Starting Smart

It’s a truth universally acknowledged, that the early bird catches the worm and this especially true when preparing for university. Hopefully students and parents have begun to hear rumblings of the new statewide initiative called the Early Start Program.  In a nutshell, the CSU Broad of Trustees has mandated that from fall 2011 onward, any in-state, first-time freshman admitted to any CSU campus must demonstrate college readiness in Math and English or begin their remediation prior to enrollment.  In other words, they must get an Early Start on their success in college.

Historically nearly 60% of freshmen admitted to the CSU have been deemed not ready for college level Math and English.  This is true even for students who were in the top one-third of their high school graduating classes!  Doing remediation at the university is an expensive undertaking for everyone involved.  The University must provide specialized courses and students must invest time and money in classes that are often repeats of high school material.  This is particularly frustrating when students realize that remedial courses done at the university do not apply towards graduation or major requirements.

What’s a savvy student to do?  Early preparation is the key to success!  Ideally students will avoid remediation by testing out of the Early Start Program and there are lots of ways to do this.  Juniors can get a jump on gaining exemptions by passing the Early Assessment portion of the California Standards Test.  The CST is administered in the spring at most California public schools and EAP results can be found online via the CSU English and Math Success website.  All is not lost if you don’t pass the EAP; qualifying test scores in the SAT, ACT, AP or CSU English Placement Test (EPT) and Entry Level Math Test (ELM) will also make you exempt.  We’ve created this handy chart for you outlining Early Start exemptions scores in more detail.  What happens if you aren’t exempt through testing?  How will you meet the Early Start requirement?  Stay tuned for the next blog post when I’ll go into detail about Early Start summer classes. Meanwhile, if you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments.