Out of State Computer Science Chances?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
1

My son got a 34 on his ACT (35 Superscore; does CalPoly Superscore?)

And while his GPA has been steadily ascending, including all A’s and one B 2nd Semester Junior Year, his cumulative weighted GPA is 3.35. Unweighted GPA is 3.1, which we know is low.

He’s been in Robotics all of High School, even going to the World Championships.

He’s taken one AP class, and 7 or so Honors Classes (All Engineering, but I’m not sure if they’ll count for extra points as we’re not from California)…

I haven’t yet recalculated his GPA based on their special process (MSA?), but just curious how likely he is to get accepted. Thanks!

2

It will be a high reach for him as it is for the majority that apply.

3

No honors OOS do not count, only AP. you need to calculate the gpa. He has a shot and the UCs and CSU are admitting OOS for the tuition dollars. But not a high shot. Remember to use A to g courses for gpa. So when you say engineering classes for high school that is not part of a to g except possibly one elective.

4

Computer science is one of the toughest admits at a tough admit school. Go for the early decision application period- best shot for OOS students as this is the smaller applicant pool. Your application is ranked against other OOS applicants.

Too bad we somehow can’t pin the “Confused about the MCA Score” thread on this forum that @eyemgh started. I see that the old pinned threads are gone. Very important to understand how the scoring system works to get a feel for how your application may fare.

5

Here is the MCA score calculation for SLO. SLO uses 9-11th grades in their GPA calculation with only AP classes counting for the extra honors points in 10-11th grades. Use the Roger Hub GPA calculator and plug in all the grades. Also make sure he has a visual/performing art class since this is one of the a-g course requirements often overlooked by OOS applicants. The MCA demographic points probably do not count unless he is first generation and gets the parent education points.

http://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/

The maximum GPA they will use is 4.2, even though you can have a higher calculated CP GPA. A 4.2 is worth 2250 MCA points. Thus, multiply your CP GPA by 535.7 and you’ll get your MCA points for GPA.

The next biggest thing is test scores. The odd thing, likely because they wanted it to total a nice round number, is that the max score is 1650, even though the max SAT score is 1600. Multiply the total of your best SAT CR and your best SAT math by 1.03125 to get your MCA test points. If you took the ACT, they convert and vice versa.

The third largest section is the class rigor score, worth 750 points. In this section you get zero points for meeting the minimum admission requirements and adders for more than the minimum. The bonuses in order of power are (min semesters/max total semesters/bonus per extra semester/total possible bonus): math 6/10/125/500 (note: stats and finite do not count), lab science 4/8/50/200, English 8/10/50/100, foreign language 4/8/25/100, visual performance 2/4/25/50, no bonus points for social sciences or electives. As with GPA, you can actually score higher than the maximum, but 750 is the most they will count.

Finally, work and ECs, worth 350 points. Work (hours per week/bonus): 0/0, 1-5/20, 6-10/40, 11-15/60, 16-20/80, 21+/100, add 50 points if work is major related. ECs (hours per week/bonus): 0/0, 1-5/30, 6-10/60, 11-15/90, 16-20/120, 21+/150, add 60 points for leadership role.

GPA = 2250
Test = 1650
Class rigor = 750
EC / Work Hrs = 350
Subtotal for accademic points = 5000

Parents education = 600
Veteran’s benefit = 700
Zip code= 500
High school = 700
Parent employed by CPSLO = 700
Subtotal for Demographic points = 3200

Max attainable points = 8200

Scores are capped at 5,000 and above 4500 points is considered competitive. CS has about a 10% or less admit rate. I believe OOS applicants do have an advantage if applying ED.

6

@swimdogmom - If you want to request a thread be pinned, copy the specific link you want pinned and go to the community forum issues board and request that they do so http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/community-forum-issues/ . I had previously ask that it be pinned (and it was) but they must have removed the pinned thread at the end of the semester assuming it wasn’t necessary.

7

@johnmax, Software Engineering is a much easier admit at Poly, yet it has a very similar curriculum and job placement prospects as CS. Give it a look. Good luck!

8

I am an OOS student and I got into Computer Science with a 2150 superscored SAT and a 3.81 CSU GPA. I think what helped me was the fact that I had taken 11 AP classes by graduation.

9

With a 3.35 GPA - your son is highly unlikely to be admitted.

10

For Cal Poly they only look at the Math and English sections on the ACT.