UC - How to report ACT scores without Writing score

1.- My son took SAT (with essay) but ACT (with no Writing section).
He wants to report both scores since his ACT composite score is 35,
better than SAT score of 1480.
But on UC app, it requires him to report Writing score which he did
not take.
a.- Does it enhance his chance to report both scores? I note that UC
requires either SAT (with essay) or SAT (with Writing.)
b.- What should he put for the ACT Writing score?

2.- He also earns 3 dual enrollment with high school courses. How are
these courses be reported on UC application? One semester and one
grade only, right?

3.- Should he report these dual enrollment courses on Cal State application?
Reason I ask is because once he includes these dual enrollment classes,
his calculated Cal State GPA drops. He has more than enough A-G courses
requirements by Cal State University. So reporting dual enrollment courses
does not help here at all.

thanks.

  1. The UC’s will not consider an SAT or ACT score without the essay/writing section, so he cannot self-report nor will they consider the ACT official score report if submitted.

  2. DE/CC courses are reported as 1 semester with 1 grade. He gets 1 year HS credit if they are being used to fulfill any a-g course requirements.

  3. He needs to report all College courses for both the UC’s and Cal States. DE/CC courses are weighted by both so his rigor will be noted by both.

What is the drop in his CSU capped weighted GPA with the DE courses?

Edited: Since the UC’s Capped Weighted GPA = CSU Capped Weighted GPA, I cannot see how these classes would make a significant difference?

If he didn’t take the test with the required components, then he can’t report the scores. That’s pretty much the definition of “required”.

@Gumbymom Thanks for your info.


[QUOTE=""]
What is the drop in his CSU capped weighted GPA with the DE courses? After reporting the DE/CC courses in the Transcript section of the CalStateApply, he goes to the A-G matching section and manually matches the DE courses with A or B. After clicking "Save & continue", the calculated GPA drops. Can he still reporting the DE courses, but does not match them with A or B?

[/QUOTE]

If the DE courses are considered a-g courses, then no you cannot bypass the matching. How significant of a drop in the GPA?

Have you tried calculating the CSU GPA capped weighted GPA using this calculator?

https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/

Reporting DE courses for the CSU is 1 course= 2 semester grades but he also gets 2 extra honors points.

A student who already has the maximum number of +1 honors points with a capped weighted GPA > 4.0 would see a GPA drop if s/he added another course, even one that would otherwise be eligible for a +1 honors point.

@ucbalumnus


[QUOTE=""]
A student who already has the maximum number of +1 honors points with a >>capped weighted GPA > 4.0 would see a GPA drop if s/he added another course, >>even one that would otherwise be eligible for a +1 honors point.

[/QUOTE]

This is exactly my son’s situation. He has more a-g credits than required by CSU.
Can he report the DE courses but do NOT match them with a-g courses. If he does,
he sees a 0.10 drop in the calculated GPA. It seems taking DE course is not a wise
choice.
I used the GPA calculator and it comes out the same as what the CSU app says.
(Without the DE courses)
thanks.

I found answer to my question from the CalState Applicant Help center.

If you don’t assign a course to A-G subject requirements, a message appears notifying you of this when you submit your application. You can then return to your application and match your course to the appropriate A-G subject requirements or confirm that you don’t want to match the course and continue submitting your application.

It looks like my son can choose NOT to match A-G to the DC courses.

“1) The UC’s will not consider an SAT or ACT score without the essay/writing section, so he cannot self-report nor will they consider the ACT official score report if submitted.”

Is the essay an absolute requirement meaning a guaranteed rejection if submitted without the sat/act essay?

@theloniusmonk: Yes, if you do not submit an ACT or SAT with essay, your application will not be considered.

From the UC website:

[quote]
All prospective freshmen must submit scores from either the ACT with Writing or SAT with Essay.

Thanks @Gumbymom , I saw that as well, but wasn’t sure if it was a suggestion like subject tests or a hard and fast requirement.

I still think one is required to report all a-g courses that one receives a letter grade. Otherwise one could just cherry pick grades. Let’s say student takes 4 years of science and matches 2 a-g and opts not to match a 4th year in which student receives a poor grade.

I read this to mean that you don’t match if the class is non a-g.

Granted, reading the CalState help center “note” makes me question my interpretation.

When my D applied in 2014, I recall UCs publishing the number of a-g semesters and honors/IB/AP/DE semesters for applied/accepted/enrolled students. The magic number seemed to be >21 semesters of UC designated honors and >46 a-g courses. I don’t recall seeing these figures in 2016 and 2018 when my sons applied.

I always thought number of a-g was another metrics used to evaluate rigor.

I concur with @svlab112, you cannot just pick which courses to list as an a-g course or not. If the course is on the a-g course list for the UCOP website, you list it as such and it will be included in the CSU/UC GPA calculation if taken 10-11th grades or in the SLO’s GPA calculation 9-11th grades.