My daughter just completed her first year at UCR. She’s a CS major and is in good academic standing (GPA 3.79) with 85 credits completed. She wants to move closer to home. What’s her chance (and the process) to transfer to a CSU college (San Jose State University)? I understand CSU gives priority to local students from local community colleges. If she moves back to San Jose, would it help?
Thanks.
If she has 85 credits, I am assuming she was a transfer to UCR or did she come into UCR with a lot of AP credit?
Just moving back to home would not give her priority. She needs to be attend a local CC to get priority. Also the CSU’s will cap the # of transferable units at 70 and give her subject credit for the excess, so she would lose some of those credits. She would be better off finishing her degree at UCR especially since she is doing so well academically.
Although this link is for SJSU to UCR, it should give you some information about the process: http://info.sjsu.edu/web-dbgen/artic/UCR/template-22.html
85 quarter units? If so, that is 56+2/3 semester units. Since she probably took around 45 quarter units (= 30 semester units) in a year at UCR, she probably went in with a lot of AP credit.
Note that CSUs give different values for AP credit compared to what UCs give, so if she wants to transfer to a CSU like SJSU, recalculate AP credit units based on what CSUs give. Also, look at what subject credit SJSU gives may differ: http://info.sjsu.edu/static/catalog/ap.html .
http://www.sjsu.edu/admissions/impaction/ can give you historical transfer GPA cutoffs by major at SJSU:
2019: 3.30 GPA if 5 course requirements completed, 4.30 GPA if 4 course requirements completed (applicants with AA-T or AS-T degrees and those from local CCs got bonus GPA points).
2018: 3.50 GPA if 5 course requirements completed
2017: 3.50 GPA if 5 course requirements completed
2016: 3.70 GPA if 5 course requirements completed
Transfer prep course requirements for SJSU CS are listed at http://info.sjsu.edu/web-dbgen/artic/tpg/template-22.html . In addition, there are CSU GE requirements; it is best to complete as many as possible (the “golden four” A1, A2, A3, B4 must be completed before transfer): http://info.sjsu.edu/web-dbgen/narr/static/schedules/general-education-corege.html
CS at SJSU is a really tough transfer target, especially for non-local applicants. It looks like - to be local, you need earn the majority of your transferable units at a college located in Santa Clara or Santa Cruz county. Given her current status, that’s probably not possible. SF or East Bay and perhaps UCSC are more realistic transfer targets.
I am a little unsure of her status but, If she’s really in her first year, I’d really encourage her to stick out the year, really engage the campus with clubs, IM sports, maybe a sorority, then see how she feels come May. It is a huge adjustment and you have to work a little to find a social scene that feels comfortable.