I am confused because a lot of threads say that 750 is the max bonus points for course load on the CSU app, but at this link it states that the max is 950?
http://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1014&context=statsp
Also, is the MCA still the standard CSUs and especially SLO use to determine whether a prospective student is qualified?
MCA is only used by Cal Poly SLO. The rest of the CSU’s use the Eligibility index to rank applicants. My copy of the MCA point calculation is a maximum of 750 points.
thank you. do you know if the GPA used for calculating MCA the cumulative or if its only sophomore and junior year gpa?
freshman, sophomore and junior years
Do you know if honors classes from all three years count? Unfortunately, several of my son’s “honors” classes are not classified as “UC honors” so he won’t get a full 8 semesters of honors/AP credit unless they count a class he took in 9th grade.
I believe that the honors credits had to come from classes taken in the sophomore and junior years, regardless of the course titles for 9th grade classes. I’m not sure about AP classes taken in the freshman year, but most schools do not offer them at that time.
Was the class specifically labelled for 10th, 11th, or 12th grade when your son took it freshman year, or was it just an honors class in general?
@AMCdad He took Trig Honors in 9th grade, which is a UC approved course at our school. It’s typically taken by sophomores or juniors but there are several freshmen that take the class. However, 2 of the “honors” classes that he took sophomore year are not UC approved, which leaves him with only 3 UC approved honors/AP courses taken in 10th & 11th grades.
I too was somewhat confused by what an “honors” course is with respect to the Cal State Application. I know what an honors course is with respect to the UC application because they make it very clear in the application process that an honors course has to be a “UC-approved Honors Level” class. In the UC’s case, I can go directly to the UC/CSU Approved Course List and it tells me which classes from my California high school are considered “UC Honors” courses. They identify those courses with a yellow star located in the “Course Details” column. But that list doesn’t specifically say anything about CSU honors courses.
However, because the title of that list is named “UC/CSU Approved Course List” which includes “CSU” in its title, that when self-reporting high school honors coursework in the CSU application, I would think it’s logical to identify as honors courses only those which are identified as honors courses on that list.
Apparently, according to two different sources - one being a chat session with a person at the Cal State Apply website and the other being a direct phone call to Cal Poly’s admission office - I would be WRONG! :((
I was told that I should identify as honors courses on the application ALL honors courses which are identified by my high school transcript as honors courses. I gave them each an example of the potential conflict in that my high school lists my Geometry(H) and English(H) courses as honors but the UC/CSU List does not recognize them as honors. They both responded basically saying to ignore the list and identify both courses as honors courses on the Cal State Application.
I’m thinking of following the UC/CSU List to identify honors courses, not my transcript honors designation as they suggested. I just don’t want to be accused later on of trying to inflate my GPA or lying by saying certain classes are “honors” when the UC/CSU list clearly shows that they are not.
Only UC approved Honors courses will get the extra Honors points in the CSU/UC GPA calculation, so using the UCOP approved a-g course list for your HS is what you should follow. The CSU/UC GPA is capped at 8 semesters of UC approved Honors/AP/IB or DE courses taken 10-11th grades only.
When my son’s filled out their CSU and UC applications, they stuck to the UCOP a-g course list which was recommended by their counselor and confirmed with a UC admissions officer.
Thanks, Gumbymom. I agree and thank you for the insight. I went ahead and filed my application identifying my honors courses using only the UC/CSU approved a-g course list for my school, despite being told the contrary by Cal SLO admissions office.
I do have well above 8 semesters of AP/Honors courses, as do most everyone else applying I presume, so even if I had used the “honors” designation in the CS application for those classes that are labeled as “honors” in my transcripts but not approved honors per the UC/CSU list, neither my Cal State GPA nor my Cal SLO GPA would have changed at all.
Good luck to all who are applying.