Agreed!
There is no disadvantage to the applicant. Rightly or wrongly (wrongly in my eyes, because I hate rankings) there is a disadvantage to the institution. It would reduce the number of applicants, thus reducing the selectivity and impacting their rank.
Admission rate is 0% of the USNWR ranking methodology: https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/ranking-criteria-and-weights . So adding more āno hopeā applicants does nothing to help the collegeās USNWR rank.
Thatās a change with the new methodology. Canāt blame that then. Obviously there is SOME reason, valid or not, since SJSUās approach is by far the exception to the rule.
@eyemgh Thanks for all the helpful information. Since you applied OOS, I have a questionā¦
For OOS schools, if a 9th grade class was Honors - say English 1 Honors or Biology Honors, should that be indicated on the 9th grade Coursework as āHonorsā?
That is what it reads on the transcript from public HS in another state.
However, I read something saying English 1 - and I think even Biology 1 - does not get āHonorsā in the CA a-g system.
DS switched to a CA (private) school, so the 11th and 12th grade courses populated automatically when I started typing them.
Thanks!! 
@sunnyschool: Only AP and IB courses are considered āhonorsā as an OOS applicant and for the CP GPA calculation, these courses have to be taken 10-11th grades only. 9th grades are used in the GPA calculation but no honors points are awarded.
Thanks for the quick response @Gumbymom ! OK so should DS still list the course as indicated on the transcript:
English 1 Honors then choose Honors from pulldown menu
Biology 1 Honors then choose Honors from pulldown menu
and assume the system is not weighting the classes?
OR - is the OOS applicant supposed to know this and just list the courses as:
English 1
Biology 1
?
Thanks!
@sunnyschool: I would list as it shows on the transcript as English Honors and Biology Honors and the system should know that these classes will not be weighted but do not use the drop down.
This is from the Cal state apply:
Honors dropdown used for:
Approved Honors Course, eligible for an additional point to your GPA calculation
OK thank you!!
Sorry one more question ā¦
proofing the application, and cannot find where the ECās and Work were entered.
Anyone know what page that is on? Or in which section?
Hmmā¦couldnāt proof the activities section, but when we pulled up the PDF, the info is there. Moral of story in case it helps othersā¦donāt make any errors on that page, it may not allow modifications!
Do you believe Cal Poly will use the 2018 ACT/SAT concordance tables for the applicants who took ACT? The updated tables have slightly higher SAT equivalents.
I have a question about GPA and MCA calculation. In the very first reply on this thread, @Gumbymom mentioned that the GPA used for MCA calculation is capped at 4.2. Does this mean, for purposes of MCA, Cal Poly uses the lower of 4.2 and the calculated GPA where the calculated GPA is uncapped with respect points for honors/AP/IB?
Or does Cal Poly cap the number of honors/AP points used in calculating GPA similar to how the UC system uses a capped GPA?
The difference can be meaningful. For instance, in the case of my son, if I cap his AP points at 4 (for four semesters AP), his GPA grade 9-11 is 4.0. But if I donāt cap the AP points, it is 4.3. If the MCA calculation caps the GPA at 4.2, then the difference between a calculated GPA of 4.0 and 4.3 is meaningful. Under the points-capped method, his MCA calculation will be .2 less than under an uncapped method. That difference is worth an additional 107 MCA pointsāwhich heāll need.
The MCA uses the lower of the GPA or 4.2 where GPA is calculated āby Cal Poly for 9th -11th grade coursework designated on the application (with honors points granted for courses designated as āhonors,ā ācollege,ā āadvanced placementā or āinternational baccalaureateā on a high school transcript, for up to eight semesters)."
The GPA used is capped at 8 semesters of honors/AP. Only consider college Prep classes (ie no PE) for 9-11 years.