Chance an OBSESSIVE hopeful Annenberg student?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Southern California
1

<p>I am an African American junior from CA, and USC is my dream school to major in Communication. I think I have a fair chance of being accepted there, but I just want to get the opinions of others. Thanks! (Other colleges to chance me at: Syracuse U, UC Berk, NYU, Northwestern, UCSB, UCSD, Cornell, etc.)</p>

<p>GPA UW: 3.83
GPA W: 3.96
UC GPA (For the other schools): 4.05</p>

<p>AP COURSES:
AP Euro - (I freaked out, failed the exam w/ a 2.)
APUSH
AP English
I also took a psych course at a CC last summer that I'm told will count like an AP Psych course.
In senior year, I'll be taking...
AP English
AP Stats
AP Gov./Econ.
AP Spanish
AP Studio Art</p>

<p>SAT - I haven't taken the official test yet, but I have a private tutor and am not stopping until I achieve at least a 1960. </p>

<p>EXTRA-CURRICS:
- Newspaper: A&E Editor Junior Year, Editor-in-Chief Senior Year (My teacher promised me the position)
- Visual and Performing Arts Academy - Visual Art Major (Countless hours put into college art courses, art exhibitions, etc. In senior year I graduate from the academy with a diploma.)
- By end of senior year, graduate of Ryman Arts @ USC (a prestigious, application-based program for gifted high school artists)
- Junior/Senior Year - "Link Crew" mentor for Freshmen
- Junior Year - Commissioner of Publicity for Helping Hands Club (Club that offers tutoring to students who need it)
- Hundreds of hrs. working at my Church for Arts & Crafts</p>

<p>HONORS:
- Blue Honor Roll all four yrs.
- CSF Gold Member (CA Scholarship Fed.)
- Service Learning Award (completed far beyond the requirements)
- Art Awards - "Best in Visual Art," "Most Improved," etc.</p>

<p>CURRENT CLASS RANK (out of 531): 18 (top 3%)
CURRENT 10-12 RANK: 21</p>

<p>RECOMMENDATIONS:
- My recs will, IMHO, be awesome since I am close with both the teachers writing them. One will be from my newspaper advisor and the other will be from my art teacher.</p>

<p>I would be happy to chance you back, but I don't know how great I would be at it. :-)</p>

2

<p>You appear to be a very strong artist. Therefore, I am not sure why you want the Annenberg school. Perhaps you might want to think of applying to the Fine Arts department at USC and other colleges with a focus on the visual arts. I don't know all of the art schools in the U.S., but I suggest you seriously think about applying to programs which revolve around your passion and strength in art.</p>

3

<p>Well, surprisingly enough, art is not where my heart is - and if I get into SC, I plan on minoring in it. So does this mean you think I don't have a shot at Annenberg, or...?</p>

4

<p>mdcissp, the OP is very involved in newspaper as well. It's possible her/his interest may be journalism/public relations in an artistic related capacity.
marmar, I think your GPA, rank, course rigor, and ECs show that you have very good chances for USC. Since you are still a Junior, just keep doing the best you can for the next semester. If you continue to be in the top 4%, you will be ELC for the UCs, which will improve your chances for UCB. Your present UC GPA will be fine for UCSD and SB, if you do achieve a mid 1900s SAT for the former. I believe you are also competitive for NYU and Northwestern, but I do know Medill (sp?) is selective at Northwestern.</p>

5

<p>marmar, USC much likes candidates who have interest in different fields, in fact the school encourages it. I think you would come across as an attractive prospect, particularly if you present yourself well in the essays next year.</p>

6

<p>I suggest you try to get a letter of recommendation from someone who knows your work at the Ryman Arts @ USC which you mentioned. Also, if you are more interested in journalism than art, I suggest that you try to organize your application to show your passion for writing/journalism/communication. Being the editor of the school newspaper is a really strong accomplishment. </p>

<p>As far as the other schools, you need to fulfill the A-G requirements for the UCs. Berkeley is highly competitive. Of the schools you listed, my guess is Syracuse is the easiest to get into.</p>

<p>If you look at the Fine Arts program, there is a list of minors in that department. One of the minors is geared towards students at Annenberg. Perhaps that minor would fulfill your interest in art.</p>

<p>I also suggest that you look at the USC list of APs which potentially match the courses for course fulfillment, not just for transfer of units. For example, if you take AP Art History instead of AP English, you potentially can get the course credit depending upon how high your AP score is (and if USC keeps the same list of AP classes which count for credit).</p>