UC_CSU

California Colleges: An Overview

Agenda

1. Types of CA colleges 2. Zooming in on UC's and CSU's 3. UC vs. CSU: What's the Difference?4. Application Requirements 5. A-G Requirements 6. Calculating your UC/CSU GPA 7. What's next?

4 types of CA schools

UC’s

CSU’s

Hover over each type to learn more

There are many types of schools available in California. We recommend California students add a mix of CSU's, UC's, and privates schools to their college list. UC's and CSU's have some unique systems that CA students need to be familiar with.

Private

Community College

Zooming in: UC's and CSU's

Explore to learn more

23 CSU's

10 UC's

CSU

UC's

CSU's

vs .

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What's the difference?

Education

Eligibility

Community

Cost

UC's and CSU's are both great public college options for California students, but they have some important differences.

Application Requirements

UC and CSU have unique requirements to be eligible to apply and the applications themselves are very different.

If you’re applying to a CSU:

If you’re applying to a UC:

Click to learn more

UC's

CSU's

"It's about who you are in the classroom and in the community "

"It's all about the numbers"

Both are due November 30th!

Determining UC/CSU Eligibility

A-G Requirements

The UC and CSU systems require that students complete a minimum level of courses in categories A-G to be admitted💡Important:

• These are not the same as graduation requirements. Often, you can graduate without meeting A-G requirements.

• These are the minimum. More coursework in these areas is recommended to be competitive.

• In order to count, courses must be passed with a C. You will need to retake any A-G courses with a grade below C.

Click each requirement to learn more

Calculating your A-G GPA

UC's and CSU's use a special system to calculate your GPA and determine whether you are eligible to apply. Watch to learn more ➡️ 💡Tips:

• Count only A-G courses (Check A-G approved list if you’re unsure if a course counts!)
• Count only courses you took from 9th grade summer -11th grade
• For honors points, count courses listed as AP, IB, H on your transcript
• If have retaken a course, count higher grade

What's Next?

If your UC/CSU GPA is...

Use this worksheet calculate your UC/CSU GPA

You meet the minimum GPA requirements to apply to CSU's, and should plan on adding CSU campuses to your college list.

2.0

or higher

You meet the minimum GPA requirements to apply to UC's, and should plan on adding UC campuses to your college list.

3.0

or higher

Learn more about campus and major selectity here

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