<p>I realize that there are probably a ton of threads that are popping up about their speculated failure but most of these people are high school students. And although it's unfortunate that they weren't accepted, they still have the option of going to community college if they still want to make academic progress. I, on the other hand, am about to finish my 3rd year of community college for my electrical engineering degree. I have a 3.67 gpa and I applied to Cal Poly SLO, CSU Long Beach, and San Jose State. I live in the Sacramento area and I've been reading around the last couple of weeks that many students with grade point averages similar to mine were getting rejected the past couple of years. </p>
<p>The speculated reason for this is because they either didn't have all of their prereqs or they don't live very close to the campus. I didn't know that living near the campus was so important and I'm kind've second guessing my academic standing because I don't live near any of these places. If I don't get into any of these colleges there aren't any other classes I'd need to take for my major either since my prereqs are already covered. I guess I'm just ranting on at this point but I'm wondering if anyone has any advice if I don't get accepted into anything. Thanks.</p>
<p>Not living in proximity to the school is an unlikely reason for rejection. All of these schools are state universities and are required to serve the state population, no matter where they live. More likely, it is a budget question. The state of California is undergoing a tough budget time and there are serious cuts at all state universities. This will necessarily result in restricted numbers of admits.</p>
<p>If your finances permit, you can hedge your bets by looking into private universities with the engineering program you want. The [Association</a> of Independent Technological Universities: AITU](<a href=“http://theaitu.org%5DAssociation”>http://theaitu.org) schools are all private and there are a number which would be a match for your GPA.</p>
<p>xray: In California, location <em>is</em> a reason for rejection. For most CSUs, they are mandated to accept all qualified local CCC transfers before looking at transfer students from other parts of the state. Cal Poly SLO does <em>not</em> do this, however, and all in-state students as far as I know are dumped into one bucket with no preference for a local transfer.</p>
<p>You can always apply the next year to your local CSU (Sac State?). You may want to try UCD and a few other UCs. Can you afford privates? Even Santa Clara University and other privates would look at you with a 3.67.</p>
<p>But yes, the CSUs are stuffed to the brim and it is hard to know if a transfer student will make the cut off. I believe SJSU posts transfer gpa cut offs for prior years on their website if you want to get a better idea of what it might be this year.</p>
<p>So the advice would be to simply reapply the next year to a wider range of colleges: CSUs, UCs and privates. A 3.67 is a very good gpa and not doomed to be rejected for all colleges–but you may need to cast your net wider next time. Hopefully the first time will still be the charm for you.</p>
<p>Thank for the link MommaJ. I guess I would just be disappointed because I can’t stand working in something that isn’t related to my career right now. I’ve tried interning at quite a few places and haven’t had any luck. I’m assuming it’s because I haven’t even started my upper division courses yet but who knows.</p>
<p>I know the average gpa for engineering students transferring to Cal Poly was 3.52 last year and I think San Jose’s was around 3.0. I couldn’t find Long Beach’s. Private schools are out of the question though I don’t have the funds. Thank you for the advice annikasorrensen.</p>