@Pantafootball My gpa should be around 3.8-3.85 depending on the end of this semester. However I might have a W or two. I was full time all semesters. Do you think i’m a competitive applicant for Marshall?
I will apply this year. Knowing that I will get rejected probably.
See how’d that go. Another year at CC might be really sweet. We can use a little bit of extra time.
@mrgreenjello Just since I’ve lurked and seen all this W talk, it’s hard for me to decide how USC views them. I do vividly recall an admission counselor stating on an admissions blog that they prefer not to see any W’s, but I’ve seen people get into Viterbi and stuff with like 3 W’s, so I guess it really depends. I know that the UC’s are far more forgiving than USC is with W’s.
I have a funny/silly story. One of the things I wrote in my personal statement was how I never took a W mark in any class. However, due to a heart related condition (I had seriously never been to the ER so many times), I had a lot of trouble focusing on my four class (Spanish, math, econ, and an anthro lab). I decided that math was the most demanding, so I slacked off big time and received D’s and F’s on my first few exams. This was after I had sent in my application. I end up dropping the class (getting a W) and boy was I embarrassed after the big fuss I made. A single W won’t mess you up, but more than 2 might be verging on too risky.
@zettasyntax but it would be safe to conclude that the less you have the better your app looks? So we should all strive to not get any haha
@Pantafootball Very true haha. But I would say if you were on the verge of failing a class, I would take the single W on your record. In my case, I probably could have avoided it if USC hadn’t rejected me the first time - thus resulting in me taking 30ish unnecessary units 
I have been following this thread for a while now. Any Dornsife transfer hopefuls?
@gatsby22 I’m applying to Viterbi, but if I get accepted I might try to do research in some labs in Dornsife.
I’m planning to apply to Marshall as a sophomore this year and I am really curious about how my high school record will come into play. I expect to have at least 31 credits by the end of spring semester, so would this discount my high school grades and test scores? If I do want those included, will they still consider them?
@ReallyDoubtful long as you have over 30 transferable credits, they don’t consider HS GPA
Hoping to transfer to USC as a junior. Just started my second year @ community college.
I’ve completed 39 units so far with a 3.87 GPA (got a B in my Calc 1 class).
Finished or finishing all the USC transfer GE’s except for bio and one other, and also doing the TAP certification from my school.
Planning on applying to UC’s but the DREAM is USC! :x
(UCLA, UCSB, UCSD)
Currently signed up for 17 units:
Calc 2, psychology honors, art history honors, poli sci, accounting
Do I have a good chance of getting into USC Marshall?
Hey everyone! I’m currently attending SMC and I am planning on applying to USC as winter rolls along (fingers crossed for fall 2017!). Although the semester just began, I feel confident that I can maintain the 4.0 gpa I currently have thanks to the incredible professors teaching me… by the time first semester ends, I will have completed 15 units. However, I was wondering if anyone accepted might have any advice regarding the essay writing portion? Any help would be much appreciated, but regardless, glad to be part of this thread.
Fight On!! :)>-
(P.S: I’ll be applying to dorsnife as a philosophy major. Anyone applying in the same major/school: hmu!)
@gatsby22 Me haha. Majoring in philosophy. You?
@Elizabeth223 Philosophy is pretty cool! I took a symbolic logic class at Pierce College and boy, was it mind boggling. It really made me think. The professor was so kind though and lenient with grading. The material was tough and she understood that not every student would immediately grasp it.
Anyway, as for the essay portion, I wrote the most cliché thing ever, so I am unsure of what to actually suggest. If anything, I like to say that you should slip in some specific information about the school - like you’ve really researched the school and that USC is the only school for you. For instance, I mentioned a psycholinguistics lab and the professor in charge of it, so I’d like to think that showed my interest in the school. I also slipped “fight on” into my concluding sentences lol, so I’m really not one to be giving advice, but maybe mine was so cheesy, that it stood out to them.
@zettasyntax I hope all of their schools like cheesy, I’m worried somewhere like their engineering school might actually hate cheesy lol.
Anyone trying to go in as Marshall or Economics?
So I’m trying to transfer for sophomore year for econ and I have a couple of questions if anyone could help me (thanks in advance! 
)
About the pre-reqs…The transfer brochure says that for econ I need to do Math 118 which is like the Foundation of Calculus. The thing is I placed into precalc and would take that my spring semester. Is this requirement a dealbreaker or only for junior transfers? I need to know because in that case I would take a placement test and try to place into Calc 1.
Also, due to financial reasons I couldn’t take 15 credits my first semester (I did 12) and might not be able to do so my spring semester either… would that significantly lower my chances?
Also lastly, I didn’t do so well in high school (although its kind of a complicated situation I moved to Germany and struggled with German) but will probably get a 3.8 to 4.0 my first college semester and assuming that if I have to take Calc 1 and somehow manage to pull off a good grade in that class (I’m really nervous about calc lol) I would also have a high GPA my spring semester. Do you guys think its possible for me to get in as a sophomore (as in is it even worth applying)? Would it decrease my chances if I got rejected and applied again for junior transfer?
@USofAwesome For the first question, I’m not too sure about that requirement, but I’ve emailed one of the counselors and he said that none of the resources/brochures are geared towards juniors only. In other words, all the available resources can be applied for sophomore transfers, and in fact, most of the students he has helped are sophomore transfers. Not sure if that helps…
Do any of you guys know the importance of extracurricular activities? Does it make you a stronger candidate? If so, are we allowed to use the ECs from high school?
I’m currently a freshman at UCI and I would rather focus my attention on maintaining a high GPA.
@vimyle I’m sure it helps and makes your application stronger, but I think your GPA carries more weight. So if joining clubs or volunteering would hurt your GPA it’s probably not worth it. Maybe try finding something that doesn’t take too much time and that’s related to your major or intended major.