HELP: What are Cal States really considering? Student with Average GPA & SAT / ACT Score

State Forums
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<p>Here's the basics:</p>

<p>Current location: Long Beach, California (student)
GPA (Unweighted/Weighted): 3.5/ 3.7
SAT Score: 1560 (first time without studying, will take the October test soon)
ACT Score: 21 (first time without studying, will take the October test soon)
AP Classes:
1.World History - 3
2.Bio - 2
3. US History - 2
4. English Comp - 3
5. Macroecon - currently taking
6. Government - currently taking
7. Literature - currently taking
8. Statistics - currently taking
9. French - currently taking
10. Psychology - currently taking </p>

<p>NOTE: Got 3 C's in total on my transcript.
Sophmore Year: Algebra II (1st Semester)
Junior Year: Functions and Trig (1st Semester) & US History (2nd Semester)</p>

<p>//Extra Curr. (counting this year)
1000+ Hours at an aquarium for 4 years
- 2 leadership roles earned
Volunteered at my Catholic Church for 4 years
- Sunday School aide</p>

<p>//Campus Involvement (counting this year)
+Key Club - 4 years
Events Coordinator for 2 years
+California State Federation 3 years
Secretary for 2 years
+Filipino Club - 2 years
Vice President for 1 year
+French Club - 1 year (current)<br>
Secretary for 1 year</p>

<p>*I also participated in several clubs during freshman year, but did not continue them</p>

<p>// Work Experience
Cashier for about 2 years in Fast Food Industry (part time)</p>

<p>// Personal Life
My family of 5 makes less than $20,000 a year
First Generation Student
Clinically "depressed" (attended therapy, visited mental facilities during my junior year frequently for suicide)</p>

<p>College Goal : Get into a Cal State. I won't apply to UC's due to finances and I don't really stand a chance. I will attempt to apply to privates later on.
Top Interests:
1. San Fran State
2. CSU Monterey Bay
3. CSU Chico
4. Humboldt
5. CSU Long Beach (already have shown interest since they come to my school so often)
6. University of SF
7. Pepperdine (dream school, I know I am not going to get in) </p>

<p>I am really concerned that I might not get into a Cal State. San Fran is my top school due to it's location and for the college itself. I have done Parchment and Cappex chances, it states that I have a high chance of getting it due to my EI, but I know they are unreliable. </p>

<p>I am the most anxious and indenial person... so I just need someone to help judge if I would be a good match for any of the colleges above. I know they don't care about EC, but like I was hoping that would be a cushion for me to make up for my grades. I also plan to sign up for EOP. I have no idea what they're looking for. Is it really only about the numbers they see or...? </p>

<p>Thanks for the help! </p>

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<p>For CSUs, you MUST complete the required a-g courses. If you miss a semester of any requirement - you will be rejected.<br>
Then the CSU system uses a simple index to rank applicants. Read about it here:
<a href=“Cal State Apply | CSU”>Cal State Apply | CSU;
They use a modified GPA (academic ‘a-g’ courses - 10/11 grades, drop +/- and cap AP bonus pts at 8 semsters) (Most people lose .2 to .5 because PE etc are exuded. ) and only include M&R parts of the SAT. They multiply CSU GPA by 800 and add your SAT. The simply stack rank applicants and draw the line when the chairs are full so, the threshold bounces around a bit year to year. Some campuses have supplemental requirements and elevated thresholds for really popular majors. (Nursing at Long Beach for example). Local applicant are also given preference (typically a lower threshold) </p>

<p>Use the tools on CSU Mentor to calculate your index but, given the info above, here’s a rough cut at it. </p>

<p>Assuming you’ve got a 3.5 CSU GPA and 1060 M&R SAT.</p>

<p>(3.5*800)+M&R SAT = 2800+1060 = 3860</p>

<p>Here’s a rough cut at the CSU Index threshold for the schools you .

  1. San Fran State - 3300
  2. CSU Monterey Bay - 2900
  3. CSU Chico - 3700
  4. Humboldt - 3400
  5. CSU Long Beach - 3800 (sounds like it’s local so, your threshold will be much lower) </p>

<p>I think you’ll make it into USF but not Pepperdine. Another crack at the SAT/ACT might change that outcome. </p>

<p>You’ve got a really tough Sr schedule - keep your grades up - Cs or better in all classes is a must. Many people get their acceptance rescinded because of Ds in required a-g courses during Sr year. </p>

<p>Good luck. </p>

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<p>@NCalRent‌ </p>

<p>Where did you get the IEsfor the cal states? Would these numbers vary if I apply for an impact major? </p>

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<p>Good question… They come from a couple of years researching campuses with and for my kids. The thresholds do bounce around year to year based on applicant pool but a variation of more than 100 would be high. </p>

<p>SJSU is the only campus I know of that has discreet threshold for every major. They publish the prior years here:
<a href=“http://info.sjsu.edu/web-dbgen/narr/admission/rec-10079.8499.html”>http://info.sjsu.edu/web-dbgen/narr/admission/rec-10079.8499.html&lt;/a&gt;
The variations are a bit shocking Look at Chemistry 4000 and Chemical Engineering 2900</p>

<p>SLO also uses ‘college’ (a little broader than major) to group admission thresholds.</p>

