By Jennifer Obiora
Staff Writer
As we’ve entered the new year, college acceptances have now begun rolling out. As our 24-25 seniors started hearing back from some colleges that they have applied to, the topic of which colleges the students enjoyed applying to the most, started to make a buzz. And it seemed that the Cal State system was on the tip of everyone’s tongue! The Cal States is a system of colleges that encase a total of 23 universities that are all located in the state of California. They are a set of schools that differ from UC’s and Private Schools because of their great acceptance rates for out-of-state students and reasonable costs. Seniors have had a lot to say from their experiences of applying to college for the first time.
These different systems have different hubs to apply to them. UCs are applied to using the UC Application, while many private and public colleges are typically applied to using the Common app. Cal States themselves though are applied to using Cal State Apply. Destiny Gomez, a SOAR High School senior says, “The Cal States I applied to were Humboldt, Cal Poly Pomona, CSU Bakersfield, and Chico State.” When asked to explain her application process, she lit up and enthusiastically answered, “Applying to the CSUs was one of the best application processes I went through! I applied to some schools using the Common App, but compared to the CSU’s, it was overall just a way better experience. I found it easy to navigate and got all my applications done in less than a day!” She was not the only senior to rejoice at the relaxing college application though.
Marym Habib, another SOAR High senior, told reporters, “I applied to almost 20 colleges, and by far the Cal states took the least amount of time. My advice for incoming seniors is to also apply for Cal States because one, it’s a pretty simple application, and two, applying to a multitude of colleges gives you better chances.” As the Cal States do not require essays and only look at a student’s grades unlike the Common App and UC application do, many students found Cal State Apply to give them much more relief than their other applications.
As the season of college acceptances comes upon us, some Cal States have already begun making their call— one of the early sets of schools to do so. So to all the upcoming seniors and SOAR Stars who are planning their college lists, if there’s any school you should apply to, it’s a Cal State. I know for a fact that it'll be worth your while!
Comments