^ 110% agreed
I am going to be applying this year to USC; I am currently a freshmen at a CC. My question is, what are my chances of getting into Viterbi school of engineering as a CS major. I took a summer course and got an A, I plan to maintain a 4.0 throughout the school year. By the end of this semester I will have completed 13 transferable units, I’m also taking a winter course for the additional units since I will only be taking 15 next semester. But most of my courses are GEs. Do I even bother to apply to Viterbi or should I apply to Dornsife as a different major. Note: my goal is to get into USC Fall 2017 despite my major since I am still undecided. Any advice would extremely help! Thanks!
is it better to take the required courses before you submit ur application or can we take it spring semester or winter/ spring quarter?
Thanks
@Cisco524 Apply as undecided.
@gottastudy54 it doesn’t matter, just show them your getting it done.
@CornellAEMplease thanks. And the GPA you submit for your application is after the fall quarter right? Or is it the whole year.
So I guess my question is if you were to screw up ur GPA a bit in the Fall, can you bring it back up the next 2 quarters and still have a strong application?
@Cisco524 I would recommend still applying for your major in Viterbi. I’m going to be applying for Marshall and I’m taking mostly GEs because those schools would prefer that you save major-related coursework until after you transfer. You don’t have to do this, but I’ll be applying for my desired major as my first choice major, and undeclared as my second choice major, so that I have a good shot at getting in undeclared (given that I’m taking so many GEs) if I’m not accepted by Marshall.
@gottastudy54 it won’t really impact the decision you receive, however, you could be waiting quite awhile for a decision (possibly June, July). Most of the people that had to wait that long last year were those who had important classes (like the math and writing requirements) in progress during their spring semester, so they had received a Spring Grade Request (SGR). While waiting awhile isn’t a problem for some people, it is for others when you take into account that USC’s on campus housing fills up by late May and lots of off campus housing is booked by mid June, and it could also force you to place deposits on another school in case you don’t get accepted by USC (if you’re applying to other schools).
@penntousc thank you so much for the detailed response. The reason why I was wondering was because I took a summer course in math which I did not do well in because I had joined almost half way through the class. During orientation, I was recommended to take the course without knowing how late I was joining.
I was thinking about taking 12 units this quarter, taking a stats and econ class and a music class(my current major) and aiming for a 4.0 or 3.9 this quarter.
Is the number of units im taking too little?
And if I explain why I received a low grade during the summer course and my grades during fall quarter, will I still have a good chance at applying?
I’m currently attending a UC as a music major with 3, 10 week quarters( fall, winter, spring) and would like to transfer as a economics major or interested in poli sci.
@gottastudy54 I would recommend avoiding an Econ course. It will likely transfer, but USC is pretty strict about their Econ course so I’m doubtful that it would be an equivalent. I’m in a semester system so I don’t know much about the quarter system, however it doesn’t really matter when you get the credits as long as you have 30+ units (half year equivalent) by the end of your school year (spring quarter?). I definitely would recommend explaining that math course dilemma, but you should try not to sound too defensive because the last thing you would want is for them to reject you because they think you’re just making excuses… but don’t be afraid to explain anything that you think NEEDS to be explained.
Also I was thinking about taking 2, 1 unit classes to boost my gpa, but since they are 1 unit each, if I were to get an A on both of them it would only raise my gpa by .02 max.
Is the increase in gpa worth it?
@gottastudy54 I wouldn’t worry about it
Hey guys, I’m an econ/math major at a small four year state school in MA. I’m trying to transfer to USC as a junior (70 credits). I have a bit of an issue though.
I know that two semesters of English (especially a course that is a WRIT 130 equivalent) are required but I haven’t taken a single one. If I take my uni’s WRIT 130 equivalent in the Spring semester, I’ll be taking it in the middle of the transfer process.
I read that USC can waive the two semester English requirement for people from four year universities, but that was outdated information from a few years ago. Do you think they’d reject my application for not completing the English requirements, even if I’m taking the WRIT 130 equivalent in the Spring semester while in the process of transferring?
@mkjmkj more than likely they’ll just send you a spring grade request so that they can see your grade in that class before giving coming to a decision, which just means that you may have to wait a little longer for a decision, but they definitely won’t reject you for not having it completed before submitting your application.
@Elizabeth223 hi, I got in for Spring 2017. In my essays I think I did a decent job of explaining how I wanted to apply my major to the career I had in mind, and cited USC resources that I would use to do it, as someone else here suggested. It’s okay if you’re not sure what you want to do in the future, just write about a potential career interest and (again) USC resources you want to use to help you figure it out. Hope that helps
Hi@USofAwesome ask your counselor then correct me if I’m wrong, but calc 1 at USC is math 125 which leads me to believe that math 118 is pre calc after all, but again double check this.
I think you can find a way to address your high school grades in your essays, maybe talk about how it shaped your thinking going into college by making you want to do better?? Your gpa looks great, and even if it was a little lower I’d still encourage you to apply. As far as your credit count goes, you should explain your reasons for taking fewer credits in the additional information portion. The last thing you want is for the counselors to think you’re a slacker by only taking a few credits.
Overall, you sound like a great candidate, don’t count yourself out before you’ve even begun. Good luck
@vimyle I agree with what everyone else said about ECs. I would also add that if your high school ECs/awards were really good you should copy/paste your high school activities resume in the additional information section. I did that bc I had a low grade in one of my college classes, and above the resume I wrote “I regret that my physics grade is low, this is a better representation of my work ethic” or something like. Hope that helps
@Cisco524 have you crossed-checked the courses you’ve already taken with USC’s engineering pre-reqs? If you’re really undecided, apply to Viterbi as your first choice and undeclared as your second. I’m not totally familiar with the process, but I believe you can transfer internally to Viterbi
@gottastudy54 it’s better to take the required courses before. If you do well in them that’ll give you an advantage over the applicant who won’t take them until next semester, because the counselors will have more to rate you on. And yes, your spring grades can help your chances if you are given a spring grade request (sgr)
@gottastudy54 @penntousc note on the Econ course thing: dornsife actually requires that you take Econ 1 and 2 to transfer as an Econ major, seen here http://admission.usc.edu/docs/TransferringToUSC.pdf
I guess it’s just Marshall that won’t accept Econ credits from other schools, which is weird but whatever
@mkjmkj I went to a year that only offered one freshman writing course. The way my counselor explained it, they’ll waive the 2 semester English requirement for transfer applicants but you’ll have to take their 2nd writing course if you get in. @penntousc is right so take whatever is availible to you. I was just accepted for this spring, so unless they changed the requirements within the last year, I’m sure the same will apply to you