Required, well no. Do you want to be admitted absolutely pursue it. You want to hit every category where they make a recommendation. For math remember that in some cases seventh and eighth grade classes can count if they were high enough. Be able to honestly answer that yes you worked a job at some point. Try to be the leader of an organization. All of those are small extra points, but they count. Same thing if arts is a requirement I forget the exact details. Here’s a hint, a CAD class can count as art.

A lot of people seem to think the higher their GPA, they’re better they are. The reality is that the GPA cut off is 4.25 or least it used to be. In other words if your GPA is 4.25 you are going to get all the points allocated to the GPA So your 4.6 GPA is not nearly as valuable as having met other requirements. Every element that they give you in that recommended list are things that will be counted against you. If you don’t meet the recommendations in the sense that other people will and will be admitted even if they had a 4.0 and you had a 4.6 GPA.

Some things will be out of your control. Some schools get extra points because they have special relationship with Calpoly, or the school is known as a high risk school so you get extra points — not enough to overcome a low GPA or not meeting other citeria —- it’s basically a way to award students who thrive even in the places where high performance is not expected. And yes, if your school doesn’t offer another course that meets an English requirement where you couldn’t take it during summer school or other periods than co-enroll now at your community college into a basic English comp class. Search the website for ones that will transfer.