I recently got my cumulative GPA from my counselor and it’s a lot lower than I expected: it’s a 3.275!!! My school grades on a weighted 4.0 scale and I’m a senior in my first quarter.
I know that it’s not the best GPA, but my test scores, though not great, are above average (27 and 1280). I’ve never aimed for top schools; I just want to go to college, any college. My common app essay is strong (writing is my forte; not sure if that will help but fyi!!!) and I have a lot of volunteer work under my belt. If it weren’t for my GPA, I like to think I’d be a strong candidate for the schools I’ve considered. On that note, for many of the schools I’m interested in, my scores are way above average or right in their range but their average GPA is much higher than mine. There isn’t much for me to do but give it my all for senior year, I know, but I would just like to know my chances.
Here are the schools I’m interested in:
CSU Long Beach
Loyola Marymount in LA, CA (a reach for me)
Pace University
San Diego State (another reach)
San Jose State
St. Edward’s
Syracuse (reach)
University of Denver
University of Portland
Intended major? CSU GPA? How many UC approved Honors/AP/IB or DE courses?
CSULB: Low Reach unless you are local
SDSU: Reach
LMU: Low Reach
SJSU: Match to a Low Reach depending upon major
How Cal States admit:
The Cal states admit by major and eligibility index. They really only consider GPA/Test scores/Geographic location and HS course rigor. Other than Cal Poly SLO, your EC’s are not considered.
You need to calculate your CSU/UC GPA using grades from a-g courses taken 10-11th.
Cal states and the majority of the UC’s use the capped weighted GPA.
Then calculate your Eligibility index:
If you took the Redesigned SAT:
(CSU capped weighted GPA X 800) + (SAT Evidence Based Reading & Writing (EBRW) + Math Score) = Eligibility Index
Eligibility index for ACT:
(CSU capped weighted GPA X 200) + (ACT Composite x10)= Eligibility Index
You will then be ranked based on EI and major and they accept from the top down until all spots are filled.
You will get priority at your local CSU which you can look up on this link. Local applicants usually require a lower EI to get an acceptance unless the program is highly impacted.