College Admission and Research
Where Do Students Begin?
Some students ask where to begin when thinking about college. In general, do well academically in the classes that you are in. For intellectual curiosity, take rigorous courses which you can commit to and earn A's and B's in. Practice academic integrity and stay true to your morals and ethics. Participate in extracurricular activities that will allow you to grow personally, socially, athletically, creatively, etc. Practice leadership, teamwork, organization, communication, and time management skills, as well as perseverance, diligence, empathy, kindness, and good sleep hygiene. Be respectful in your social media posts. Try not to over-schedule both academically and in extracurricular activities, which can lead to stress and burn out. Have fun and make the most of your time in high school.
More specifically, you should have been or can be doing some planning to reach your academic goals each year in high school and working with your school counselor (assigned by your last name) on the WHS Four Year Plan toward college admission eligibility (e.g., for the California State University and University of California systems). Here are the WHS registration materials for each grade level that usually go live in February to register for classes in the next school year.
Then, regularly make sure you are on track to graduate from Washington High School/FUSD. Here is the link for the graduation requirements. Take part in extracurricular activities that are meaningful and enjoyable to you whether they be in sports, leadership, arts, community service, hobbies/interests, academic enrichment, etc. year-round or in the summer when you have more time.
Are You Eligible to Apply to the CSU/UC System?
If you are aiming to be eligible for admission to the Cal State University or University of California systems, you should meet/exceed these CSU requirements or UC requirements (see "A to G" Course List and "A to G" Requirements) depending on how impacted your intended college major is. As you can see here in the UC Information Center, the competition is tough, especially for certain majors such as Computer Science, Engineering, Nursing, Biology, and Business Administration, so prepare a Plan A and Plan B. For many private colleges and universities, meeting the UC recommended requirements will suffice, but the more selective private schools will expect more beyond these requirements, such as additional rigorous or higher-level courses and extracurricular achievements.
Click here for the school's general fall Career, College & Counseling Presentation. This presentation is beneficial to students in all high school grade levels.
Click here for the Junior students' spring College & Career Presentation, which has a lot of useful content and resources, so be sure to sort through it all. This can be beneficial for sophomore and freshman students to review as well.
Click here for the Senior students' fall Private College Application Presentation, which addresses questions about private colleges, letters of recommendation from a teacher and/or a counselor, deadlines, applications, and admissions. It can be beneficial for junior and sophomore students to review as well.
Do You Need Standardized Test Scores?
It depends on the college and your interested major, but they are not needed for the California Community Colleges (CCC's) nor California public universities. See admissions testing guidance here related to the SAT or ACT for the CSU testing requirements and UC testing requirements.
As a rising senior student based on your planned major or program of study, the colleges you will apply to, and you have decided to take the standardized tests, it might be a good idea to take the SAT and ACT test at least once each and see which exam you will score better at, since colleges are indifferent to either test.
Ideal exam dates are in July (ACT), August (SAT), September (ACT) and October (ACT/SAT) of your senior year, so you will have the summer free to study and before senior year courses/classes ramp up.
Due to limited available test centers in Northern California, additional ideal test dates can be November (SAT), December (ACT/SAT), February (ACT), March (SAT) and April (ACT) of your junior year, especially if you are in the double-accelerated math track and/or in AP Calculus by then.
There are many helpful and free resources to prepare with from the College Board, Khan Academy, YouTube, past exams, etc. Mainly, understand the format of the exam, manage your time well on each question and in each section, and take the practice exam multiple times in simulated test environment.
Q&As between a WHS sophomore and the College/Career Specialist:
1. Is taking the SAT a good idea since most colleges don't require it currently, or does it come down to a personal decision?
Generally, it's a good idea at least once, but it depends on your personal situation. Public colleges and universities such as the CCC, UC and CSU systems in CA do not require it any longer. If you plan to apply to some out of state or private universities, then taking either the SAT or ACT at least once might be helpful, especially if you are a good test taker, in accelerated math classes, and don't have to invest a lot of time or money to prepare for the exam. Consider taking the test in case you might need the score for your major, to join college athletic teams, or to appeal your college rejection later. Some colleges have returned to requiring the test scores, so take a look on the colleges' websites and in CommonApp.org. Some colleges will allow the option of using the score for math or English course placement once you have enrolled there.Â
2. If I were to take the SAT for the first time during my junior year, when should I sign up for it? And when will the test be taken?
