Hello, I am currently a high school senior and I have some questions about College Applications? I am thinking to attend SJSU for Computer Science
-When should I ask my teachers for letters of recommendation?
-Do I ask my teachers to send in the application to the college before or after the application deadline/before or after I submit my application?
-Will my high school transcript transfer over or do I have to ask my counselor to do so? If need-be, do I ask my counselor to send in the transcript to the college before or after the application deadline/before or after I submit my application?
-If my high school transcript is already transferred to the college, do I still need a paper copy of it?
SJSU assuming San Jose State does not accept letters of recommendation. It is a Cal State and they base admissions on the Cal State GPA and ACT or SAT test scores. Just so you are aware, Computer Science is the most competitive major at SJSU.
The Cal State application asks you to self-report your grades.
You do not send a HS transcript until you are accepted and SJSU asks for it in your “to do list”.
Here is how Cal States admit and how to calculate your Eligibility index. Your EI needs to meet a certain threshold for an acceptance. For CS at SJSU, you needed an EI of 4500 (using the SAT) to get an acceptance.
The Cal states admit by major and eligibility index. They really only consider GPA/Test scores/Geographic location and HS course rigor. Other than Cal Poly SLO, your EC’s are not considered.
You need to calculate your CSU/UC GPA using grades from a-g courses taken 10-11th.
Cal states and the majority of the UC’s use the capped weighted GPA.
Then calculate your Eligibility index:
If you took the Redesigned SAT:
(CSU capped weighted GPA X 800) + (SAT Evidence Based Reading & Writing (EBRW) + Math Score) = Eligibility Index
Eligibility index for ACT:
(CSU capped weighted GPA X 200) + (ACT Composite x10)= Eligibility Index
You will then be ranked based on EI and major and they accept from the top down until all spots are filled.
You will get priority at your local CSU which you can look up on this link. Local applicants usually require a lower EI to get an acceptance unless the program is highly impacted.
You explained that SJSU does not accept letters of recommendation, but from this http://www.sjsu.edu/cs/programs/mscs/how-to-apply/, it said “Letters of recommendation are encouraged but not required.” From that, would it mean that letters of recommendation increase my chances of admission?
But a larger worry for me would be the EI. I calculated my EI and it is around 4050-4130 (3.6-3.7 GPA & 1170 SAT). It seems with that EI, it doesn’t fulfill the admission requirement for the CS Major. However, I am not sure if the EI requirements are lower for me because I am graduating from a local school from the East Side Union High School District and they have the Spartan Promise program.
Also, when I apply, I believe I have some choices for alternative majors (http://www.sjsu.edu/admissions/impaction/impactionresultsfreshmen/index.html) but most of the alternative ones that I was considering say “^ This major did not have enrollment capacity to admit alternate majors.” If I were to pick Computer Science as my priority have Computer Engineering and Software Engineering as my alternatives, will this mean that I won’t get accepted at all if I don’t get my priority and the alternatives have “^”?
The link you gave is for the Masters program for Computer Science which asks for LOR’s. You are a Senior so you would be applying as an Undergraduate for a Bachelors of Science not a Masters. CS is an impacted major so being local will not help since the Spartan promise says you need to meet the minimum EI for each specific major.
I suggest you consider applying for the Software Engineering major or the Computer Engineering major instead. Look over the course curriculum for each to see of either major will work for you.
Did you also calculate the modified EI for these majors?
Calculating the Impaction Index for College of Engineering programs
Beginning Fall 2017, applicants to programs in the College of Engineering (COE) will be ranked based on a modified Eligibility Index giving greater weight to the math sections of the SAT and ACT.
To calculcate the COE impaction index, you will need to calculate a total SAT score (math and EBRW) in the following way:
a. For SAT scores from a test date after March 1, 2016:
[(SAT Math * 3) + (EBRW)]/2 = COE total SAT score
b. For SAT scores from a test date prior to March 1, 2016:
[(SAT Math * 3) + (Critical Reading)]/2 = COE total “old” SAT score - this scores will need to be concorded from the old total SAT to the redesigned SAT total using concordance tables
c. For ACT scores:
[(MATH * 3) + (the average of SCIE,ENGL,READ)]/4 = COE ACT comp score - this score will have to be concorded to the redesigned SAT total using concordance tables
Once you have a total SAT score from step 1 above, put that total SAT score in to the CSU eligibility index equation to calculate the COE impaction index for SJSU:
[SAT Score Total + (GPA * 800)] = COE impaction index
You can also start your application through https://www2.calstate.edu/apply. There is one application for all the CSUs. Your a-g classes should be in the pull down menu after you enter your high school The application also calculates your UC GPA.
Your link for letter or recommendation is for graduate school (MS). You are applying for undergraduate (BS).
CONDITIONS FOR ADMISSION ELIGIBILITY THROUGH THE SPARTAN EAST SIDE PROMISE
Students graduating from an East Side Union high school will qualify for guaranteed admission to SJSU if the following conditions are met:
Be a high school graduate from an East Side Union high school
Apply to SJSU by November 30th
Successfully complete all A-G college preparatory courses with grades of C- or better
Take the SAT or ACT test and submit those official test scores to SJSU
Require no developmental coursework as determined by Math/English placement test scores
Meet the Eligibility Index(EI) to the intended major (2900 or higher) or the meet the minimum EI of 3300 (SAT) or 790 (ACT) to be guaranteed admission to Undeclared. All EIs are subject to verification of the final high school transcript.
Meet all SJSU application procedures and deadlines
Gumbymom:
For the COE calculation for those majors, I have 4105-4185 which fulfills the requirements for the majors Computer Engineering and Software Engineering. I will look into those to see which one I like. If I pick one for my major, should I not include the other one as my alternative because it has the “^” indication?
svlabb112:
When I went into the page for applying, I did not see San Jose State, instead, I saw only 3 Schools: Humboldt State, Sacramento State, and San Francisco State. Is this because it is too early?
My S picked one of the schools that’s available as a placeholder to look at the application and populate. I told him it’s a bit early and I wasn’t sure if the CSU system will get purged. If that’s the case, he’ll have to redo. Nonetheless, he was anxious to look at the app.
So Gumbymom, one more question. For Computer Engineering and Software Engineering, if I fulfill the A-G and the EI requirements, I will be admitted it the major and there is nothing else I have to worry about. Is that correct?
be advised that the admission threshold for SJSU varies somewhat year to year. The number on their web site look back, not forward. It could off by 100 or more one direction or the other. I’d suggest you also apply to other CSUs, CPP, SDSU and CSULB have reputable programs you are very likely to qualify for.
good luck.