2 quick questions

<p>1) In my school each student must have a "junior confrence" This is when the student meets with his or her guidance counselor and discuss what colleges are appropriate for them. I live in NY so my counselor knows very little about west coast schools. He told me USC would be a safety and i was thinking that it would be closer to a reach. I Know no one likes "chancing" kids so ill give u the quick facts. I have around 3.9 unweighted gpa and a 4.1 weighted. I take the hardest classes availabe (IB), and i recieved a 2060 on my sats but im retaking them and hope to break a 2100. I know no one likes to chance people but because my opinion is so different than my counselor's i was wondering if anyone could help me because I really want to go to a good school that knows how to have a good time and USC sounds perfect.</p>

<p>2) I have recently thought about maybe applying to Marshall. I havent taken any business classes in high school becasue they are all jokes that students who are failing their other classes take in order to pass. Also, all of my ec's dont have anything to do with business. Will this hurt me alot in applying to Marshall? If I dont apply to Marshall and get into USC can i transfer into Marshall?</p>

<p>I can't speak for Marshall, but for your first question...
USC would definitely be more of a reach, not that you couldn't do it, though. Your stats sound similar to mine, and would be really good if you could bump your sats up a bit. I say you have a strong chance if your essay and short answers are well written.</p>

<p>I mean it all varies depending on your application (since it's much more than just GPA and SAT score), but I would definitely not say that USC is a "safety" for you. I wouldn't really say it was a huge reach either, though.</p>

<p>yeah i was thinking it was like between a slight reach and a fit. When he said safety i was like are you out of your mind.</p>

<p>i'm deciding between Vanderbilt and USC (i got into the thematic option there) ... what do you think i should do?</p>

<p>I don't think USC is THAT big of a reach; I think your GPA is really good! Mine was only a 3.5 UW.</p>

<p>Just boost your SAT a little bit, hopefully 2100+ Mine was a 2220, and I think that did the trick (offset low GPA)</p>

<p>i'd say usc is a match for you, but its admissions seem to be weighted heavily on essay and other objective things, so do well on your application, and you have just as good a chance as any. </p>

<p>good luck.</p>

<p>Your stats are fine, my best piece of advice is to just write great essays, don't write what you think they want to hear nor what sounds intelligent, be yourself and have fun with it.</p>

<p>I was admitted for next year (given it was spring but that is more then all but 3 other people in my class) I have a 3.7 weighted GPA 3.4 unweighted, and a 1710 SAT score, 26 ACT and i got in over people with your stats and even higher, all i can really attribute it to is my essays, recommendations and possibly extra cirricular activites. So have fun with the essays, you have nothing to lose!</p>

<p>You're stats are fine but I definitely wouldn't call USC a safety, especially since Marshall is one of the harder programs to gain admission to at USC. Your acceptance will likely depend greatly upon your EC and volunteer involvement, essays, and recs. You've definitely got a great shot though.</p>

<p>Good luck next year!</p>

<p>Since the decisions just came out, you can compare your stats. Remember to look at unweighted GPA because all high schools calculate weighted GPA differently. </p>

<p>Official USC Class of 2011 Decisions Thread
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=294755%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=294755&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>The Rejects Corner-
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=322426%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=322426&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Your stats are good but by no means is USC a safety. Many with your stats did not get in. EC's, essays, your major, etc., will be important factors.</p>