Do CSUs other than Cal Poly SLO take extracurriculars into account for admission decisions? Do they just admit by the eligibility index?
EC’s are not considered by any of the CSU’s. You are ranked by your EI and major. Local in-service area applicants get priority with exception of SLO and SDSU. You can check the common dataset for each CSU of interest to see what they consider important in the admission process.
Ok thanks. I also have another question for you since you are very knowledgeable about the CSUs haha. Do the CSUs superscore the SAT? Like a student submits their best math section and their best reading section?
The CSU’s do superscore the SAT and ACT. You will self report all scores and corresponding dates on your CSU application, send official scores to the schools and the schools will superscore the tests.
ok. Just wondering, but do you know about what the eligibility index cutoff is for Chico State? I live out of the local service area, but in California if that matters. I found this PDF, but i dont know if it is accurate/current, or if they included their local service area admits in the average admitted EI. (since the EI cutoff is low for students in the local area) https://www.csuchico.edu/admissions/_assets/documents/admissions_profile_flyer_2018_english.pdf
In the past around an EI of 3700+ was competitive for Chico state. Since they do not list an average EI or specific EI thresholds for each major, I like to use the campus wide CSU GPA and test scores for a target EI.
So average CSU GPA for 2018 was 3.45 and SAT was 1032 so an EI of 3792.
Their website says that “Selecting an impacted major will not affect an applicant’s chances of being admitted to Chico State” so I think that they use one EI for everybody? But my major (CS) isnt even impacted so it really doesnt matter for me. When it comes time to apply I should have an EI of at least 4000 so I think i’ll be fine. Thanks!
We talked with Chico admissions when we were there for an event a few months ago - they confirmed they do not admit by major (other than a few I think, such as nursing and recording arts, if I remember correctly). My son was accepted into Computer Science - gpa 3.5, SAT 1270, so an EI of 4070.
@rywilbo - We have been to Chico each of the past two years for tours/prospective student events and were told by admissions that the EI cut-off for non-local California residents for the Fall 2017 application cycle was 3450, and for Fall 2018 was 3550 so it is definitely showing an upward trend. They do not currently admit by major but did indicate that in the future (maybe for Fall 2020?) they will start having different/higher requirements for some of the engineering/computer science majors. I have also seen the pdf you linked above, and according to those statistics the average admitted EI for Fall 2018 was 3955 (based on a 3.55 gpa and 1115 SAT) - makes sense that some students with higher and lower EI’s would have been admitted since that is the average.
@nocal1 Ok thanks that is very helpful. I think that even if they raise the EI cutoff for CS I should be ok, as my EI will probably be at least 4050 (my guess is that it’ll probably be raised to like 3650-3700 or something around there?), and I will be applying fall 2019 not 2020. Where did you hear about this? I’m going to visit Chico soon so maybe ill ask an admissions officer some questions. They havent said anything online or on the CSU impaction webpage about CS being impacted for chico so I hope it isnt impacted fall this year when I apply. Thanks!
@nocal1 Also, when you say Fall 2018 was 3550, are you talking about the current admissions, like the high school kids who applied to chico in fall 2018 and are currently being accepted?
@rywilbo - Fall 2018 meaning students who applied to start at Chico in Fall 2018 
At this point/until they have notified all applicants in the current application cycle for Fall 2019, they (Chico) will not know exactly what the EI cut-off will be this year. They don’t determine the cut-off in advance, it just depends on the applicant pool each year - and they admit EI’s starting at the top with the highest EI’s and keep admitting students on a rolling basis each week until they have their desired number of admits. However, your EI of over 4000 is well above the low end from last year so it doesn’t seem like you would have any problem being admitted (assuming you met all of the requirements, etc.). Definitely ask questions when you visit. Everyone there is extremely helpful. Good luck and please post your results when you find them out!
@nocal1 I actually emailed the admissions office and asked if CS will be impacted by the time I apply later this year and they replied with “Computer Science isn’t an impacted major at Chico State. We only have three majors that are impacted, Recording Arts, Nursing and Social Work.” which doesnt really answer my question but i would assume that they would have told me if CS will be impacted next year, so i guess it probably wont be. I will be sure to post my results next year after I apply. Thanks!
i agree -with an EI around 4000, you shouldn’t have any trouble getting into any program at Chico other than nursing.
That said, EI thresholds at many of the CSUs rise a bit every year so, you should also apply elsewhere. Depending what you are looking for, Sac, SF would be good back-ups
good luck