What is the UC & CSU GPA? What is it even used for? Please & thank you.
For Cal states (CSU) and UC’s, the GPA is calculated on your 10-11th grades for your a-g course requirements. For in-state applicants, you get up to 8 extra honors points for UC approved Honors/AP/IB or DE courses.
The Cal states (except SLO) use the CSU GPA along with your SAT Math+CR score or ACT composite score to calculate an eligibility index (EI). Applicants are then ranked based on EI and major. Schools will accept the highest EI down until all spots are filled.
https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/
EI= (CSU GPA x800) + (SAT Math+CR) or (CSU GPA x200) + (ACT comp x10).
Only one CSU, SJSU publishes their EI threshold for each major every year. From the EI’s you can determine if you are a competitive applicant for that major and if you have a solid chance for an acceptance. EI’s do fluctuate year to year based on the stats for each in-coming Freshman.
http://info.sjsu.edu/web-dbgen/narr/static/admission/frosh-f2015impact.html
The UC’s also use the same method for their GPA calculation and again the UC GPA is used to help in the UC application review. The 8 extra honors points gives you the capped weighted UC GPA. UCLA/UCB will also use the uncapped weighted GPA (unlimited points for honors classes 10-11th grade.).
You can find the average UC GPA for each campus on the UC website. Again it tells you how you compare to each in-coming Freshman class. Intended major will be considered when reviewing your UC GPA and application since competitive majors such as STEM will require an above average UC GPA along with tests scores, essays and EC’s.
http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/freshman/profiles/