Hello,
I am hoping to transfer to USC next year. I am an economics major studying at community college. I have been doing well in my classes and have retained a 4.0 GPA. I also am very involved with extra circulars on my campus, especially the business club to which I am the Vice President. I expect to keep that 4.0 GPA and get even more involved on my campus before I transfer. With all of these achievements, unfortunately I have withdrawn from 3 classes. I had valid reasons for this and would absolutely articulate that in my essay. With all this being said, will I be a competitive applicant with these 3 Ws??
I have heard mixed things online and from my counselors at school. The general consensus is that USC does not like any Ws at all. This worries me. I am afraid all this work I have done will go to waste because of these three withdrawals. Can someone please let me know how badly this will affect my application? I would love to hear from anyone who has personally transferred with Ws as well.
I had 2 Ws and a 4.0 over 60 units. Not once was I worried I wouldn’t get in. I got into Berkeley and UCLA (regents) for Business/Business Econ. Also got into Cornell Hotel, but stuck to USC. I did notice USC didn’t offer me the 1/4 tuition transfer merit aid, despite having a 4.0 though. I have financial aid that would have nullified it, but I don’t think they take that into account - I was probably not a contender because of the Ws.
I don’t think W’s are a problem either. I read on a USC’s admissions blog from an admissions counselor that the most competitive applicants generally do not have any W"s at all, but tons of people with 2 or 3 W’s got in this year - even lots of out of state people too. So this would make me think they don’t mind just a few of them.
If it makes you feel any better, I was rejected from every school I applied to in 2014. I had a 4.0 and was asked to apply for the Regents scholarship at UCLA, but I didn’t even get into UCLA! This year, I had to take a W after a heart scare and in a complete reversal, I got into every school that rejected me the year before (UCLA, USC, etc.) So I don’t think your W’s are all that bad provided you can give a little explanation of why you have them.
@epicer I haven’t attended yet, sadly. I feel like I’m missing out on so much I think it may have been my unit count that made me a spring admit. I have about 100 units, so they probably figured I could wait, but ugh. I’m looking forward to orientation in December though and finally getting closer to actually being a Trojan. I wish I got in for your major, but my major is going to be computational linguistics (new major the ling advisor told me about). Hopefully I can get a “real” comp sci masters or something afterwards, but if not, I’m fine with going to grad school for more ling stuff.
How about you? How are you liking it? I look at all the pages of professors I want to take classes with hah, so I’m pretty excited
@zettasyntax I’m not CSBA yet. I’m actually in the process of switching into Viterbi. You should definitely do it if you think CS is your calling. You only need to take 3 technical classes in your first semester (CS 103/CS 109 + 1 math) and achieve a 3.0+ to get in. You’ll probably be taking these classes anyway in your first semester as comp linguistics, so no downside in trying. Finishing the all classes in time is another matter, but I don’t feel so bad about taking my time because financial aid is pretty good.
USC is great, it’s everything I thought it would be, and I really did my research as I’m sure you did too. We definitely both made the right choice by turning down UCLA haha
@epicer I have always wanted to be a CS major, but I’m no whiz at it. You’re right though, CS 103/CS 109 are the first classes the ling advisor suggested I take my first semester for comp ling, so I could always try, I suppose I definitely think it would take me forever to finish all of the requirements (and even more so that I’m a semester behind already), but my financial aid is pretty decent too - I really just have to pay for housing that they say comes out to $7,800 a semester.
I actually was all set to attend UCLA, but when I went for orientation, I felt so ignored. My student advisor didn’t let me take a single class I wanted to and I just didn’t get the best impression of the school from that whole experience. How have your CS classes been if you don’t mind me asking? I have no idea what CS 109 is actually supposed to cover no matter how many times I read over the course description.
@zettasyntax I went to Bruin day and I didn’t even bother attending orientation after that. The entire school is just off, without meaning to sound derogatory. I have family members and mentors that attended UCLA and they are fantastic, successful people. However, I think in the past 20 years, the environment has really changed and it is beginning to breed a different type of individual.
There is… a self-perpetuating atmosphere that drives the staff and students there to not be particularly nice people. I stopped by UCLA a week ago to hang out with a friend that goes there, and I wore a subtle black Trojan SC cap - not anything like a f*cla shirt. I had people knock it off my head while walking past, got shoulder checked by some asian guy, and had multiple frat guys yelling insults as I walked alongside my buddy wearing full Bruin blue, who was pretty embarrassed at what was going on. I took it in stride, but I don’t see the same level of immaturity towards the rivalry at USC, where people (often graduate students) wear Stanford, Cal, and UCLA gear and aren’t looked at twice. My buddy attributed it to constant midterm season, which I thought was a lame reason, but I realized that people crowded around each other in packed spaces and literally everyone looked really unhappy and stressed. It’s like everyone there wants to tear each other apart, and when they’re given an identifiable target like a USC student, they go ballistic. It made me wonder if that was what it was like to be a minority in a different time era - if so, it was culturally eye opening.
On a different note, the CS classes at USC are very rewarding. The classes in general are challenging but doable. You can obviously expect to see your GPA drop from community college, but since you’re a 3.9-4.0 student like myself, you aren’t likely to flunk out in your first semester. CS 109 is a very messy course, they’re looking to restructure it entirely. I don’t think I can clearly describe it to you either, but it’s kind of a more general overview of the Computer Science domain. It’s not a very technical course though, so don’t be too concerned about getting a jumpstart. I would definitely recommend that you learn some very elementary coding concepts just as control flow and looping so you can jump into CS103. It’s a really fun course and is making me excited for this major, but it moves very fast. So far, the professors and guest lecturers have way exceeded my expectations aside from a few - definitely listen to ratemyprof.
So I don’t think your W’s are all that bad provided you can give a little explanation of why you have them.
I think it may have been my unit count that made me a spring admit. I have about 100 units, so they probably figured I could wait, but ugh. I’m looking forward to orientation in December though and finally getting closer to actually being a Trojan. I wish I got in for your major, but my major is going to be computational linguistics (new major the ling advisor told me about). Hopefully I can get a “real” comp sci masters or something afterwards, but if not, I’m fine with going to grad school for more ling stuff.