THE SELECTION PROCESS

What Is The CSU Eligibility Index And The "Academic" GPA?
What Does The Typical Application Pool Look Like?
Application Review: How Important Are The Application Essays & Letters of Recommendation?

What Is The CSU Eligibility Index And The "Academic" GPA?
The CSU Eligibility Index is a combination of your academic GPA and your highest one-sitting SAT I Verbal and Math scores as reported to Cal State Fullerton upon application to the university for general admission. This index is the number used to rank applicants in the initial scholarship ranking phase.

For this scholarship, we use the applicant’s academic GPA for the 10th and 11th grades. The academic GPA may not be the same as the GPA on the high-school transcript, and in many cases, it is lower than stated on the transcript.

The following example is to help give applicants and high-school counselors an idea of how the transcript for the 10th and 11th grades will be evaluated by CSUF, and how the CSU academic GPA and CSU Eligibility Index Score are calculated. The following is an example –the CSUF Office of Admissions and Records determines all final and official academic GPAs and CSU Eligibility Index Scores.

1. All non-academic courses on the transcript for the 10th and 11th grades are not included in the academic GPA computation. These are courses such as physical education, marching band, teacher’s aid, peer tutor, office aid, etc.

2. Add up the number of academic letter grades for the 10th and 11th grades.
In this example:
• 17 “As”, 5 “Bs” (17+5=22 letter grades).

3. Add the number of grade points for the 10th and 11th grades. An “A” is worth 4 points, a “B” 3 points, a “C” 2 points, a “D” 1 point (and an “F” is a zero).
In this example:
• 17 “As” count as 68 grade points (17 A grades x 4 grade points = 68).
• 5 “Bs” count as 15 grade points (5 B grades x 3 grade points = 15).
• Total Grade Points: 68 + 15 = 83

4. Add one point each up to a maximum of 8 points for any Honors or Advanced Placement course on the applicant’s transcript for the 10th and 11th grades only. The student in the example above completed 12 Honors courses during the 10th and 11th grades, and can add the maximum of 8 extra grade points to the current 83 grade points for a new total of 91 grade points.

5. Divide 91 grade points by 22 letter grades. The evaluated CSU academic weighted GPA in this example, rounded up to the nearest 100th of a grade point, is 4.14.

The CSU Eligibility Index is calculated by using the following formula: CSU Academic GPA x 800 + SAT Composite score (highest combined Math and Verbal scores from one test sitting).

The CSU academic eligibility index score for this example is: GPA (4.14) x 800 = 3312 + SAT M/V Composite Score of 1310 (see example score on transcript example above) = 4622

What Does The Typical Application Pool Look Like?
The CSU eligibility index allows for flexibility in the initial ranking phase. A student with a lower GPA can benefit from a higher SAT score, and vice versa, a lower SAT score can be offset by a higher GPA. This formula evens the playing field. The following examples show how two very different students rank as equals in the initial ranking phase of the application process:

Though the difference between GPA and SAT scores for each student is large, their CSU index score is exactly the same. Here are some statistics you might find interesting about our scholarship recipients for the year 2007:

SAT Composite Scores: Average of 1281. Scores ranged from 1100 to 1510.

Academic GPA: Average of 4.24. GPA ranged from 3.85 to 4.44.

CSU Eligibility Index: Average of 4673. Index scores ranged from 4400-4974.

Application Review: How Important Are The Application Essays & Letters of Recommendation?
After the initial academic index ranking, the real work begins. A screening committee comprised of CSUF faculty, administrators, President’s Associates and President’s Scholars review all applications. The essays you write are very important and give the screening committee members an idea of how well you think critically. The scores for these can make or break an application! Poorly written essays can substantially lower an applicant’s overall score in the application pool ranking.

The letters of recommendation from teachers and counselors are also very important to the committee. These references can also substantially affect an applicant’s overall ranking score. The recommendation letters help the reviewers understand your character, and also offer an objective opinion about your dedication to community service and leadership activities.

If you have any questions about the application and it’s various components, please call the program office at (714) 278-3458 or write to scholars@fullerton.edu. We are here to assist you in any way that we can.