@smc2usc @dwightsbeetfarm second semester, transferring as a sophomore! taking english 2 and math 28 right now to finish the prerqs for marshall. best of luck to you guys, hopefully the hype about smc is true hahaha.
Guys,
I go to community college in NY my CC GPA is: 4.0 (52 units completed till now and 17 in progress spring semester)
Completed Calc 1(A) and Eng requirement (A+)
G/E: IDK
I went to high school in a different country. High School GPA:96.20/100
I never took SAT or ACT, also not required.
I have a solid essay.
Three recommendations and they are really good. Two from Accounting Professor, one Business
ECs: Accounting Intern at a private company.
Treasurer of Accounting Society
Tutoring
Volunteer at local center 100+ hours
PTK Member
Dean’s List
Honor’s Student
The thing is, as I mentioned above, I thought I needed to submit TOEFL as a requirement, and I sent it. It turns out that I did not have to. I got 85. Their recommended score is 100. You guys think TOEFL will look good on my application?
@zettasyntax where did you place after the placement exam? spanish was my first language but i stopped speaking it when i was learning english and i’m pretty rusty since i only speak it with my grandparents and it consists of basic greetings. i took the ap spanish lang in hs but i got a 3 on it (i actually think i could have gotten a 4 on it but i got the times mixed up during one of my essays bc i couldnt see the stop time well so i ended up writing only a paragraph instead of 4). i really dont want to take foreign lang at usc bc if i have to, i might not be able to minor in screenwriting if i want to graduate spring 2020. any suggestions as to how i can prep before the exam in the event that i am admitted? would it be a good idea to start prepping now?
@dwightsbeetfarm Sure!
I’m a Comm Major at a CCC (Junior Transfer; Currently a sophomore)
TTP: Yes
GPA: 3.9
GEs: 6/8 completed, 2 in progress
Foreign Language: Complete
Units Completed: 48
Units IP: 16
Extracurriculars: I work part time on campus as a tutor for HS subjects (GED/ HS diploma program) and I’m part of a UVSA (Union of Vietnamese Student Association).
Essays: 7 or 8/10; I think they were solid essays, but I wouldn’t say they were amazing
Letters of Rec: One from my comm professor who is a USC alum; she got both her BA and MA from USC
I’ll keep you posted about the decision, but I hope this helps somehow!
@NotLonelyIsland since you completed the English requirement your first semester, I’m assuming you used AP credits to be able to take that second English class your first semester? Did you send your AP scores to USC? I’m asking because I was able to skip first semester of English bc of AP English but I did not send USC my AP scores.
@giakhanhngo123 thanks! our stats are very similar lol. only difference is that i dont have the lang requirement done and i am not ttp
@dwightsbeetfarm are you a comm major as well?
I wouldn’t fret too much about the foreign language requirement! After all, it is only a graduation requirement. I don’t know a lot about the placement test, but I will say that the third level course for Spanish (at least at my school) was kinda difficult. It’s a lot of Spanish literature, so although I don’t know what’s on the placement test, I would say expect some lit to be on there (someone correct me if I’m wrong lol). If you at least know the basics of Spanish, I’m sure you could do well enough on the placement test to get placed into the third level though!
@collegerose Yup I used my AP Lang score to get me into that English class in the fall. I sent my scores to USC officially and was asked through email last week to send an unofficial one (not sure why, maybe they didn’t see my official one). They probably wanted it bc I’m using a math score to waive the Marshall math pre-req. I don’t think you’d have to send in your score since you only really needed it to take that English class. Also p sure that USC doesn’t grant any credit for any AP english tests. But tbh if your scores look good, I’d just email the unofficial PDF score report to your counselor (especially if they waive any GEs).
@giakhanhngo123 yes, I am a comm major! yeah i was stressing about that even though i am planning on taking the placement test. I was really salty when i saw i got a 3 on the ap exam and i am 99% sure it was bc of the time mistake but i also took the exam without taking the class so who knows maybe it was that too
@NotLonelyIsland ah I see. Yeah I haven’t received any requests for an AP score report but I’ll contact my counselor about this. Thanks!
@dwightsbeetfarm I feel you, I honestly hated taking the foreign language classes. It was an honest pain in the butt. Sorry to hear about the AP test (honestly AP tests are so hard and can be the worst), but I’m sure the placement test will be a bit easier!
@dwightsbeetfarm I placed in Spanish III. I’m a heritage Spanish speaker myself, but I really struggle with the “textbook” variety of Spanish. When I would tell my grandma about some of the vocabulary words I learned, she would look at me in bewilderment because she had never heard those terms to describe the objects I was talking about. My professor for Spanish II even said that one of the words I had used all my life doesn’t even exist, lol. So there was a real disconnect between the Spanish I spoke and what I learned in school.
Anyway, the things that tripped me up were the recordings. They played recordings only a given number of times, so I never did manage to grasp all that was said and that’s probably where I messed up the most. I wasn’t able to answer the comprehension questions related to the recordings because I didn’t digest what was said. Maybe you could study the Spanish textbook they use at USC? That might help. Maybe watch some Spanish programming you enjoy to sharpen your listening skills. There was a lot more audio stuff than I remember from community college Spanish courses.
If you do say place into a lower level than you would have liked, they do have these waivers that would allow you to enroll in Spanish III. It basically says that you’re enrolling in the class despite the fact that the placement exam says you aren’t prepared. One of my classmates had used such a waiver to enroll in the course.
If I were to do my language after transfer, would Spanish really be my only option (I would like to do Japanese or Latin)? If so, could I then take a third level course from the get-go?
@StipendAwarded You could take pretty much anything. USC just has to offer a level III course in the language. You could go with Latin. Even if you complete Latin I and II before transfer, you still need to take a placement exam. You can’t just automatically enroll in Latin III.
@zettasyntax do you remember hearing anything about how tough bruce grier is as a counselor? 
also, I read back on an old thread and saw some people mention “conditional acceptance”…so is it possible that sophomores could receive an acceptance letter but be required to get a certain grade in a class?
@durtysouth This is anecdotal, but all of the SMC counselors I’ve talked to have felt pretty adamant that I’m going to get accepted (I, unfortunately, am not as confident), but I think that may say something about Bruce Grier’s record.
His spiel is very GPA focused (“we want to see a preponderance of A’s”), so if your GPA is high, I think you should be in good shape.
@zettasyntax I might ask my counselor. I have gone up to Latin 4 in high school (jumping from 2 to 4). Otherwise, I might have to do it in both semesters of my freshman year at GMU.
Also, would a course like a Japanese Cinema (there is a course in GMU’s catalogue listed under JAPA in the 300 level that was something along the lines of that) count for the requirement?
My GPA, essay, and extracurriculars are all I have going for me. Especially my GPA… meh I pray.
@aznboi4981 What major did you apply to? I had a very high GPA, multiple academic accolades, a good essay, and several extracurriculars, but I got rejected from Interactive Media for having a lousy portfolio.
@StipendAwarded First choice was Business Admin (Marshall) and second was Econ (Dornsife). Luckily no portfolios involved haha