Senior Year Grade D or F

I currently have a D in my Math class, and it is my first semester of my senior year. I have applied to SJSU, SFSU, CSU East Bay and CSU Stanislaus. Will they even consider me if I get a D or F in my math class? I have a 3.13 GPA and 25 ACT score.

All Cal State admissions are provisional meaning that if you are get a D or F Senior year in any a-g course, your acceptance could be rescinded. If you get a D as your final grade for 1st semester, there is a chance of being rescinded. Since you do not report Senior grades on the Cal state application, you have until the end of the semester to get that D up to a C-. I would do everything in your power to bump up that grade. If you end up with a D and are accepted to any of the CSU’s you need to contact them and find out your options. Some campuses may wait until your final grade before making a decision either way.

@Gumbymom A D was my final grade this semester. Should I call right now and let them know, or should I wait until they send out acceptance letters?

Which Math course?

There is no deadline for notifying the schools but if you want to wait until you have your acceptances in hand, then you can wait but I would definitely do it by April since May 1 is the SIR date (enroll date deadline) for all the Cal states. If you notify them prior to May 1, you will at least know if you have any options.

I am guessing that CSU Stanislaus and East Bay will wait until your final transcript and 2nd semester grade to see if you can get your Math grade up to a C. Getting a C 2nd semester will validate the D in the 1st semester and since they are not impacted campuses, they will probably pretty lenient.

SFSU and SJSU most likely will also wait until your 2nd semester grade but it will depend upon which major you applied and how impacted is that major.

You just make to make sure that you will have some college to attend by May 1.

Best of luck.

The course is integrated math 3, it is a required course for csu’s. I applied for business administration for all schools except for SJSU, where I applied for political science.

Since Integrated Math 3 is a CSU requirement, it will put you into a very difficult situation. If you do pass 2nd semester with a C or higher, then the D will be validated which makes you CSU eligible. If you do not, then all your acceptances will be rescinded since you do not meet the minimum a-g course requirements. Is a community college your backup if all else fails?

Like I stated above, I do not think CSU Stanislaus or East Bay will have an issue with the D if you pass 2nd semester. You could shoot SFSU and SJSU an email asking about a What IF situation to see their response.

Regardless, you need to pass the 2nd semester so get extra help from teacher, fellow classmate or tutor.

Best of luck.

Is a C- minus a problem for a senior year grade for CSU?

C- is OK.as long as you meet the other requirements in their conditional acceptance.

Thanks @NCalRent - that eases my mind a bit. My son has never gotten anything below a C (and very few Cs at that), and we have discussed how important it is that he keep his grades up, and how important PreCalc is not only for his requirements but for the foundation of his major (Computer Science) and then he “forgets” to turn in a bunch of homework right at the end of the semester! Anyhow, I was glad to see your reply - Chico State is his first choice, by far, and we are anxiously awaiting a response from them. He’s been accepted to SFSU and Sonoma State, but has fallen in love with Chico. He should get in, but you never know these days . . .

I totally get it. Sr year is loaded with distractions (like Sr Ball, and lots of ‘last time’ feelings) and pressure as your son and his peers get news from the schools they apply to and figure out their next steps.

One thing I will relay from my 2 sons experience - his teachers really want him to succeed - if his grades fall again, have him ask for extra credit - nearly all of the people who surround them who seemed most certain and confident about where they are going to be in a year turned out to be wrong. He is in an enviable spot, already having two good schools as options. I am sure he doesn’t want to ‘blow it’. My older son is a recent Chico grad (Finance) who just started a Mgt Trainee program for a well known Fortune 500 company. The other is a Sophomore at a small Colorado school (Ft Lewis) that I hadn’t heard of 3 years ago, Ft Lewis participate in WUE and gave him a small scholarship for mountain biking so, it is a little cheaper than a CSU. The reason i mention that, I know Chico is a good school and has an awesome on-campus freshman experience. I also know they aren’t the only game in town and either Sonoma, SF or elsewhere will be fine.

With a 3.13 and 25, I think Chico is a coin toss - I hope it breaks your way. SJSU’s threshold varies a lot by major, If applied CS only, they are likely to reject him. They are one of the few CSUs that look at alternate majors so, hopefully he applied for a less competitive alternate. One thought - I think UNR is still accepting applications, they have a solid CS program and and are a WUE school. Both my kids were offered tuition that would have been about $1k/yr less than the Chico. Their stats were a little higher than your son but, not dramatically. It could be worth a look as you wait to hear from the remaining schools.

Good luck.

Thanks! I’m not the original poster (I think I may have hijacked this thread - sorry!) My son’s CSU gpa is 3.5, SAT 1270. For SJSU he applied Software Engineering, but knows that’s a long shot. We’re hoping his EI gets him into Chico.

http://www.sjsu.edu/admissions/impaction/impactionresultsfreshmen/ lists prior year EI thresholds for SJSU frosh admission by major.

Yep, he no way would get into CS at SJSU. He chose Software Engineering instead for SJSU. All other campuses he applied to Computer Science. Chico is his first choice so we are hoping to hear an acceptance soon!

@oceanrf - with those stats, he’ll almost certainly get into Chico
good luck

Just to add, my daughter got a bad case of senioritis in her final semester of high school. I think it came from getting accepted and feeling ‘set’. But because of that, she ended up with a D in her final semester for AP Physics. She was terrified that her admission would be rescinded at Cal Poly Pomona, but when she called them up to tell them, they said it didn’t matter because it was an ‘extra’ course. By ‘extra’, they meant that it wasn’t an a-g requirement, and that she didn’t need the course to graduate high school (she had 2 extra courses from taking Algebra I/language in middle school). She was intensely relieved. She didn’t lose her Honors status or her Honors scholarship either. But she was terrified for a few weeks leading up to the final when she was desperately trying to pull up her grade and studying.

Of course, she got a 3/2 on the AP exam, which wasn’t enough to test out, so she’s taking Physics again right now/this upcoming semester. So she didn’t get away scot free. But the incident is interesting in learning what mattered to the university admissions office after acceptance.

@Mom2Engineers: Each CSU will handle deficient grades on a case by case basis so getting a heads up on your options early on can help.

Each situation is different, but since @asvpxarun13 states that the D is in Integrated Math 3 which is a minimum a-g course requirement and not an extra a-g course, not meeting the a-g course minimums will cause the application to be withdrawn or rescinded.

Some CSU’s, for example SDSU, state on their website that any grade lower than a C- in any course not just a-g courses, could result in a possible rescinding of a provisional admission.

Just to add, I talked to SFSU so far and they have said that as long as I get a passing grade next semester, it will validate the D!

That is good news^^.

I am relieved to read this. My daughter has maintained a great GPA and was accepted to several CSUs - she’ll likely choose Chico or SJSU. But she got a D her first semester in Math this year and now has an F. It is her 4th year of math so technically not required for CSU. I’ll have her call Admissions and hopefully it will be okay.