Missing VIsual and Performing Arts A-G requirement

ucbalumnus
Fri, 18 Nov 2022 17:48:01 +0000

bagl:

It was never once mentioned or brought up by my counselor at any point (including the frequent mandatory student-counselor meetings, discussions regarding my schedule or discussion of college-related plans) that I would be ineligible for admission to state universities upon graduation: I’d at least expect something as urgent as this to be conveyed to me at some point in the process, as there were many opportunities to do so and multiple solutions that could have been worked out on short notice (such as taking an AP exam to fulfill the requirement) if only I was aware of the issue. I understand that this is partially my responsibility, and I don’t mean to sound entitled, but I can’t help but feel that this is an important part of a school counselor’s job that was simply neglected here.

You are correct that the counselor did a poor job here, since any California high school student who may go to CSU or UC should be informed of the well known admission requirements. Indeed, some high school districts aligned their high school graduation requirements with the CSU and UC subject requirements for frosh admission, so that counselors are less likely to overlook stuff like this.

In your case, the options are:

Take the necessary course to cover the requirement.

If you choose to do it with a college course, check with CSU whether taking a college course after high school graduation disqualifies you from frosh admission (i.e. requires you to take the transfer pathway). Whether or not it does is not explicitly stated on the calstate.edu web sites. UC disqualifies applicants from frosh admission after taking college courses after the summer immediately after high school graduation.

Start at a community college and take the transfer pathway to a CSU or UC. This may be more convenient and less expensive in some situations.

Apply to other colleges which do not have subject requirements that you are missing, and are realistic for admission and affordability.