Chance an IL kid trying to go to Cali! (:

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Southern California
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<p>Hey CC, i'm an out of state resident who really wants to go to school in California. Many of the kids in the honors/AP Curriculum at my high school end up going to U of I in Urbana-Champaign, and i'm looking for a new experience for college. Our school colors are even identical; orange and blue. I was looking at rankings as such, and many of the UC schools were ranked higher than U of I, and they're in California. Living in California beats living in Illinois anyday, and I speak from experience, as i went to junior high in Cali. Anyway i'm ranting now, so i'll stop. I'm applying to all the UCs who placed higher than U of I, so if you see this post copied on the other UC forums, :P. </p>

<p>UW GPA: 3.59
WGPA: 4.22
UC GPA + GPA rant: Not too sure how this works yet, someone gave me a link to a UC GPA calculator, and it said i had a 4.44 UC GPA, which makes no sense. My GPA shows an extremely significant upward trend. My freshman and sophomore years were nothing special, but my sophomore year was an improvement upon my freshman year. I managed to pull off straight As during junior year, and I hope to repeat the feat during senior year. I've taken the most rigorous courses our school has to offer. I've completed 5 AP classes so far, and i'm taking 4 AP classes this year. The rest of my classes, gym excluded, are at the Honors level. I'm planning to milk my upward trend in GPA, but my mediocre performance during freshman year really hurts. The UC GPA calculator told me to discount 9th grade, and input everything beyond 9th, and as i'm currently a senior, I entered my soph + junior grades. I've taken way more than 8 honors/AP classes, so i put 8 in the box that asks for AP/Honors classes, and hit the calculate button. I'm sure i did something wrong, as i've seen other students with a much higher UW GPA with UC GPAs lower than the one i got.
SAT I (superscored): CR: 750, Writing: 730, Math: 710 (2190 total)
SAT II: haven't taken these yet, but i should do okay on them.
ECs:
football (9,10)
wrestling (9,10,11, planning on 12)
tennis (10,11, planning on 12)
newspaper club (11, planning on 12)
student council (11, planning on 12)
debate team (11, planning on 12)
I help out at a homeless shelter every Monday during the fall/winter
I'm a three time participant of the Relay for Life cancer fundraiser</p>

<p>I'm applying to:
UC Berkeley
UC LA
UC Santa Barbara
UC San Diego
UC Davis
USC </p>

<p>I know UCB, UCLA, and USC are reaches because of my GPA, but do i have a shot? I've been hearing horror stories about how hard it is for OOS students to get into the UC schools. )':</p>

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<p>*WGPA is 4.19</p>

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<p>Ummmmmm…</p>

<p>USC is not a UC, it is a private university. USC uses your unweighted GPA.</p>

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<p>I know, but it’s still a great school in California! (:</p>

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<p>

You “know” USC is not a UC, but you post a long question about the UC GPA on the USC forum? Why?</p>

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<p>@alamemom: I basically copied and pasted this from my UC forum posts, and I thought the bit about the upward trend was significant, so i left it in there. Sorry for any inconvenience, ):</p>

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<p>Okay, then, I’ll answer your question:

Being OOS will not matter at USC, because USC is a private university. But you already knew that…</p>

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<p>I didn’t know USC’s school colors were orange and blue. Guess cardinal and gold just look better on all the brochures?</p>

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<p>“Many of the kids in the honors/AP Curriculum at my high school end up going to U of I in Urbana-Champaign, and i’m looking for a new experience for college. Our school colors are even identical; orange and blue.” </p>

<p>That was my statement in it’s entirety, both my current high school and U of I have orange and blue as school colors. And while I don’t know a multitude about USC, I did know that it wasn’t part of the UC schools. And yes, akalboy, i know the school colors are orange and blue. Believe it or not, i actually watch college football, and i’ve seen a number of USC games.</p>

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<p>SAT is ok but your GPA is on the lower end. the good news is that your GPA is not completely out of the ideal range so you have a decent shot. write a good personal statement and make sure you somehow highlight your passions in your app. at the moment your ECs look good, but i can’t tell what your true interest are from what you’ve listed.</p>