For students who want to do well on the NMSQT(PSAT) given at their school site in October of junior year so that they can qualify for the distinction as a NMS semifinalist or finalist as well as for the $2500 scholarship, they will start preparing for it the summer before junior year. It makes sense if you are in the double-accelerated math track. Otherwise, you will have to learn many new math concepts just for the exam, but some students can do it.
Generally, preparing for the actual SAT or ACT exam in your junior or senior year is fine and before November of senior year, if you are not applying early action (EA) or early decision (ED) to a private university which would need scores earlier on the college application.
Any SAT exam offered at our school site (usually in early October) you will hear about from school officials, and you will have to register in a Google form a few weeks in advance. You will also find the information on the FUSD website here:  FUSD testing info and registration link. Otherwise, offsite SAT exams located at test centers across the state and country are found here, and the deadlines to register are also here: satsuite.collegeboard.org/sat/test-center-search
3. Is it possible to retake the SAT? If so how many times?
Yes. Usually, it's best not to take it more than 3 times.
4. Do you happen to know where the location of the SAT test will be held? And if so, what time?
Yes. They are listed here on College Board: satsuite.collegeboard.org/sat/test-center-search
5. Since many colleges don't require SAT scores on the application, will that rule of not requiring to have SAT scores change instantly or will students be notified a year before the changes are made?
Colleges will give some advance notice. Depending on the college, they may give a couple of school years or less of advance notice. It's best to check their website frequently which will have the most up to date testing requirements for their freshman applicants. You can also check in CommonApp.org in the application season you are applying.
(Permission to publish the questions was given by the student.)
Where Do I Find Data on Colleges?
Furthermore, based on the colleges and universities that you have heard of and are interested in, use their websites (especially for curriculum, program, major and course information) and these databases below to do more research, and visit the schools virtually or in-person, if possible.
College Navigator - National Center for Education Statistics
Virtual College Tours and Free Classes
The College Tour - Free Classes
More Data in the Common Data Set
Colleges and universities all over the country produce their own Common Data Set (CDS) every year. The CDS is a uniform document about 30 pages long and a tool for you to find statistics about specific colleges and universities. Just Google the term and the name of the school for the following data below. Here is an example for UC San Diego 2023-24.
- Average financial aid award (section H)
- Breakdown of loans versus grants in average financial aid package
- Percentage of financial need met for typical student
- Amount of merit money for students who don’t qualify for need-based aid
- Number of students who receive merit money
- Academic profile of freshman class
- Criteria for admission (including section C8: SAT and ACT policies)
- Undergraduate class sizes
- Faculty/student ratio
- Cost of institution
- Academic offerings and policies
- Degrees conferred
- Transfer admission (section D)
(Source for the above excerpt on CDS: TheCollegeSolution.com)
What Are the College Fits for You?
Consider the following four general categories when researching and applying to colleges that fit a student:
1) Academic fit (majors/minor, programs, co-ops, internships, study abroad, honors, faculty expertise, etc.),
2) Physical fit (geography, distance and ability to commute from home to save money on food & housing costs, weather, city/campus size, city location, class size, faculty to student ratio, etc.),
3) Social fit (culture, arts, athletics, fraternities/sororities, demographics, clubs, etc.), and
probably most importantly,
4) Financial fit (public v. private tuition, cost of attendance, student or parent loans, net price or cost, Student Aid Index, need-based aid such as Pell, Cal and institutional grants, non-need based aid such as institutional grants and scholarships, etc.) See the return on investment (ROI) by college: Ranking 4,500 Colleges by ROI (2022) - CEW Georgetown. Learn more about financial aid and the net price calculator.
(Source for the above excerpt on college fits mostly from Dr. Sally Springer's book: Admission Matters)
The CSU & UC College Applications
Finally, when you are ready to apply to college as a rising/current high school senior student, use these common college applications or platforms. The CSU and UC online applications for you to enter as a college freshman will go live typically on August 1st, while they will open for submission on October 1st. You can pay the fees (approx. $75/college) and submit the applications during the filing period of October 1st through November 30th for the UCs and most CSUs. There is no advantage to filing early, but do not wait until the last week prior to the deadline. See here on how to fill out the UC application: Filling out the UC App.
