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Applying to a Cal-State School? Here’s What You Need to Know About the CSU System/Process

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Even among large state university systems in the U.S., the California State University system (referred to as Cal State or CSU, although there are other CSUs in the U.S.) is a behemoth. With a population of over half a million students, staff, and faculty members across its roughly two dozen branches, it plays a huge role in educating the state of California, and also attracts students from outside the state.

If you’re used to thinking of colleges as distinct, singular entities, you may find the mechanics of applying to a large state college system like Cal State to be somewhat confusing. If you’re from outside of California, you may also have questions about how your residency affects your application requirements and chance of being accepted.

Never fear, CollegeVine is here! In this post, you’ll find an outline of the Cal State system of colleges, their application processes and requirements, and the factors you’ll need to consider if you’re thinking about applying. Read on for our advice on making wise choices about the Cal State system.

A Brief Introduction to the Cal State System

The Cal State system as it operates today was created by the California Master Plan for Education of 1960 , but the colleges it consists of have existed for much longer under various names and groupings. Originally intended primarily to educate teachers, these colleges now offer undergraduate and graduate degrees in a full range of fields.

Today, the Cal State system consists of 23 distinct campuses, some of which maintain additional “off-campus” branches that extend their reach to a larger number of students. You can find a full list of these campuses and detailed information on each campus on the Cal State website. Cal State also owns a number of other research and laboratory facilities throughout the state, including an observatory and a ship for training future mariners.

Like most state colleges, the Cal State schools were originally created to serve residents of that state. California residents still enjoy preferential treatment in admissions and a lower in-state tuition rate at the Cal State schools. However, students from other states and even other countries are also eligible to apply.

Currently, nearly 479,000 students attend Cal State each year, and the system lays claim to the title of largest (by population) 4-year state college system in the nation. It’s responsible for half the bachelor’s degrees awarded in California every year, and it awards more bachelor’s degrees each year than any other university system in the U.S.

It’s important to keep in mind that the California State University system is not the same as the University of California (UC) system. Both are systems of public universities in California, but each has its own policies, campus choices, and admissions procedures, and the UC schools are generally more selective and more expensive. To learn more about the UC system and its application requirements, visit the CollegeVine blog post How to Write the University of California Essay Prompts 2017-2018.

Applying to the Cal State System

To be eligible for admission to any of the Cal State schools, you must have successfully completed certain college preparatory courses while you were in high school. If you’ve completed these requirements, your high school GPA and your SAT or ACT scores are plugged into an established equation to produce the single number known as your Eligibility Index (EI).

Your EI is the main factor that determines admission to most of the Cal State schools and majors. Each school and major has its own EI cutoff for admission. This threshold may also depend upon where you live; students who come from the immediate area of the college and, more generally, the state of California receive preference in the form of lower EI cutoffs.

Applying to one or more schools in the Cal State system is different from applying to most other colleges in some significant ways. If you’re hoping to get admitted to a Cal State school, particularly one of the more popular campuses, you’ll need to follow the instructions carefully.

First of all, instead of the Common Application, Coalition Application, or another shared application system, the Cal State schools use their own application system, Cal State Apply. You must use this system to apply to any of the Cal State schools, and you can specify multiple Cal State schools on it if you’d like.

If you take a look at the Cal State admissions website , you’ll see that it lists a “priority application filing period” that lasts from October 1 to November 31 for admission in the next fall semester. The term “priority” is a bit of a misnomer here; at some of the more popular campuses, all the available first-year spaces may be taken during this time period.

In order to have the best possible chance at getting admitted to the Cal State college you’re interested in, you should always plan to submit your initial Cal State application during the priority application filing period. Some colleges in the system may continue to accept applications after November 31, space permitting, but this is not guaranteed.

In certain circumstances, you may have to provide additional information as part of your Cal State application. What this might require of you depends on the school and the situation. (We’ll discuss these circumstances in greater detail below.)

If you’re a first-year applicant (not a transfer applicant), you should not submit any additional documents with your initial application. After you submit your initial application, you’ll be contacted directly with instructions if and when more information becomes necessary. Don’t submit anything extra during the basic application process unless you’re specifically told to do so.

Impacted Campuses and Majors

One special piece of terminology that you’ll find used in the Cal State system is “impacted.” If a Cal State college, or a specific major at a Cal State college, is described as impacted, this means that demand for admission to this college or major exceeds the available space, making admission to this college or major much more competitive.

Whether a particular school or major is impacted can vary from year to year, but some campuses, like Cal State Fullerton , are already known to be impacted for the 2017-2018 application season. Impacted Cal State colleges generally require a higher EI for admission than the others, and impacted majors may require a higher EI than other majors at that college.

Impacted schools and majors may also base their admissions decision on additional information, requiring you to submit supplemental documents. Again, if these documents become necessary, the college will inform you and provide instructions for submission. Don’t submit any additional documents during the initial application process.

Admission for Non-California Residents

As we’ve mentioned, the Cal State system was established specifically to provide educational opportunities to students from California. For this reason, preference in admission is given to California residents, especially those living in the local area of a particular college, and to transfer students from the California community college system.

If you’re not from California, you’re still welcome to apply to the Cal State system. However, you should be aware that you’ll be subject to higher admissions standards. The EI threshold for out-of-state applicants is typically higher, meaning you’ll need higher grades and test scores to get in, and you may also need to submit supplemental documents if the college requests them.