<p>Most of the other campuses break out a couple of majors (CS at SDSU, Nursing @ Sonoma, Aerospace Engineering @ CPP) and establish a special thresholds - they are usually well spelled out on the school web page like this:
<a href=“http://www.csupomona.edu/~admissions/advising/impacted-majors.shtml”>http://www.csupomona.edu/~admissions/advising/impacted-majors.shtml&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Most majors at most campuses are stirred together and stack ranked. There might be some minor variations by major due to unexpected demand but, those thresholds should give you a good feel for what the school expects. The process they’ll use this year. Accumulate most of the applications - Pick a round number that history suggests is about right. They decline those well under and accept those well over. The ones close to the line wait are held until the exact cut off is known. Wait lists are used by some schools to fill every last seat. </p>

<p>Some of my info, like Chico and Humboldt came from admissions counselors at the schools after campus tours. My son was waitlisted at Long Beach with a 3760. Monterrey isn’t impacted so, they still use the state min EI of 2900 across the board. Others come from years of paying attention. </p>

<p>Sonoma is about 3300 and SDSU is about 4100 (both validated by admissions directly) </p>

<p>Another way to validate your viabilty at a school is look at the average GPA and SAT reported in the school’s common data set. This one is for SF State - <a href=“http://air.sfsu.edu/sites/sites7.sfsu.edu.air/files/cds/CDS_2013-2014_4.pdf”>http://air.sfsu.edu/sites/sites7.sfsu.edu.air/files/cds/CDS_2013-2014_4.pdf&lt;/a&gt;
Pages 7-8 show you the SAT and GPA of incoming freshmen last year. 3.2 and about 1000 SAT. (EI 3560) Lots of people were admitted with lower stats - suggesting you are in good shape there. </p>

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<p>Due to your family finances, you should consider Long Beach CC too, and their transfer program. You can work your first 2-3 years to save up for junior and senior years at a CSU.</p>

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<p>You have a good chance all the schools except Pepperdine. You need a better SAT/ACT score for Pepperdine.</p>

<p>Humboldt/SFSU/CSUMB: Match
Chico State/USF/CSULB: High Match
Pepperdine: Low Reach</p>

<p>@NCalRent gave you really good information regarding the EI. Use it to your advantage and Good Luck with your tests.</p>

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<p>@NCalRent, is the 4100 EI for SDSU for impacted majors? Thanks.</p>

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<p>@AlbionGirl: EI of 4100 is a good guideline for all STEM majors such as Engineering, CS, Nursing etc… Since SDSU does not publish their EI, it is good estimate based on previous year Stats of these type of majors. My younger son, currently at SDSU for CS, had a EI of 4202 for SAT and ACT was 1056. His ACT was much higher than SAT and was accepted while a few of his classmates (Engineering majors) had EI’s of less than 4000 and were waitlisted or rejected. </p>

<p>If you check the link NCalRent posted for SJSU, you can get an idea of the EI thresholds since SJSU has many impacted majors which are comparable to SDSU. </p>

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<p>Thanks Gumbymom. Does anyone know approximately what the EI would be for Business Administration?</p>

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<p>A lot of this info is so useful!!! So much more info than my counselors could give me haha.</p>

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<p>Biz at SDSU is really competitive - 4100 is a fair threshold. It could be a little higher or lower this year but, an ap with all a-g work complete and a 4100 EI will 99.9% be accepted.<br>
Good luck.</p>

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<p>Thanks NCalRent!</p>

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</p>

<p>SJSU appears to be the only one that publishes the admission thresholds after running the admissions cycle (of course, this year’s threshold may differ from last year’s thresholds).</p>

<p>It is entirely possible that other CSUs have per-major thresholds, depending on how impacted each major is. However, the relative impaction of different majors may vary, since the popularity of a given major and its capacity may both vary from campus to campus. For example, computer science was the most impacted major at SJSU in the admission cycle for fall 2014, but was a non-impacted major at some other CSUs with have some impacted majors.</p>

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<p>@ucbalumnus‌ @NCalRent‌ Are you guaranteed a spot if you’re above or meet the Eligibility index? I want to study Child Development or Psych at SFSU (my first choice school), or whatever Cal State that will take me. Currently my EI is around 3860, but I will take my 2nd SAT this Saturday which I feel very confident about that can push my EI number to at least 3950 or above. I didn’t study at all for my first SAT and guessed on it (which now I’ve been told damages your score). I took classes over the summer and have been currently studying. </p>

<p>To add, I’m already guaranteed a spot at Cal State Long Beach because if you’re a local, the eligibility index for a guaranteed spot is 3200. I know it’s a good school but I didn’t function very well in my high school, and the majority of my classmates will end up there. Socially, I don’t think I’ll feel very comfortable. There’s other reasons, but that’s probably the main one. </p>

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<p>@psychstudent15: You will be fine for SFSU with your EI.</p>

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<p>You will be admitted to SFSU, but as a pre-major (for either Child Development or Psychology) which does not guarantee admission to the major. You will have to apply to your major before junior year. Both are impacted. <a href=“http://www.sfsu.edu/future/apply/impacted.html#cad”>http://www.sfsu.edu/future/apply/impacted.html#cad&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>@psychstudent15 There aren’t really guarantees but, you should be fine - as long as you’ve completed your a-g and are calculating your EI correctly.</p>