@pomeranian4rich haha yeah I just submitted it and I think it’ll be okay. I think i did manage to make it genuine. I just really didn’t want it to be generic
I have a question about the common app, hopefully someone can clarify for me. I currently have a 4.0 cumulative GPA as an anthropology major. I worked hard so far because USC is my number one choice. I don’t have much extra curricular activities other than working at Panda Express. As I started to do the common app I realized it never asked me for my grades. Since I know that would be the strongest part of my application I’m freaking out. Did I miss the part or do they ask for grades later?
@sc4589 you’ve got nothing to worry about. I’m in the same position in terms of ECs, but USC doesn’t consider them in the transfer admissions process so you won’t be negatively affected. I’m pretty sure they’ll look at your grades when you send your transcripts in, so don’t worry about that either. Good luck!
Ive completed completed them all except the physical science with a Lab. Do ALL of them need to be completed?
@Blue&Gold12 two of the core literacies are required to be completed at USC, but besides that it’s fair game. With the upward trend, good (on target) GPA and completion of the GE curriculum it’s sounds like you’ll have a pretty good chance. Good luck!
I applied yesterday and have yet to get any email from USC or any update on the yousc portal… Anyone know how long it takes?
Just a fun little question: Which of the three questions did you pick and why?
USC believes that one learns best when interacting with people of different backgrounds, experiences and perspectives. Tell us about a time you were exposed to a new idea or when your beliefs were challenged by another point of view.
Describe something outside of your intended academic focus about which you are interested in learning.
What is something about yourself that is essential to understanding you?
@stahboy I chose the last question because I am able to describe my personality traits
@USofAwesome It took maybe a week for me.
@stahboy I chose the second one because I already know what I’d like to minor in and why, and because I struggled/didn’t have enough room to answer questions one and three.
“Describe something outside of your intended academic focus about which you are interested in learning.”
I chose that one to highlight one of my more “hidden” interests.
@penntousc Would you really go as far as to say that EC’s are not considered at all?. While they wouldn’t be the strongest component of one’s application, I’d be inclined to say that ECs can provide some useful background on one’s interests and major choice, right?
@AGoodFloridian I know one sophomore applicant last year who had a 4.0 and lots and lots of EC. Big internships and etc. he was the last to hear and his other friends who had a 3.4 and no ec heard back first. I can’t fathom what the process is but I believe number of GEs completed matters a lot.
@AGoodFloridian in that context I would agree. Being able to see what an applicant’s interests are through the things that they are involved in would help to get a better idea for who they are so that they can determine whether or not that said applicant would be a good fit at USC. However, a student that is the leader of 3 different clubs, has 100+ hours of community service, and has had 2 valuable internships will not be any more qualified for admission that a student with no extracurriculars. For example, I’m taking 5 classes (16 credits) and I have a pizza delivery job. That might not look like anything special, but my boss is willing to be very flexible with my class/studying schedule and it pays pretty decent. I need the money for gas and other miscellaneous things that I may need while in college, so to me, it’s important. I’m not in any clubs because my community college actually has 3 different campuses, the main campus (where just about all events/clubs take place) being 45 minutes away from me. I already spend 6-7 hours there on M/W and have to drive there for one 50min class on Fridays, so not only is it tough to fit in with a job but I would struggle to even afford the gas to get back and forth for club meetings. This is why I believe USC doesn’t evaluate EC’s, because there are lots of applicants in a similar situation to mine that are not necessarily lazy, but preoccupied with other things that come first.
I don’t mean that extracurriculars are completely ignored by any means, because they can provide lots of insight as to who that applicant really is. When people on here ask about it, I always say that they will not increase chance of admission (they actually don’t) because I’ve seen quite a few prospective applicants post in here saying that they have, for example, a GPA in the low-mid 3’s and a handful of W’s, but then write a long list of extracurriculars in hopes that maybe they would balance their application. Of course, when taking into consideration that EC’s matter a lot in the transfer admissions at just about every other school in the country, it would make sense that this is a pretty strong application, but USC has a very unique transfer admissions process which is probably why these threads are so populated. I’m not at all trying to kill anybody’s dreams as I too am trying to get in and am unsure about my chances, but I’m just trying to make people aware of this odd admissions process (at least, as much as we know about it).
Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to make sure I was pretty clear about what I mean when I say extracurriculars don’t matter. I hope no one takes any offense to this post, I’m just trying to help anyone that has any questions and a lot of them seem to be about EC’s so I figured I’d clear that up while responding to your question. In some scenarios, the applicant that I just described above might even get in, who knows lol.
Do both the life science and physical science components of the GE curriculum have to have a lab component or can just one of them have it? For example, I took introductory chemistry last semester and I’m taking environmental biology this semester, but only the environmental biology has a lab component; the chemistry course was only a lecture/discussion course.
@stahboy I chose the last question because I was able to talk about specific personality traits. I talked about my love/curiosity for learning, and I used that opportunity to highlight some examples of when I used my intellectual vitality to learn about interesting things that weren’t even related to my intended major and how it impacted me etc.
@cassidylynnn I believe both of the science GE needs a lab component.
@cassidylynnn I’m in the same situation, and right now I’m going through the general education website to each of the accepted USC courses for the life sciences GE, and plugging the courses into the catalog to see if they have labs. It looks like just about all of them are either lecture/lab options, or lectures with a required lab. This is pretty unfortunate because I too have taken two courses (1 IP) hoping that one fulfills life sciences, but neither have a lab. Just hoping that they’re a little more lenient with transfers.
@pomeranian4rich what do you think they’d say if I simply didn’t have any options for the life sciences (that included a lab portion) on the articulation agreement? This limited articulation agreement is really starting to frustrate me lol
@pomeranian4rich well that sucks. Ugh I don’t want to take chemistry again 
It kind of sucks because I didn’t know that I wanted to transfer schools until the beginning of this school year, so I had already registered for all my fall classes by the time I knew I wanted to transfer. My university requires one physical science course and one life science course, and at least one of those classes must have a lab component. That is why I am only taking one course that has a lab. This is frustrating. On the bright side, if I did have to re-take chemistry, it would be an easy A again lol.
@cassidylynnn hi there! I am a business admin spring admit for this semester and i got in over the summer. i got a 5 on the ap psych test in high school and it only counts for credit. not for GE credit though because it does not have a lab. hope this answers your question!
If anyone has questions i am a business administration major. I graduated hs class of 2015 but was admitted last summer for this current spring semester as a junior, rather than a sophomore. wahoo! I transferred from a CC with 45+ units transferred in one year. let me know!