As with most state universities and colleges, it’s also more expensive to attend schools in the Cal State system if you’re from out of state. California residents enjoy lower in-state tuition.

Choosing a Cal State Campus

With so many campus options scattered across the entire state of California, you might find it hard to decide which Cal State schools to apply to. While the schools in this system have a lot in common, and are run by the same chancellor and group of administrators, each campus also has a distinct character of its own.

Some of the Cal State schools are located in major cities like Los Angeles, while others are set in suburbs or small towns. Each school offers its own set of majors, and some of the schools are extra-specialized — Cal Maritime, for instance, is a small Cal State school that only offers a few majors related to maritime science.

Fortunately, the Cal State system’s website provides tools that you can use to help make this decision. Along with information on each college and the academic and other programs they offer, this website offers a Campus Match Tool that allows you to search among the 23 different Cal State schools by factors like size, location, and athletic offerings.

For more details about each campus, it’s a good idea to explore the individual websites of the Cal State colleges you’re interested in, and even to visit and speak to current students to get a more personal perspective. You can find links to each of the Cal State colleges on the Cal State website.

When you submit your initial Cal State application through the Cal State Apply system, you’ll be instructed to specify your campus(es) of choice. If any of the Cal State colleges you choose requires additional information from you in order to make a decision, the individual school(s) will contact you directly and provide more instructions for what to submit and how.

Considering the Cal State system may be a little overwhelming due to its breadth, but within that wide variety of programs, you may very well find one that’s perfect for you. Especially given the early deadlines of the priority application period, if you think any of the Cal State colleges might be a good fit for your less, it’s worth getting to know their process, checking whether you meet their requirements, and putting in your research in advance.

Curious about your chances of acceptance to your dream school? Our free chancing engine takes into account your GPA, test scores, extracurriculars, and other data to predict your odds of acceptance at over 500 colleges across the U.S. We’ll also let you know how you stack up against other applicants and how you can improve your profile. Sign up for your free CollegeVine account today to get started!

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Applying to a Cal State University in 2024

Updated: Oct 2

The California State University (CSU) is a public university system made up of 23 college campuses across the state of California.

Whether your student is applying to one or four of the CSU colleges, they will still apply via the Cal State Apply Application .

Here’s what you need to know for the 2023-24 admissions cycle.

How do students apply to the CSUs?

The application opens Oct. 1 and has "phased deadlines," meaning some campuses will have earlier deadlines than other campuses. Eight campuses will close on November 30th, including Cal Poly San Louis Obispo and San Diego State University. You can verify deadline dates on each campus's website or look it up here.

What is admission based on?

Since 2022, the use of ACT/SAT scores in the admissions process has been suspended for all of the CSU campuses.

As a result, the 23 CSU campuses have implemented a multi-factor review to determine admission eligibility, which includes a combination of:

Completion of the 15-unit comprehensive “A-G” pattern of college prep courses with a qualifying GPA of 3.0 or higher for non-California residents

Supplemental factors

The GPA minimums and the weighting of supplemental information used may vary by campus.

Some CSU campuses are impacted or have impacted programs – meaning the number of applications received from qualified applicants exceeds the number of available spaces. These campuses may use a higher GPA minimum in their admissions process.

For example, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo gives extra consideration when students take beyond the minimum number of semesters required in some of the “A-G” subject areas, such as math, lab science, English, or language other than English. San Diego State University, in addition to considering all of the college-prep coursework students have taken during high school, also considers the performance and the number of units taken in courses most relevant to their intended major (see "Preparation Towards Indicated Area of Study").

The main section of the CSU application asks students to report the average number of hours they participated in extracurricular and/or leadership activities over the most recent 12 months, and the average number of hours they worked per week over the most recent 12 months. Note, students are not asked to list out the activities or work endeavors themselves, simply the amount of time spent engaged in them.

Insider Tip

Students applying to Cal Poly is interested in students' leadership roles . Students may be given extra consideration if they indicate they have held a leadership position in any of their extra-curricular activities or if 25% or more of their work experience is related to their chosen major.

Does CSU consider 9th-grade year grades?

Most CSU campuses only use a GPA derived from “A-G” coursework taken in 10th and 11th grades. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is the only CSU campus that will include 9th grade in their GPA calculation.

Will CSU consider test scores if they are submitted?

The CSU has made it clear that “in no case will standardized test scores be utilized in making admissions decisions for applicants. There will still be a section on the application where students can submit SAT and ACT scores, alongside AP and IB scores, but the test results will be used only for college-level math and English course placement for admitted students.

Will CSU count “credit” or “pass” pass grades?

Yes! The CSU campuses will consider course grades of “credit” or “pass” as fulfilling “a-g” requirements for those courses completed from the spring 2020 term to the summer 2021 term. Grades of credit/pass or no credit/no pass will satisfy eligibility requirements, but they will not be included in the calculation of high school GPA.

Is an essay required?

Although the CSU campuses will be looking at coursework and non-academic variables such as hours spent in extracurricular activities, the CSU system does not require essays or personal statements and remains as objective as possible in making admissions decisions.

Do I need to submit my transcript or Letters of Recommendation?

Students will self-report their courses and grades in the application and do not submit letters of recommendation.

Where can I learn more about the CSU campuses?

Each CSU campus offers its own events. Find the campuses here and link to their admission events website pages. You can also visit with specific campuses in October: