Getting into college in CA with low gpa (computer science)

State Forums
1

My son is a high school sophomore and his current weighted GPA is 3.7. He had a very bad first semester this year and his grade dropped down. His UW GPA is 3.3 including 9th grade. 4 honors classes. With our school schedule and course prerequisites his gpa will not be better than 3.4 uw and 4 w and I am talking about high school gpa.
He usually scores pretty well on standardized tests. He dedicates a lot of time to two extra curriculars (including one competetive performing art on state imand international level).
What colleges with decent computer science department might accept him? He prefers to stay in CA.

2

If he wants to stay in California, I would target the Cal States and UC’s. Cal States and UC’s only use 10-11th grades and have their own weighting scale. Many of the Honors classes unless UC approved will not give him the GPA boost. Here is a list of approved honors classes for each CA HS: https://hs-articulation.ucop.edu/agcourselist#/list/search/institution

Also here is the CSU/UC GPA calculator: https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/

Cal States admit by eligibility index and major.

(CSU GPA x800) + (SAT Math + CR) or (CSU GPA x 200) + (ACT comp x10). EC’s are not considered.
The higher test scores can make up for a lower GPA.

UC’s will consider his EC’s and International competitions will help but will not make up for a lower GPA.

Not knowing his GPA by end of Junior year or test scores yet, these are some of the schools I would target and research until all his Stats are available.

UC’s:
UC Merced/Santa Cruz and Riverside

Cal States:
San Jose (may consider Software Engineering since it is an easier admit)
San Diego State
Cal Poly Pomona
Long Beach
Fullerton
East Bay (great job prospects due to proximity to Silicon Valley)

Good Luck to him and at the end of Junior year come back with his Stats and repost.

3

Thanks a lot! His top schools are actually UCSC and SUSD. Actually, he was going to apply to all those schools you listed.
He is planning to take a few computer science classes in a local CC. Would it help his admission if he does well in those classes?

4

CC courses will give him the extra Honors points boost along with increased HS course rigor, so yes if he does well, it will help. My youngest son is a CS major at SDSU and most of the schools on the list I gave are the same schools he applied with a similar GPA as your son’s.

5

It helps a lot! Thank you!