Hi im currently a senior in highschool that is applying to sdsu out of state, I was wondering if somebody could please explain to me a-g courses because I have never hear about them before and I am very confused on the “college prepatory elective” part. Thanks
A-G courses are basically required core courses that have to be completed by end of Senior to qualify for Cal state and UC admissions.
Here are the SDSU/Cal state a-g courses needed to apply: https://admissions.sdsu.edu/freshmen/apply/a-g_courses
Pay particular attention to Section F which requires a year long course in Visual/Performing arts. Many OOS applicants are not aware of this requirement.
On the CSU application, you will be asked to categorize your HS courses based on the a-g categories. If you are not sure which category to place some classes, you can post here for more help.
Category G College Prep electives can be fulfilled by an extra year of any of the a-f courses beyond the minimum listed or other classes below:
Some examples of other College Prep Electives include: Psychology, Economics, Computer Science, Sociology, Journalism.
If you are unsure of a course classification (or if it counts in any a-g category), you can look up various California high schools at https://hs-articulation.ucop.edu/agcourselist to see if they have similar courses and what a-g category they are in.
https://hs-articulation.ucop.edu/guide has descriptions of what each category covers.
A summary chart can be found here: https://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/counselors/files/csu-uc-a-g-comparison-matrix.pdf
thank you both so much! I appreciate it
let’s say I have taken a visual performing arts class every year of high school, would I put the other 3 under college preparatory because I did more than the minimum?
There is only a minimum 1 year for VPA and for the College Prep electives, so you can put 2 more courses under the VPA and 1 course under the College Prep OR split up with 2 and 2. It really does not matter as long as you list and complete the minimum courses in each category.
Since test scores will not be a consideration for this admission cycle, a greater emphasis will be placed on the # of a-g courses taken beyond the minimum along with HS course rigor.
What is your intended major and as an OOS applicant you do realize you will be a full pay student at SDSU?
I don’t mean to hijack this thread, but I was also confused with the A-G courses (especially the G category) as I also am OOS. Last year, I took 3 online classes that my school offered but they were not honors (Intro to Business 1 and 2, Personal Finance 1). These would go under the “G” category, correct? Do you have to list all the courses taken in grades 10-11? Would it hurt the UC GPA since these were not honors classes?
@afahrer: See my PM regarding your question.
Just a General note that OOS HS designated Honors courses do not get the extra weighting in the CSU or UC GPA calculation. Only AP/IB courses will get the extra Honors points in the calculation for OOS applicants.
The maximum Honors points for AP/IB classes taken 10-11th grades is 8 semesters or 4 year long classes. Anything beyond those 8 semesters will not impact the CSU capped weighted GPA. Maximum CSU GPA is 4.4.