Sorry for a long post. I am.hoping to get advice on our situation..hence described it clearly.
My daughter is admitted to Eng Tech CNS major. However she applied for CS as her major. She wanted software engineering(swe) as her alternate major but the CSU app did not allow her to choose SWE as alternate major if CS is her first major. Since CSU app forced her to select some alternate major she chose Eng CNS.
Impaction index for CS is 3440. I guess she did not meet this?
But impaction index for swe is appx 4400. She will meet this as swe major takes math gpa into.account. Her Math GPA is quite high.
Can we ask them to reevaluate application for swe major?
I emailed the eval team but they gave a stock answer stating that they will evaluate appln only for the majors specifiied in the application.
They are asking her to have her dept head submit a change of major on Day 1 when school starts in Fall 2025.
But we live in India and she will goto SJSU only if her major is CS or SWE.
Is it worthwhile for her to risk enrolling in SJSU and expecting a change of major on Day 1 to swe?
How common is a change of major on first day?
P.S: She will certainly meet impaction index for SWE major with 2000 points to spare.
Thank you so much for your time and response.
My advice is if she does not have a direct admit into SWE, then I would not risk it. If she would not be happy to attend SJSU as Eng CNS major then she should not attend.
Normally if the student is admitted and attends, then they have to go through the change of major process which is outlined here:
Thank you so much for the detailed reply. She will not enroll for CNS major. Its too risky to enroll without confirmation of SWE.
Is there any way we can ask them to reevaluate our current appln for SWE using impaction criteria which she will easily meet. Would an appeals process work?
You can try to appeal but SJSU specifically states the following: for an appeal to an admission decision to have merit, it must bring to light new academic information.
Not wanting to discourage her, but SJSU’s impaction major thresholds are listed for the previous year so an applicant can get a good idea of their chances for admission by calculation their impaction index.
However, you do state that you live in India so if she has an International transcript, then her application would be evaluated differently since the CSU GPA calculation would not be comparable.
That said, she has nothing to lose if she tries to appeal.
CSU Capped Weighted GPA(from the csu gpa calculator, not sure if its supposed to be from A-G matching section of Cal State app or the official gpa calculator that excludes 9th grade): 3.95
Math gpa for engineering: 4.0
Number of A-G courses taken 9-12th grade - 23
Number of UC approved AP classes: 7
Intended Major: Computer Engineering
Impaction Index(engineering): 4960
Local: Santa Clara County local
Really? Then what would be the meaning of publishing impaction index. My understanding is that anyone who beats that index is admitted and anyone who is under that index is either waitlisted or rejected.
I thought that was the minimum threshold they would consider, but they still look at other things like rigor and classes taken? No? @Gumbymom can you help?
My gpa was taken from the calculations on GPA Calculator | CSU
I’m not sure if this is the one to use or the a-g coursework gpa on my csu portal. If the index is calculated by the one on my portal, my gpa would be 3.86 instead of 3.95.
3.86 includes 9th grade courses and 3.95 doesn’t.
But they shouldn’t include 9th grade scores in the impaction scores right?
The CSU GPA used in the calculation should be the GPA listed on your CSU application. CSU GPA is 10-11th grades only on the application. SJSU uses only HS courses in the GPA calculation. DE /CC courses are not included unless they are used to meet the minimum A-G course requirements.
The next area is the Math GPA. SJSU has never confirmed if they are using 9-11th Math grades or 10-11th grades and are they weighted or unweighted.
An appeal is worth pursuing and hopefully you can get some clarification about the process which would be helpful for you and future applicants.
The total years of the A-G courses are 9-12th on the application but the GPA listed is calculated only on the 10-11th A-G course grades.
When applying to the CSU system, the GPA listed on the application is your “a-g” GPA, which for California residents needs to be a minimum of 2.5, while non-California residents need a minimum of 3.0 to be considered for admission; this GPA is calculated based on your college preparatory courses taken in grades 10, 11, and 12.
Key points about CSU GPA: * Minimum GPA: 2.5 for California residents, 3.0 for non-California residents.
“a-g” coursework: The GPA listed is specifically calculated from your “a-g” college preparatory courses.
Grade range considered: Most CSU campuses only use your GPA from grades 10 and 11.