One of the most common mistakes on the CSU and UC applications in the Academic History section is not matching the area A to G requirements properly or not fulfilling them, especially for Math, Lab Science, and Language Other Than English. Here is the eligibility matrix comparing the two public university systems. There is no need to calculate your CSU or UC GPA within the online applications, which the university does itself. If you are curious about how your GPA will be calculated, see here: UC GPA Calculation and here: CSU GPA Calculation.
More to Consider
There are California Community Colleges (116), CSUs (23), UCs (9), Western Undergraduate Exchange colleges (160+), and many private and out of state colleges and universities (thousands). The point is you have many college options (click here for a spreadsheet). Aim high, stay focused and work hard for your goals, but take good care of your mental and physical health. Life is like a marathon, so go at the pace that is healthy and right for you.
If you intend to major in Business or a STEM field, especially Computer Science, Engineering, Nursing, or Biology, you may have to apply to a longer and more diverse list of colleges* since the acceptance rate is low and can be unpredictable at the UCs (two readers read your application and each spends 10 minutes or less on it), unless you are flexible to attend a community college for two years first. The key is to apply to a balanced and diverse list of colleges to increase your chances of getting into a couple or a few of them if you are ready to go directly to a 4-year university right after high school. If you get accepted into a 4-year as a freshman applicant for one of these aforementioned impacted/selective majors and you have enough funds to attend, then you should take advantage of this great opportunity.
The transfer rate for applicants during junior year is reasonable and even higher for some majors from a community college, such as from Ohlone College to UC Davis, UC Santa Cruz, and UC San Diego, than when applying as a freshman applicant (again, see Transfers by major | UC). Although the social and academic experience will be somewhat different as a junior transfer, the best reason to attend a community college first is you'll save a lot of money. For a third of our WHS students, community college might be the best path before transferring to a 4-year university for financial, academic, vocational, medical, family, and personal reasons. See the types of degrees and certificates at Ohlone College: Degrees & Certificates.Â
FYI, the Ohlone Promise Scholarship application is open to anyone who plans to enroll at Ohlone for two years, independent of financial need. The scholarship application is due March 2nd, and 5 to 12 WHS graduating seniors will win this each year. It’s a full-ride education of two years, worth about $3,400.
The CSUs are public pre-professional universities and great for these majors or professions: Teaching/Education, Nursing, Psychology, Sociology, Public Admin./Safety, Business Admin., Accounting, IT, Computer Science, Engineering, etc. See CSU Labor Market Outcomes here by campus & major: Labor Market Outcomes (calstate.edu). Many of our Fremont students can/do save tens of thousands of dollars by attending and commuting to CSU East Bay and San Jose State, instead of attending the UCs. CSUs are also known commuter schools where the majority of the students commute to college from home. Here is a helpful article/guide from PrepScholar on how to choose among the CSUs.
(* Average cost of attendance (COA) per year for CA residents at the CSU is $28k, while at the UC is $42k. For CA residents at out-of-state public universities: Arizona State (WUE) $32k, Oregon State (WUE) $34k, Purdue $42k, Missouri S&T $47k, Georgia Tech $49k, New Jersey IT $52k, UW-Madison $57k, UW-Seattle $58k, CO School of Mines $62k, etc. Private universities have a COA between $70-90k, but they might give you more financial aid, so check their net price calculator before you apply to save yourself time, effort and money on application fees.)
Additional College Options
Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE) of public colleges and universities in the western US are great options for our California students. Use the WUE Savings Finder to search among hundreds of undergraduate degrees offered at the WUE discounted rate of 150% of resident tuition (or less) by 160+ public colleges and universities across the West. Find the school and program that fit your geographic and educational goals and save an average of $9,000 a year. Popular WUE schools for our California students are Arizona State University, Oregon State University, University of Nevada at Reno, Washington State University at Pullman, and University of Hawaii at Manoa.
Check the Price/Cost Before You Apply
On the financial note, see this page for more details:Â Financial Aid for College.
Estimate your federal student aid (pre-FAFSA) with the Federal Student Aid Estimator.
Use the UC financial aid calculators for each campus Estimate your aid | UC Admissions.
Calculate the net price or cost for private (and public) colleges before applying Net Price Calculator Center (ed.gov).
Additional Resources
CSU Admission Handbook 2024-25
UC Admissions Guide August 2023
College Admissions Decoded Podcasts
Applying to University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Resources from UCSB:
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Freshman/High School Updates:
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Transfer Updates:
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