General Requirements | First-year Students, Admissions, Oregon State University

First-year students

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Admission Requirements

Selection of First Year Students

OSU's admission requirements promote student success by assessing student preparedness and academic potential in the unique context of each student's personal experience. Admission assessment will consider all achievements, both academic and non-academic, to enroll students with a broad range of characteristics and perspectives. Considerations include, but are not limited to: academic achievement, creativity, initiative, motivation, leadership, persistence, service to others, intellectual curiosity, exceptional personal or academic recognition, unusual talent or ability, substantial experience with other cultures, and ability to overcome significant challenges.

The admissions process consists of a fair and comprehensive review of all applicants to determine potential success at OSU. It is crucial for applicants to carefully complete the application process by providing thorough information. Estimating the likelihood of admission is very difficult without considering the complete application file.

Please note that academic performance is not the sole criterion for admission to the university. The university may evaluate a person's behavior and background to determine their ability to maintain the standards of academic and professional conduct expected at the university. An evaluation may take into consideration current behavior and performance as well as past experiences and actions. Simply qualifying for admission does not guarantee admission.

Regular Admission

The newest version of the SAT and ACT exams include a written essay portion. OSU requires students graduating in the year 2006 and beyond to submit scores for the new SAT Reasoning Test including the written essay test, or ACT test scores including the ACT writing exam.

Note: Only scores sent electronically from College Board (SAT) and/or American College Testing (ACT) will be considered official and used for admission purposes.

It is not an advantage to pay extra for "rush" scores and in some cases may add to the time it will take to process the scores within our office.

The SAT college code for Oregon State University is 4586.
The ACT college code for Oregon State University is 3482.

Testing Contact Information

Initial admission selections are based on a holistic assessment of the criteria listed below:

Strength of Curriculum:

Quality, quantity, and level of coursework throughout the entire high school program, especially coursework completed beyond the minimum courses required (see high school course requirements chart).
AP, IB, Oregon PASS, or college coursework completed or in progress.
Strength of the program taken within the context of the high school attended.
Completion of a progressively challenging math sequence, demonstrated by performance.

Academic Performance:

Minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.0 and completion of 14 required subject area courses.
Class rank taken in context with academic rigor and class size of high school attended.
Performance on standardized tests: SAT I, or ACT. SAT II subject tests will be considered when available.

Insight Resume:

Understanding of you as a unique, contributing individual.
Your accomplishments, perspectives, experiences, and talents.
Your achievements within the context of your social and personal circumstances.
Participation in activities that develop academic, intellectual, and leadership abilities.

High School Course Requirements

High school students must graduate from standard (private) or accredited (public) high schools. (See Home School Requirements for additional information.)

Required Subject Area Courses

College Preparatory Subjects	Minimum units	Grades received must be C- or above in each class.
English	4 years
Mathematics	3 years	Culminating at the Algebra II level or higher
Social Studies	3 years
Science	2 years	One year each of two different sciences (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, etc.)
Foreign Language (not required if high school graduation or GED date prior to 1997)	2 years	May be met in any one of these ways: Completing two years of the same high school-level foreign language Earning grade of C- or higher in the third year of high school-level foreign language Completing two consecutive quarters of the same college-level foreign language Earning a satisfactory score on an approved assessment of foreign language knowledge Demonstrating proficiency in American Sign Language (ASL) Completion of grades 1-7 at a school in which all courses are taught in a language other than English. (Documentation is required.)

Future Students