I am currently a high school sophomore in Los Angeles County, and I have decided that I want to major in business management when I enter college. Currently, my first semester of my sophomore year has been absolutely difficult. I will end up getting a few C’s and hope it will be the last. By the end of my junior year, I plan to have my CSU GPA to be anywhere from a 3.4-3.6 because I will be taking AP next year.
I have a few questions regarding CSULB:
How do I get into CSULB?
Does CSULB have a good business program?
What does CSULB look for in their applicants?
@smartstudent1000: All CSU’s except SLO, admit by eligibility index (EI) and major. The higher EI, the better the chances.
EI=(CSU GPA x800) + (SAT Math + CR) or (CSU GPA x200) + (ACT comp x10).
At the end of Junior year, you can calculate your CSU GPA : http://www.csumentor.edu/planning/high_school/gpa_calculator.asp
Take your SAT or ACT scores and plug them into the formula.
An EI of 3900+ for the SAT and 950+ for ACT is competitive for CSULB. Just a reminder that the EI threshold for any CSU will fluctuate depending upon the stats of each in-coming Freshman class.
The more competitive the major, the higher the EI.
CSU’s do not consider essays, EC’s or Letters of Recommendation. Your acceptance is based on GPA for your a-g courses and your test scores.
CSULB has a good Business program. You might also want to consider San Diego State, Cal State Fullerton, Cal Poly Pomona, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and San Jose State.
If you are in the local in-service area for CSULB, you get priority.
http://www.calstate.edu/sas/onestopkiosk/documents/CSULocalAdmission-ServiceAreas.pdf
@Gumbymom Thanks for the info! Does CSULB look at individual grades when taking applicants into assessment? Or should I focus on just increasing my GPA and getting good test scores to improve my EI?
On the CSU application, you will list all grades received in your a-g courses 9-11th. The CSU GPA is only calculated on the 10-11th grades. For 9th grade, the grades are reviewed to make sure you meet the minimum course requirements.
https://secure.csumentor.edu/planning/high_school/subjects.asp
You get extra honors points toward your GPA in 10-11th by taking UC approved Honors course, AP courses, IB courses and Dual Enrollment courses (max 8 semesters). See CSU Mentor GPA link.
@Gumbymom Will a few C’s my sophomore year hurt my chances, or do they focus more on just the general EI score?
A few C’s will impact your GPA but a higher SAT/ACT can offset a lower GPA. Much depends upon your intended major and the competitiveness of your fellow applicants. All you can do now is try to get good grades through end of Junior year and test well.