College Systems

College & University Information

	Community College Cañada, College of San Mateo, Skyline, Foothill, DeAnza; 107 in California (C.A.)	California State University (C.S.U.) San Jose State, San Francisco State, Hayward State, plus 23 others from Humboldt to San Diego	University of California (U.C.) Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, San Diego	Private Colleges More than 70 in C.A. More than 2,000 in U.S.
Program/ Curriculum	Two-year schools • Career/job entry majors • Preparation for transfer to four-year schools • Associate in Arts (A.A.) degrees • Vocational certificates	Four-year schools • Variety of majors towards Bachelor of Arts (B.A.)/Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degrees • Pre-professional training • Graduate degrees	Four-year schools • Variety of majors towards B.A./B.S. degrees • Pre-professional training • Graduate degrees	Varies
Selectivity	Open enrollment (any student may enroll, regardless of Grade Point Average - G.P.A.)	Eligibility based on GPA, courses taken, a-g requirements. Major and campus impaction can impact admission chances. See CSU impacted programs and schools.	Assess GPA, a-g courses, personal insight questions, and extracurriculars. UC’s utilize a holistic review based on 13 factors.	Range from highly selective to not very selective, based on transcript (courses chosen and grades in those courses), test scores, teacher and counselor recommendations, essays, extracurricular activities, and other criteria; requirements vary
Testing Required	No testing required for admission; placement testing required before registration	Test blind	Test blind	Depends on campus
Letters of Recommendation	None required	None required	None required, though on rare occasions campuses may ask for a letter of rec. after an individual’s application has been submitted.	Depends on campus many schools require one or two teacher recommendations plus a school counselor recommendation
Application Essays	None required	None required	Applicants will need to answer four of eight Personal Insight Questions (PIQ’s). Each answer has a maximum of 350 words. Students get to decide which four they answer, the UC’s have no preference.	Depends on campus
Application Deadlines	Usually several weeks before beginning of each new quarter or semester	October 1 - November 30	Application opens on August 1 every year, and can be submitted anytime between October 1st through November 30th.	Depends on campus
Financial Aid	File a FAFSA or CA Dream Act between October 1st and March 2nd of every year.	File a FAFSA or CA Dream Act between October 1st and March 2nd of every year.	File a FAFSA or CA Dream Act between October 1st and March 2nd of every year.	File a FAFSA or CA Dream Act between October 1st and March 2nd of every year. If your private school is one that particpiates in the CSS Profile, you will need to complete that as well.

California Colleges - All SMHS students have access to this site, just connect via Google sign in with your school email information to begin exploring information on California colleges and learn more about various career options.
List of Test Optional Schools
Peterson's College Search: Use Peterson's online site for alphabetical, geographical, majors lists and more.
Princeton Review Online: Provides rankings of colleges, lists of colleges and more.
College Board Online: Provides search access to colleges by criteria beyond geographical.
California State University: Information center.
Historically Black Colleges and Universities
California Community Colleges: List of community colleges with addresses, phone numbers, and Internet links.
Alphabetical List of American Colleges and Universities