First Time Freshman
A first-time freshman is a student who has earned no college credit after the summer immediately following high school graduation. You are eligible for admission as a first-time freshman if you:
- Have or will have graduated from high school or equivalent; AND
- Meet at least a 2.5 GPA or greater for CA residents and graduates of a CA High School/ 3.0 or greater for non-CA residents and graduates of a non-CA High School; AND
- Have or will have completed 15 year-long college preparatory courses (see below chart) with a grade of “C-” or better upon graduation from high school (see first bullet point).
The CSU will consider course grades of “credit” or “pass” as fulfilling “a-g” requirements for those courses completed during Winter, Spring, Summer or Fall 2020 terms and during Winter, Spring or Summer 2021 terms. All other coursework must be graded and a grade of C- or better must be earned for the course to satisfy “a-g” requirements. Grades of credit/pass or no credit/no pass will not be included in the calculation of high school GPA.
| Years Required | Subject |
|---|---|
| 2 years | U.S. History and Social Science: (must include 1 year of U.S. History OR 1 semester of U.S. History and 1 semester of Government, AND 1 year of history/social science from either the “a” or “g” subject area) |
| 4 years | English: 4 years of college preparatory English composition/literature (including no more than 1 year of Advanced ESL/ELD) |
| 3 years | Mathematics: (min. of Algebra 1, Geometry, and Algebra II OR integrated math sequences) |
| 2 years | Laboratory Science: 1 year physical and 1 year biological (one course from the “d” subject area and the other from the "d" or “g” area) |
| 2 years | Language Other than English (LOTE): 2 years of the same language; American Sign Language is an acceptable LOTE. |
| 1 year | Visual and Performing Arts:one year or two-one semester courses in the same discipline required, chosen from the following disciplines: Dance, Music, Theatre, Drama, & Visual Arts (e.g., painting, web/graphics, design, film/video, inter/multimedia arts) |
| 1 year | College Prep Electives:(chosen from the "a-f" courses beyond those used to satisfy the requirements of the "a-g" subjects, or courses that have been approved from the U.C. "a-g" list |
- For California high school graduates or residents of California earning a GPA between 2.00 and 2.49 or Non-CA high school graduates or non-residents of California earning a GPA between 2.47and 2.99, students will be evaluated based upon the below supplemental factors.
- Supplemental Factor: Academic Achievement
- CSU Admissions Requirement "A-G" (10th- 12th grade) GPA
- CSU Admissions Requirement: "A-G" Coursework beyond the minimum 30 semesters
- Supplemental Factor: Community Commitment
- Graduating from a local admission area school (CSUCI is not an impacted campus so any CA high school will be considered local area.)
- Supplemental Factor: Other Applicant Attributes
- First Generation College Student (either parent/guardian has not obtained a bachelor’s degree)
- Educational Programs Participation (e.g. AVID, Upward, Bound, Talent Search or Education Opportunity Center, Puente Project, MESA, etc.)
- Supplemental Factor: Academic Achievement
Please note: The California State University (CSU) no longer uses ACT or SAT examinations in determining admission eligibility for all CSU campuses. If accepted to a CSU campus, ACT or SAT test scores can be used as one of the measures to place students in the proper mathematics and written communication courses.
