SDSU - trouble deciding on a major

@gumbymom - my youngest is a HS senior and working on her applications. She didn’t do too well on her SAT - 1150 is the better after 2 tries and has decided she’s done with tests. Her calculated weighted GPA is 4.2 so her EI is fairly good. She’d like to attend SDSU like so many others and I’d like to think she has a shot. We live near CSF so that’s her safety school, I believe.

With all majors impacted at SDSU, is there a major that would match her EI? For many years she wanted to be in science, perhaps reasearch or teaching science. But now she likes the idea of studying film. I hate that they have to have a major in mind while they are still exploring.

Any advice for my daughter? Thank you.

Your D has a solid chance of getting an acceptance at SDSU since you want to target an EI of 4200+. CSU’s also superscore the SAT meaning they will take the highest sections from each sitting so this may benefit her.

I know it is difficult to decide what major to pursue. SDSU admits all Freshman applicants into a Pre-major and then admits are required to take the pre-req courses and maintain a specific GPA (different for each major) to continue onto the upper division courses.

2018 Freshman admission data for specific majors is not yet available but for Film, the acceptance rate for 2017 was 39%. For Undeclared, it was 42% but also had a huge # of applicants that applied as Undeclared vs. Film. I have linked the Freshman admission data for 2017 by major if you want crunch some numbers in regards to other possible majors:

https://asir.sdsu.edu/applications-by-major/

Below is a link for the Television, Film and Theatre major which spells out the required courses to gain entrance into the upper division major courses:

https://curriculum.sdsu.edu/catalog/2018-19/136-Theatre-Television-Film.pdf

Changing majors in general is not that difficult as long as you meet the pre-major requirements so she can apply as Undeclared and change majors once she decides her path.

Best of luck to you and your daughter and make sure she applies widely.

Thank you @gumbymom. I will share your advice with her. I appreciate your well thought out response.

If she wants to teach, maybe Education would be a possible major ?

@publisher She is now moving away from teaching. She is my youngest and I thought by the 3rd kid it would be easy. I was wrong.

@gumbymom My daughter’s EI is 4520. She really wants to apply undeclared to all of the Cal states and UCs. Counselor at school said that she shouldn’t but I’ve seen the percentages - undeclared acceptance rates are similar to many majors, except for nursing and perhaps engineering. SDSU is her goal, but I’ve said to keep an open mind.

Your thoughts on undeclared?

Going Undeclared is not an issue as long as she is aware of each school’s policy on declaring a major later. Some schools are easy to declare certain majors and others are not. Usually the first two years of undergrad are focused on lower division GE’s and major pre-req’s. Depending upon what she ends up taking during these 2 years and her subsequent major declaration, it could add some additional semesters to her Undergraduate degree.

Her EI is high enough that should have an excellent chance for an acceptance regardless of major (ie. Except Nursing).

All students at SDSU are accepted as Pre-Majors and must meet course requirements and GPA before continuing into the upper division major courses.

Below is a link on what the pre-major requirements are once an Undeclared major decides on their path.

https://undeclared.sdsu.edu/resources

I am not sure what other CSU’s she plans to apply, but most do not offer Undeclared according the to the impacted campus/matrix link:

https://www.calstate.edu/sas/documents/impactedprogramsmatrix.pdf

@Gumbymom Your response is very helpful. Neither of us realized that undeclared wasn’t an option at the other Cal States -thanks for pointing this out.

@jewishmother: She can use the My Map link for Year 2018 and Undeclared to get a sample of a typical 2 year schedule:

https://sunspot.sdsu.edu/pubred/!mymap.disp