Processing Applications for Impacted Majors

If you apply to a major that is impacted, the review of your application may take more time. By definition, impacted majors have more applicants than can be admitted using the normal CSU admission requirements. When a CSU campus receives approval to declare a major impacted, they also establish a set of additional admission standards to select the applicants who will be admitted.

To apply the higher standards, campuses tend to process applications in one of two ways. In one case, each applicant is reviewed using the new higher standards. For example if the minimum grade point average for the impacted major is 3.0, then this standard will be used when your application comes up for review.

The second processing method will place your application in a pool with all applicants. In this case the campus will compare your complete application to all those in the impaction pool. If a campus uses this method, frequently there is a date by which you must have submitted all of your supporting documents (e.g., transcripts).

In either method, the campus will be using objective criteria that can be used to compare your application to a standard or to other applicants in the pool. There are advantages to both methods, and campuses choose the method which allows them to best meet their enrollment goals.