwise.</p>