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<p>Thank you, josebiwasabi. You always get straight to the point and just answer the questions. I was all set to follow your good example and even answer the UC GPA questions and UC OOS issues (I am much more familiar with UC/CSU admissions than USC :slight_smile: ), but then I made the mistake of looking at the OP’s other posts :frowning: .</p>

<p>I had decided to assume the line above where he *once again *said USC’s colors were orange and blue (post #9) was a simple mistake of leaving out the word “not,” but over on the UCSB forum a poster gave him a very nice, earnest answer to a duplicate opening post… and he replied as though it was the USC forum and she was talking about USC (she very clearly said UCSB and it was the UCSB forum…), so now I think ClimbingUp is just messing with us. Either that, or he is very easily confused…</p>

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<p>Unless things have changed in the last year, you ought to know that the UCs do not superscore the SAT.</p>

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<p>@ josebiwasabi: Thanks for actually answering my question! (: And i’m hoping to get straight As during my senior year as well, so it should go up a tad!<br>
@ Sequoia: I didn’t know that! D: Thanks! But then what do they do if you’ve taken the SAT more then once? Look at both composite scores individually?
@ alamemom: it seems like you really dislike me, and i’m really sorry if anything i said offended you, and about messing up USC’s colors. ):</p>

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<p>^ Regarding the SAT score…UCs will count the best total score of one sitting. Also, I’m not sure if this is still the case but collegeboard sends all score sittings so colleges will see all scores anyway.
On your application for UCs, you indicate your best one sitting score. If you sit for a late but still “in time” SAT and get a better score, but have already applied, UCs will still consider the later best score as long as you request collegeboard to forward it.</p>

<p>USC will take the best score in each category (superscoring). ACT is however not superscored by either UCs or USC.</p>

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<p>Oh and,
@ josebiwasabi: About my ECs, my interests shifted greatly during my junior year. I’m aware that they don’t highlight my interests, and it’s one of my biggest regrets. I feel like i’ve wasted my freshman and sophomore years. I tried too hard to be someone i wasn’t, and during my junior year, I found ECs that i fondly enjoyed.
@ alamemom: my post on the UCSB forum was a near identical post. When i look for answers to my posts, I go to my profile, click statistics, and click find all threads started by ClimbingUp. I then look to the replies column, and if there was a response that i haven’t read yet, then i go to the thread. I saw the reply on the UCSB forum, and thought it was the USC forum. I’ve corrected my mistake on that post, and will do so here as well. It was not my intention to “mess with you.” So i guess by default, i’m “very easily confused.” I’m actually getting tested for ADHD on Monday because it has come to my attention that i display an alarming number of ADHD symptoms. I lack attention to detail, and that lead to the incorrect posting/responses on the forums. Again, sorry, i wasn’t intentionally trying to antagonize anyone! ):</p>

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<p>@ Sequoia: Again, thanks! I’m not planning on sending my ACT score because i did significantly better on the SAT. From what you’ve said, i understand that they take the highest composite score of one sitting, but they still see the results from your weaker score. While the weaker score isn’t technically “taken,” can it still effect your admission? Because my weakest score in one sitting was a 2080, and combined with a subpar GPA, it’s bad news! D:</p>

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<p>^ A weaker score will not affect admission. Besides, 2080 should not exactly be considered “weak”.</p>

<p>It’s your GPA that’s worrisome for USC admission (and for UCLA, UCB, UCSD)</p>

<p>UCs by the way do not consider freshman grades…USC does. An upward trend however is an advantage. Just try your best in second semester grades because if you are considered by USC, they will want those grades before making a decision. Actually, when the time comes, and your grades are good, I’d forward them anyway (the mid semester grades). For your USC application, take great care with the essays. USC looks at the total package more so than the UCs do.</p>

<p>Another thing…you have not said which major you are applying to at USC. You should be aware that some of the schools are much more difficult to get into than others…Business, Cinema, and Arch for example. It’s also ok to apply undecided.</p>

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<p>@ Sequoia: In a perfect world, i’d apply to the business school, but i don’t think my grades make the cut. I’m applying undecided! Thanks for the abundance of information! (:</p>