Hi,
I am planning on appealing my decision to SJSU and was hoping on some advice on the matter of what to include/how long it should be/etc. For more info, here are my stats:
ACT (Superscore, One-sitting): 30
GPA (UW/W): 3.64/3.96
AP Scores: Computer Science A (5), currently taking macro econ + us gov
State/Country: CA
Major: Computer Science (alt: Mathematics Applied + Computational)
Currently enrolled in community college for senior year (3 classes/quarter)
EC’S (all for 4 years unless otherwise stated):
club swimming + 4 year varsity
club volleyball + 3 years varsity
worked as a swim coach for all ages (3 years)
interact (community service club) officer (president snr yr)
nhs (3 years)
csf (3 years)
fbla (2 years)
dance
girl scouts
interned at ford motor co. through girls who code program
interned at nasa
competed in a local science competition + won an award for engineering process
built a voicebot project for post-operative recovery (presented at local science fair)
helped build an ai program to detect changes in retinal images (cholesterol, early stages of diabetes, presented at UCB)
What is your basis for appeal and are you appealing for CS or Applied Math?
EC’s are not a consideration in the Cal State admissions.
I’d keep it relatively short. Include a resume nicely summarizing yourself as you did above. The issue with this year’s Cal-State is it’s not a holistic view since you don’t report your extracurriculars in the app anymore, thus your scores and course work is how a decision was made. CS is extremely competitive and in the Valley, even more-so. I wouldn’t write a whole lot about your sports, but say that you balanced your workload between school, extra curricular activities and have practical examples of using your CS training to present innovative solutions at influential institutions. I’d also say that you appreciate the fact that they have many applicants that have higher scores than you, but if they can take a moment to evaluate you holistically, they could appreciate that they have a future alumni that they can be proud of.
If you forgot to report your 8th grade math (assuming you took Algebra for example) and foreign language, then you should state that in your letter.
Good luck!
I want to apply for CS, however am open to Business, Math, or undeclared as well. I don’t have a strong basis yet and need help formulating one. SJSU is my number one choice just because it is so close to my home and has everything I could ask for in a university from teachers, mission statements, classes, and sports. I am really not sure how to go about this.
@TheCollegeDad thank you that was extremely helpful!
You do not meet the eligibility index for CS so an appeal will not get you in. I would focus on an alternate major where you are well above the EI threshold for the best chance.