Hello! I am a high school graduate currently applying to universities in my home state of California. I have just now discovered that, despite my otherwise good academic record, I am technically ineligible for admission to CSU schools solely because I am missing the “1 Year of Visual and Performing Arts” section of the A-G Requirements, as I was never enrolled in such a course. I was vaguely aware that such a requirement existed, but I was under the impression that my counselor had composed my schedule in a way that I would meet the bare minimum requirements to be eligible for state universities and that any necessary criteria had already been met by a previous course or was in progress or wouldn’t be an issue. It was never once mentioned or brought up by my counselor at any point (including the frequent mandatory student-counselor meetings, discussions regarding my schedule or discussion of college-related plans) that I would be ineligible for admission to state universities upon graduation: I’d at least expect something as urgent as this to be conveyed to me at some point in the process, as there were many opportunities to do so and multiple solutions that could have been worked out on short notice (such as taking an AP exam to fulfill the requirement) if only I was aware of the issue. I understand that this is partially my responsibility, and I don’t mean to sound entitled, but I can’t help but feel that this is an important part of a school counselor’s job that was simply neglected here. As a working student who’s often preoccupied with other responsibilities, finding out at the last minute that I’m ineligible for the universities I’ve applied to because of some little meticulous detail that was never addressed by the people whose job is to manage such things is, well, a little frustrating. I’ve tried emailing CSU admissions offices, but they’ve been unsympathetic to my situation thus far and seem to be very strict about this. They’ve mainly just restated their official position that all requirements must be met prior to graduation, and that I’m out of luck unless I go to a community college to attain the necessary credits. I’m just looking for constructive advice here; any comments are appreciated. Thank you!
Unfortunately there are many California students in your predicament who receive poor advising.
Can you sign up for a spring semester community college class that meets the F requirement? A one semester CC class should fulfill the requirement (one semester CC = one year HS).
Yes, you can take a Community college course in the spring semester to fulfill the requirement. Make sure you list the course as In Progress on your application.
A requirement is a requirement.
I am helping another poster with the lack of 2 years FL whom also was not told about this requirement.
Unfortunately people are human and one of the first lessons any HS student should learn is to do their own research about College and College requirements or have a Mom that loves helping them 
Best of luck.
Good luck! Yes, do it in the spring.
It is not cheap, but if time is of the essence, another option besides Community College might be UC Scout. I know a student who completed Art History through UC Scout online and met the VPA requirement that way. It is self-paced, so this student completed the courses in about 1 month.
To clarify if you or another reader pursues this. I’m pretty sure the student had to take 2 sessions at UC Scout to count as 1 full year of VPA. In other words, don’t think of it as the same as Comm Coll, where 1 semester = 1 HS year.
Please be sure to ask questions of UC Scout and/or your counselor to make sure you do it correctly.
https://www.calstate.edu/how-to-get-to-calstate/Documents/HTGTC-Handout-Spanish.pdf (Scroll down for the English handout)
They usually have these handouts and posters all over the counseling offices. Usually, the counselors ask you if you’re planning to pursue higher education, then ask about CSU’s or UC’s. They ask that because that leads into their accounting for letters of recommendation and your college file that they create/generate.
In college you will set up your own appointments to meet with the Registrar to see if you are on track to graduate. No one follows up. It’s info on the website that you are expected to read and know.
I’m sorry your counselor didn’t ask you about the requirement. They are usually overworked but encourage all of the students to attend college night. What did you hear when you and your parents attended?
You are correct that the counselor did a poor job here, since any California high school student who may go to CSU or UC should be informed of the well known admission requirements. Indeed, some high school districts aligned their high school graduation requirements with the CSU and UC subject requirements for frosh admission, so that counselors are less likely to overlook stuff like this.
In your case, the options are:
- Take the necessary course to cover the requirement.
- If you choose to do it with a college course, check with CSU whether taking a college course after high school graduation disqualifies you from frosh admission (i.e. requires you to take the transfer pathway). Whether or not it does is not explicitly stated on the calstate.edu web sites. UC disqualifies applicants from frosh admission after taking college courses after the summer immediately after high school graduation.
- Start at a community college and take the transfer pathway to a CSU or UC. This may be more convenient and less expensive in some situations.
- Apply to other colleges which do not have subject requirements that you are missing, and are realistic for admission and affordability.
@bagl : This is what the UC Scout states about the AP Art History course but I would still contact them to confirm that it will cover the full year VPA requirement.
AP ART HISTORY
This course is equivalent to a one-semester college survey course exploring the nature and history of art and art making, as well as responses to art. By investigating specific course content of 250 works of art characterized by diverse artistic traditions from prehistory to the present, students develop in-depth, holistic understandings of the history of art from a global perspective. Students become active participants in the global art world, engaging with its forms and content. They experience, research, discuss, read, and write about art, artists, and art making, and analyze and critique art and responses to art.
Thank you @Gumbymom! Appreciate your follow-up with the clear info.
Looks like the student I referred to actually took the 3D Art Design class, which offers 2 semesters. Not sure if they needed both semesters or took them both to be safe. And BTW, that class required some additional $ to purchase art materials.