There is a catch, though. In order to provide small classes the CSU schools rely on adjunct faculty. In urban areas that can be a bit of an issue, not the least for the instructor, who may be teaching a class at CSUN and more at local CC’s in order to put together a living. The adjuncts can be top notch, though.
CSU may provide the mix of opportunities, size, location, and cost that works for her.
Really appreciating the spitballin’ and brainstorming here. Already some programs we are learning about for the first time that can be researched further. The semester is finishing soon and once finals and work is in research can start.
Question about figuring out GPA: due to various factors, my kid is taking more dual enrollment courses than AP classes at the high school. Did one AP class sophomore year, AP Spanish (scored 5 on the test).
This year (junior year) AP Psychology is on the schedule. But the school no longer offers AP Calc, AP Art History, and AP English is instead being taken as two dual enrollment courses in English Language and Composition (Eng 101 and 205).
Scheduled AP tests in May: Calc BC, Eng Lang/Comp, Art History, Psych.
I’ve read that AP courses count as a 1 and dual enrollment courses count as a 0.5 when calculating GPA. That true? And how does that work if not taking an AP class at school (Calc/Art not offered, but English Lang/Comp is) but still taking the AP test in May?
UCs and CSUs count college and AP courses as honors with +1 (and CSUs count a college semester like two high school semesters). Both calculate GPA over 10th-11th grade courses and have a cap of 8 semesters of honors +1 points (UC also calculated unweighted and weighted uncapped).
Other colleges may use different methods if they recalculate GPA.
Guess we’ll just have to see how the GPA is calculated at the high school. And then see how prospective colleges/universities calculate it.
Since there ultimately might be a somewhat large list of schools, would it be best to aim to have all applications in by 1 November? First, to try and access any merit that might be offered (I understand that this can go quickly). Second, to try and apply to any scholarships within the school that may be offered. Again, we are just starting to figure out this financial component of the application puzzle.
Haven’t much thoughts about ED/EA just yet. I am encouraging chasing merit/the love primarily, while also leaving room for considering the best ROI on college/program opportunities (ie. spend a bit more to get a much better educational experience).
Another consideration is letters of recommendation: should my student approach teachers now? The English teacher is retiring at the end of this year. And do they have to customize their letters differently for CA apps versus out of state?
California public universities generally do not use recommendations.
UCB does ask some applicants to send optional recommendations after they apply, though it sounds like these are commonly reused from recommendations written for other college applications if other colleges were applied to.
Yes, the student considering colleges that use recommendations should approach teachers now, if getting recommendations is a free-for-all. Some teachers get overloaded with requests and may refuse if asked later on. If the school has some sort of procedure for requesting recommendations (in order to distribute them and avoid overloading any particular teacher), find out early how this is done and don’t miss deadlines. Occasionally, there are threads from students complaining about recommendation rationing.
California public universities share an end-of-November deadline, and do not have EA or ED. There is no advantage to applying earlier than about a week before the deadline (the closer to the deadline, the most likely you will run into overloaded computer system problems as most of the applicants try to submit at 11:59:59 PM on the last day).
Other colleges vary. There may be ways where applying earlier is advantageous – check their web sites for applicable deadlines:
Early action (EA, non-binding): some colleges fill up their classes or popular majors in EA, so later applicants face higher selectivity.
Restricted early action (REA, non-binding): student agrees not to use some other colleges’ EA or ED applications; details vary by college.
Early decision (ED, binding): only suitable for clear top choice which is affordable. Student agrees to attend if admitted. Shows a high level of interest, which is considered by some colleges in admission.
Rolling: best to apply as early as possible, since the college or popular majors become more selective later as they fill up.
Early deadline for scholarships: obviously, the scholarship is only available if applying by the scholarship deadline. There may be some colleges where earlier applicants (even within the time range before the scholarship deadline) are more likely to get scholarships.