Hello, this fall I will be applying to 4 CSU’s (Sacramento State, San Jose State, San Diego State, and Cal Poly SLO) and 7 UC’s (Santa Cruz, Irvine, Santa Barbara, Davis, San Diego, and LA). My grades are not the best, my weighted GPA is a 3.9 unweighted, 3.5 from 7 AP and 4 Honors. However my test scores seem to be pretty okay, 1480 SAT and 32 ACT. I have been heavily involved in extracurricular with tons of community service, volunteering, and charity work. I want to pursue a career in either engineering or business/economics (unsure what type of engineering). From those of you speaking from experience what majors do you recommend I apply for in order to increase my chances of admissions and is there any specific outlier that likely will prevent me from getting admission. Also, I have been interested at taking the community college route, if I don’t get into the schools that I really want to. Please speak from your own personal experience, as the more I talk to people I hear completely different opinions and end results, from overqualified students being rejected, to under qualified students being accepted. I would greatly appreciate it if you would notify me of a major within engineering or economics/business which is easiest to get into. Thank you for your help
Cal States give priority to local in-service area applicants so if any of the Cal states are local, you should have no problem getting in. For the rest of the Cal states, they admit by eligbility index and major. You are then ranked and they accept from the top down. If you meet or exceed their thresholds for each major, then you should not any problems with an acceptance. Impacted majors just by definition means there are more qualified applicants than spots available so it is possible not to get accepted but it is not due to being overqualified.
EI= (CSU/UC capped weighted GPA x 800)+ (SAT Math + EBRW)
For the UC’s, beyond your stats, your EC’s and essays will be taken into consideration. Poor essays and little to no EC’s can have an impact on your chances even if you have competitive stats. I do not think any school rejects overqualified applicants, it is just there are so many qualified applicants, these schools are limited on the # of applicants they can admit.
For the majority of UC’s, they admit by major into Engineering so my advice is to select a major you can live with for the next 4 years. Switching within the College of Engineering is usually much easier than between colleges, so if Engineering is what you want to pursue, then select an Engineering major as your first choice. I would assume you have some kind of idea of what area of Engineering you would like to study?? Also assume there is no “easiest” Engineering major to get an acceptance. All will be competitive.
Business/Econ may be slightly easier since for several of the UC’s, these majors are in the College of Letters and Sciences which do not admit by major.
It is difficult to figure out at 17 or 18 what area of study you want to pursue, but remember it is much easier to change from competitive major (Engineering) to a less competitive major if you change your mind. You also have to decide what is more important, the school you attend or the major you plan to pursue.
Thank you very much for the great information. Do you recommend taking many SAT subject tests? I am taking Math Level 2 next week, which I am expecting to do decent on, given that I got a 780 on Math 1. I would take Physics, but I am taking Physics 1 this year, so I don’t really think it would be the best idea. Also, as I am filling out the CSU application right now, I am having trouble deciding between Accounting, Bussiness, or Economics for Cal Poly and SDSU. Thank you for helping, I look forward to your recommendation.
Considering that engineering is one of the hardest/most competitive major to get admitted into in most if not all UCs, you should have a lot of math and science in your background. SAT subject tests in math and physics are highly recommended. You should also have at least Calculus I under you as well, whether you took it at a CC or during the school year (preferably as an AP class). If you’ve finished Calc II before your senior year, it’s best that you take a higher level math course at a CC in order to show to them that you are still learning and not forgetting the information of previous years.
For Cal Poly and SDSU, Economics would be a slightly easier admit vs. Business or Accounting. Again, if you are not happy in pursuing Econ for the next 4 years, then you should select the major you think you want to study vs. what is an easier admit.
you have a great list of schools - some you’ll get into, other you won’t. Only time will tell.
As for major, other than CPSLO, it is pretty easy to change once you are there. In fact, most students at most schools change more than once… I’d encourage you to apply to a more general major - biz or econ vs Accounting, you can specialize once you are there. CP SLO makes it tougher to change - especially if you are making a big change say from Biz to ME, It is also hard to switch with a low GPA But again, it is possible once you get there.