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Do You Know the Way to San Jose?

Written by Sally Rubenstone | July 5, 2016

Question: So I want to go to a CSU (San Jose State University) in the future, and I was wondering if I am able to contact a guidance counselor to help to a pathway into SJSU? If anyone has an information that will be great. Currently I will be a sophomore in high school and my grades so far my freshman year have been

1st quarter: 3.83

2nd quarter:4.00

3rd quarter:3.50

4th quarter:3.75

Your grades look strong, and you should definitely contact a guidance counselor at your school to discuss your future plans. Don't you have a counselor assigned to you already? Unfortunately, some high schools have cut back on counselors or eliminated them entirely due to budget woes. Is your school among these? I hope not!

Yet even if you don't have a guidance counselor (or if you need to wait until the fall to arrange a meeting), you can learn a lot on your own about CSU admission by going to the CSU Mentor Web site: : http://www.csumentor.edu/admissionapp/ . Be sure to take a close look at the “College Planning" tab. Here you will find information about the courses you must take for admission and how admission requirements can vary from major to major.

Once you have taken Standardized Tests (SAT or ACT) you can also use the “Eligibility Index" to compute your likelihood of acceptance. (See http://www.csumentor.edu/planning/high_school/eligibility_index.asp) If you have not taken the SAT or ACT yet (and, as a rising sophomore, you probably haven't), you can still play around with this tool now, using your current GPA and plugging in different test scores, to see roughly what scores you will need to earn in order to be accepted, if you are able to maintain your current grades.

Under the “Explore CSU Campuses" tab, you can compare your current top choice … San Jose State University … with other colleges in the CSU system. However, you are young to set your sights on one university alone, so you should keep your mind open to additional options (among the CSU campuses and beyond) that meet your profile and preferences.

Of course, a decent guidance counselor can provide you with personalized advice that the Internet won't offer. So I do hope you have access to one. But, if not, there's a lot of information on the CSUMentor Web site and elsewhere in Cyberspace (College Confidential!) to help you reach your goals on your own.

Sally Rubenstone

Sally Rubenstone knows the competitive and often convoluted college admission process inside out: From the first time the topic of college comes up at the dinner table until the last duffel bag is unloaded on a dorm room floor. She is the co-author of Panicked Parents' Guide to College Admissions; The Transfer Student's Guide to Changing Colleges and The International Student's Guide to Going to College in America. Sally has appeared on NBC's Today program and has been quoted in countless publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Weekend, USA Today, U.S. News & World Report, Newsweek, People and Seventeen. Sally has viewed the admissions world from many angles: As a Smith College admission counselor for 15 years, an independent college counselor serving students from a wide range of backgrounds and the author of College Confidential's "Ask the Dean" column. She also taught language arts, social studies, study skills and test preparation in 10 schools, including American international schools in London, Paris, Geneva, Athens and Tel Aviv. As senior advisor to College Confidential since 2002, Sally has helped hundreds of students and parents navigate the college admissions maze. In 2008, she co-founded College Karma, a private college consulting firm, with her College Confidential colleague Dave Berry, and she continues to serve as a College Confidential advisor. Sally and her husband, Chris Petrides, became first-time parents in 1997 at the ripe-old age of 45. So Sally was nearly an official senior citizen when her son Jack began the college selection process, and when she was finally able to practice what she had preached for more than three decades.