How to get in SDSU?

Hi, I would love to attend SDSU for Fall of 2017. Unfortunately, I live in Tennessee which is gonna make it harder. I have like a 3.3-3.4 CSU weighted GPA. I scored a 24 on the Act. I plan to take it again. I have taken all of the A-G courses and have very rigorous courses. I am taking the Act again next month. I plan to apply to the Geography major. Do I have a chance?

Bluntly put, your chances seem rather low especially since you are out of state. Your act is also low for SDSU, and he average CSU GPA is 3.8 ish. If you run your statistics through an eligibility index calculator, you are competitive for SDSU if you have around a 4100 EI. I’m not discouraging you from applying, but by all means, do so, but keep in mind it will be a rather difficult admit.

Okay Thank you. What minimum Act would you suggest would probably get me in there? SDSU has been my dream for 3 years

Why SDSU other than the weather?

There is absolutely no financial aid for out of state students. Can you afford $50,000/year?

Any other Cal states you would suggest? I really want to be in Southern California

SDSU’s unofficial Eligibility index threshold is around 4100 SAT/1000 ACT to be competitive. The campus as a whole is impacted meaning that every major has more applicants than spots available. With upwards to 74 ,000 applications, SDSU is a very selective CSU.

Your EI calculates out to 920 using the 3.4 CSU GPA and ACT of 24. (CSU GPA x200) + (ACT composite x10).

I think it is worth your time applying since Geography (no gurantees) is not a heavily applied major and you do have a chance for an acceptance especially if you can bump up your ACT score. For 2015, there were only 43 applicants to the Geography major and SDSU accepted 10 giving it a 26% acceptance rate.

Good Luck.

@sdsupride try CSULA, CSUSB, CSUSM, or CSUN/CSUF(that’s a little harder tho).

SDSU is only 35,000 a year. I really want to be in SDSU because of the location, Excellent school, and they have many study abroad programs

SDSU is much better than the schools in my state

Again, can your parents afford it without financial aid. And SDSU is not better than University of Tennessee.

@sdsupride: Additional costs such as books/personal items/transportation are not included in the Cost of Attendance. I am a full pay parent for my son in-state and my costs are above the COA listed for in-state students. San Diego is a very expensive place to live, so just a warning that your costs could be closer to $40K/year.

I mean they do have money saved for college. I would definetly have to take out loans my junior year. I don’t want to attend University of Tennessee. Not my atmosphere at all. I want to be somewhere socially liberal. If I go anywhere else, I will go to University of New Mexico because of the amigo scholarship.

Is CSU LA or SFSU a good school?

I would definitely consider SFSU over CSULA mainly due to location. You would have better chances at either of these schools, but if you like the San Francisco bay area, SFSU might be a good option. Just remember most of the CSU’s are known as commuter schools. Very few are residential meaning many of the students that attend will be leaving after classes daily or during the weekends. If you want a more residential college experience, look at Chico State, Monterey Bay and Sonoma State as possible options.

The mean reason why I want to attend a CSU is because I want to live in California. I heard that pretty much the only way you can land a job in California is if you attend of their universities. I really want to live in San Diego.

@sdsupride

Just curious, why do you want to live in San Diego?

  • A San Diegan

I went last year and fell in love with it. I loved the atmosphere. I went to the zoo, Mission Beach, La Jolla, and Coronado. It was such a unique and amazing city. I literally cried for days after I left

Can anyone tell me though what minimum Act score to get to have a chance? Thanks

Also another SD resident. I agree that your current stats and GPA are not looking good and, as political pressure increases to admit more California residents, you may be out of luck. You don’t have to go to school in California. There are 48 other states besides Tennessee and California.

You can only borrow so much per year. As a freshman, that is $5500 per year or $2750 per semester.

To attend SDSU you need $40K per year; that’s $160K for 4 years. Costs for OOS students have been rumored to be increasing. California is out of money and does not give out any financial aid to non-residents. You wont be able to ever get instate tuition because you are coming to California for educational purposes and the proof is in your HS transcript. It is very ill-advised to take out loans for that amount for that degree. We are in a very expensive location for cost of living. You need a car, or a place that is along the trolley line. Add transportation costs to that $40K per year.

No, you don’t have to graduate from a California school to gain employment but, I believe that a geography major in California wont work to your advantage for jobs. Where would you work? When you are a tourist, we don’t show you the realistic side of living in San Diego. That’s because the tourist trade wants your dollars. It’s not that different from California public schools.

Your current GPA is not making the cut.

SDSU has contractual agreements with local area low income SES schools, to admit local San Diego students, so those GPAs tend to bring down the average, which for SDSU was 3.69 for 75% of the applicants. SDSU is impacted, so the geography major may or MAY not admit you. (Especially if you are OOS, the preference will go to local and then in-state applicants). There were 58K freshman who applied in 2016 with 5200 who enrolled. This year there were over 80K applicants, they are continuing to finalize numbers for admittees for this year. Not a whole lot were admitted.

Find an affordable school that you would like to attend. SDSU, as an OOS public, does not appear to be worth your parents’ money.

Thanks for the info. I agree with everything you are saying. I was not planning on studying Geography. I really want to study Psychology but the major at SDSU is very impacted. I just really want to live in San Diego and I am afraid that a degree from anywhere outside California will not get me a job anywhere in San Diego