Hello, not seeking pity just understanding and advice from fellow users. My parents died when I was 14, aunt and uncle became my new parents. However starting sophomore year I have lived alone (with roommates) working to pay for rent, food, etc. My GPA’s throughout High School are as follows: 2.8,3.7,3.8,3.7,3.7 and 2.5. Right now I am a junior in spring semester and I have worked two jobs this year but I got sloppy, hence the 2.5 GPA. I have finally saved an adequate amount of money to keep me from working for next year and I am highly confident of obtaining a 4.0 GPA along with high a SAT score for Senior year. I got a 31 on the ACT fall semester of junior year. Nevertheless I will end up with a 3.5 GPA… I am looking into Cal Poly as a possible college, however my GPA’s don’t add up with the averages of students who attend there. What I am asking is… given my special circumstances, do I have a realistic shot? Thanks for the advice.
I don’t know the answer but I cimmend your hard work and the fact that you have faced tremendous difficulties. Best of luck to you!
You need your guidance counselor to help explain your situation in hes/her letter of rec. Make an appointment, and explain everything, and ask for help and suggestions. You want an advocate. Given your circumstances, you have done well, so good job. I think if you cn get a good SAT or ACT it will help you. Good luck.
Cal Poly does not accept letters of recommendation as part of their admissions. Unfortunately there is no way to convey your circumstances to a state school like Cal Poly since they accept neither essays or LOR’s. I would target the UC’s or private schools where your difficult life circumstances can be addressed. If you are set on attending Cal Poly (not sure if you are asking about Pomona or SLO), going the community college route and transfer would be your best option.
UC’s and Privates can also be more generous with financial aid since aid for Cal states is available for tuition but rarely covers housing/books etc…
Cal poly and the UC’s do not consider Senior year grades in their admission decisions only privates which will ask for a Mid-year transcript.
Calculate out your CSU/UC GPA:
https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/
Cal Poly SLO uses 9-11th grades in their GPA calculation while the test of the Cal states and UC’s use 10-11th grades.
Cal Poly admits by major with test scores and GPA as their primary criteria. What is your intended major which can make a difference on your chances?
Wishing you the best of luck
Thank you so much for your valuable input. I want to major in IT. Particularly in Newtworking. I will keep for other schools. Again, thank you.
Look at UCs. Calculate your uc gpa and target the ones that will be good, probably Ucsc, UCR, ucm.
Apply to Questbridge - start working on your application now because it’s extensive.
Are you taking summer classes at your High school to mitigate those spring semester grades?
What GPA will you have by the end of fall senior year?
Hello, thanks for helping me out. By the end of senior year, I will have a GPA of 3.5 (unweighted). Since I am not failing any of my classes I will not be taking summer courses. I am looking into Questbridge. Thanks
You don’t need to be failing classes to take summer classes - you can take extra classes for enrichment or advancement in subjects you’ve not yet taken (astronomy) or to accelerate (jump ahead in a sequence, such as taking Spanish 3 over the summer to take Spanish 4 during the year.) And these grades are added to your GPA to dilute your Spring semester grades.
Make sure your GC knows that you are living on your own for:
- They can make sure you are referred to any services that could help you
- They can include it in their recommendations
IT is not a typical major at least for undergrad, you’d have to major in something like electrical or computer engineering to get that hardware networking background, which is probably the hardest major to get in to at CSU-SLO. Information Science is more popular if that is of interest. An EE or Comp Engr degree is going to be more valuable anyway so you may want to consider that. Even though your ACT is very good, as others have, said, you’re better off applying to places where you can explain your situation in depth if needed, rather than ones where they only look at gpa and standardized tests. Good luck!
I am sorry to hear about the death of your parents. That has obviously impacted your academic record and many other factors of your life. Getting where you are after going through that is no small feat. I am sure your parents would be very proud.
Unfortunately, all the cal-states, SLO included, have completely quantitative admission criteria. With a CSU
GPA in the low-mid 3s and 31 ACT, you probably won’t be a competitive applicant for SLO. You might make it into SDSU and will probably gain admission to Long Beach and the rest of the CSUs, Take a look at Fullerton, Chico, Northridge, Sac and San Jose. All have good programs and are worth a look.
I’d also encourage you to apply to UCSC and UCR. Though your stats are below their typical admission threshold UCs, givee an opportunity to explain your situation.
USD and LMU (So Cal Privates) may also take the time to understand your position and offer enough aid to make them appealing,
Good luck
I’d encourage you to look at universities that have holistic admissions, ie., UC’s and privates including outside of CA. Run the NPC.
IIRC, there is a spot that asks if the student is an orphan, not sure if it is on the Common App or FAFSA.
As for Cal Poly, did you see this?
https://www.calstate.edu/fosteryouth/documents/Foster-Youth-Educational-Planning-Guide.pdf
You aren’t exactly foster, but you are independent according to what you state.
There is a phone number for this program in the brochure linked above.
https://www.cpp.edu/~ssep/renaissance-scholars/
It can’t hurt to call them and talk to them - you are essentially a former foster child who has aged out…
This sounds great:
https://www.cpp.edu/~ssep/renaissance-scholars/prospective-scholars.shtml
(year round housing!)