Do CSUs look at difficulty of classes taken?
What are the avg. EI for engineering courses for each CSU? (Specifically SDSU)
Yes, CSU’s look at GPA, SAT/ACT scores and HS course rigor. For Engineering/Business and any of the more competitive majors at SDSU, you want an EI of 4100+ for SAT and around 1000+ for ACT.
Other than SJSU, no other CSU publishes their EI cutoffs but if you look at posted stats and calculate EI’s, these numbers are the rule of thumb for SDSU.
For CSULB, you want a 3900-4000+
For CSUF, you want a 3800+
For Chico State, you want a 3700+
Here are the thresholds for SJSU 2015.
These thresholds will vary from year to year, depending upon how competitive the applicant pool is for that year.
http://info.sjsu.edu/web-dbgen/narr/admission/rec-10079.12651.html
Cal poly SLO is the only CSU that does not EI but MCA points. A much more complicated system and you can PM me for information on how the points are calculated.
Other than assigning AP bonus credits, CSUs don’t really consider how difficult your schedule was. You have to meet the a-g list but, that’s it.
note, too, that most CSU schools give preference to kids living in what they define as their local service area.
Take a look at the Common Dataset for SDSU under section C7.
Secondary School Rigor is considered very important.
https://asir.sdsu.edu/Documents/CommonDataSets/CDS2014_2015.pdf