Are essays and letters of recommendation required to apply to California state universities?
No essay, no letters of req for any of the CSUs - they simply rank applicants numerically based on an index derived from your CSU GPA and SAT/ACT. Cal Poly Slo uses a different formula that is a little broader.in scope but, still doesn’t include essays and letters of req.
They rank applicants by Index, then accept them until all the seats are full.
Of course you must also need to have completed the a-g course list.
You need to calculate your EI (Eligibility index) using your CSU GPA and SAT or ACT scores. You are then ranked by major and EI and CSU’s start accepting from the top down. You have priority at your local CSU, so a lower EI will generally get you into that particular CSU.
CSU/UC GPA? https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/
A-G course requirements by California HS: https://hs-articulation.ucop.edu/agcourselist#/list/search/institution
EI= (CSU GPA x800) + (SAT Math+ CR) or (CSU GPA x200) + (ACT composite x10).
Post your EI and possible CSU targets if you want more information.
Link to determine local CSU: http://www.calstate.edu/sas/onestopkiosk/documents/CSULocalAdmission-ServiceAreas.pdf