chance an SCA hopeful?

Colleges & Universities A-Z University of Southern California
1

<p>I already made a chance thread a couple of months ago but I think a lot has changed since then (and I didn't have my second semester final grades at that point) so I really want to do another one.</p>

<p>I'm a white female from a small northwest middle class suburb of Chicago. I attend a somewhat decent public school which usually sends a couple of graduates to top schools. Definitely applying for financial aid.</p>

<p>USC School of Cinematic Arts
1st choice: Production
2nd choice: Critical Studies</p>

<p>Grades
UWGPA: I'm not QUITE sure because our school does this weirdly. I get mostly As and Bs so I expect it to be around 3.4 or 3.5.
WGPA: 3.5ish, but I think it will be a 3.6-3.7 by first semester of senior year.
Class Rank: 190/560 (something like that, I just remember I'm in the top 30%) - it's not that great, but it's not terrible. My school is fairly competitive with GPA and you pretty much have to have a 4.0 to have a good rank.
Honors/AP: ~12 Honors, 9 AP (pending my decision to take AP Psych online)</p>

<p>Tests
ACT: 31 - retaking in September for the fourth time.
PSAT: CR - 72, Writing - 73, Math - 57. My math is really low because I hadn't taken Algebra II at that point.
SAT I: taking in November so it probably won't even be part of my USC app. I'm expecting my CR/Writing scores to be in the 700s and my math to be at least 650.
SAT II: taking Literature, US History, and Math I in October. Reading SEVERAL test prep books and honestly studying a lot.
AP: 10th grade - AP Euro (4); 11th grade - APUSH, AP Eng Lang, AP Art History; 12th grade - AP Eng Lit, AP US Gov, AP Spanish Lang, AP Music Theory, and thinking of taking AP Psych (but the course would be an online one, whereas the rest of mine are ones I've taken through school)</p>

<p>ECs
violin player for 9 years, guitar player for ~6 years, Concert Orchestra as a frosh/soph/junior (Officer for a year and Violin I Section Leader for a concert) and Honors Symphony Orchestra as a senior, Drama Club as a frosh/soph/junior/senior (Historian/Photographer as a soph/junior/senior), Technical Theatre Club as a soph/junior/senior (Historian/Photographer as a soph/junior, Vice President as a senior, 9 plays/musicals, Manager for several), Four Star Thespian in the International Thespian Society as a junior/senior (qualified for induction as an Honors Thespian, have around 60 points [1 pt = 10 hours on a performance]), Habitat For Humanity (junior/senior), Relay for Life (junior/senior), Polar Bears Running Club (junior), Math Team (sophomore), Scholastic Bowl - Varsity Team (junior/senior). As a senior, I am planning on joining Spanish Club and Environmental Awareness Club. </p>

<p>As far as sports go, the most I really did was some intramural floor hockey for two years when I was about ten and a school winter running club for a year. The latter mostly consisted of independent running and wasn't really official.</p>

<p>Volunteering
Honors Biology tree planting beautification project as a frosh, Darfur Awareness Club walkathon as a soph, Habitat For Humanity as a junior/senior, Relay for Life as a junior/senior, planning on helping out at the local church's food pantry this summer.</p>

<p>Honors/Awards
Qualified for induction as an Honors Thespian (International Thespian Society), Most Improved Techie 2009 (Technical Theatre Club), several Math awards from Math Team, Spelling Bee awards, Scholastic Bowl award (2nd place at regionals), local photo contest award (honorable mention), part of a musical at the 2009 Illinois Theatrefest, won a Young Authors thing when I was in 8th grade... that's pretty much it as far as awards go.</p>

<p>Recs
Every counselor at my school is required to write a letter for each of their students, so I guess I'll have that. I'm also getting one from my junior year AP US History teacher/Scholastic Bowl coach and my junior year AP English Lang teacher. The former should be pretty good because he's known for writing great recs and he knows me pretty well. The latter will also be good because everyone at my school usually flocks to him for his awesome rec letters. He also knows me really well because I was pretty successful in his class. I'm also expecting a 4 on APUSH and a 5 on Eng Lang so that can't hurt me.</p>

<p>Essays
English has always been my best subject and I've always considered myself to be a pretty decent writer. I'm hoping my essays will reflect that and turn out to be awesome despite my current writer's block. I've already written one about being an immigrant (from Ukraine), learning english (along with Russian/Ukrainian) at the age of 4, and skipping grades. I tied all of that into my love for english and film (don't ask how). I think overall I'm pretty quirky and will have good essay topics for the rest of my essays. </p>

<p>Portfolio
My list is pretty extensive... at this point it's about 8 pages long and I'm trying to shorten it. I think I'll have good work for the photo option, because I've been spending a lot of time thinking about it and practicing. I think I'm a pretty good photographer. I won an Honorable Mention in the only contest I've ever entered and I've also been photographer for two of the clubs I've been in. The one thing that stands out most on my portfolio list is my theatre work, since theatre is the activity that takes up most of my time.</p>

2

<p>I suggest you try to organize your activities in a way that highlights leadership. If you are the president, founder, head of XYZ. You list a lot of activities and do not know what your role was in each activity. Ask your college guidance counselor if it is necessary to put down activities you were a member of unless you did something spectacular for that particular group. I think USC values social leadership. Also, this forum discussion suggests that SCA values creativity–highlight your cinema related activities to show distinction in film.</p>

3

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<p>What? Isn’t the SAT I required to apply?</p>

4

<p>SAT 1 isn’t required if you have ACTs</p>

5

<p><em>brain fart</em></p>

6

<p>Your resume so far looks more critical studie orientated than production. Go out and find a new way to shoot some footage of something and at least put in on youtube or at most, enter is some local contest. For the most part students who are offered admission to production live and breathe filmmaking .</p>

7

<p>Most of the production oriented stuff is on my portfolio list.</p>

8

<p>Unfortunately, it is very hard to chance SCA applicants since a lot of the decision is based on your supplemental material and no one here can really know what will most impress the SCA. They do want to take in a diverse incoming class, so your recs, essays, and portfolio strengths will be judged against other applicants that year. It is a really good idea to polish your essays, get feedback from teachers you admire, and rewrite them until they are perfect.</p>

<p>I think females get a bit of a boost for SCA admissions, in order to fill out the male-heavy school, so that’s a good point for you. Your grades and ACT are in the ballpark. But the decision is very subjective regarding the supplement and your creative statement is one of the biggest chances you have to show them your vision, focus, and drive.</p>

<p>Best of luck.</p>

9

<p>Thank you for the advice. One of my fears is that my GPA/ACT are a little too low for USC.</p>