<p>Hi everyone. So my top 2 choices are USC and UChicago. I was wondering if you could give me some idea of my chances. I do live in Canada so I will try to convert to US type stats as much as possible.</p>
<p>Stats:</p>
<p>School: Public Catholic School
GPA: 92% (4.0) School marks on a % scale. On a Z score breakdown 90% is slightly above a 4.0 GPA
Class Rank: School doesn't rank but I would be about top 2-3%
AP/IB: School doesn't offer AP courses, only IB courses. My only IB course is Math. I have taken a language throughout highschool as well.</p>
<p>SATs: CR 800 M 700 W 570 =(
SAT Subjects: Math level 2: 750
Literature: 670 =(
Chemistry: 730</p>
<p>ECs:
Captain of both my school and tier 1 club soccer teams (this is my biggest EC it takes up to 25 hours a week from me when the 2 team's seasons overlap)
Peer Tutoring: about 4 hours per week
Volunteering with the homeless: only once per month</p>
<p>Essays: USC/common app essay is very good. Chicago abstract essay is just okay (I had some serious writers block with those prompts)</p>
<p>Legacy: My dad is a USC alum</p>
<p>I know my Writing SAT is especially weak but hopefull they will overlook that. My ECs are also a little weak. If you have any knowledge of the scholarship process at these school could you please let me know if I have any chance at those.</p>
<p>My safeties are UBC UT and Mcgill in Canada which I should have no problems getting into. I'd really like to go to one of these 2 schools if I get the chance to though</p>
<p>if your Dad donates money to USC, I think you can have a chance. USC is very number oriented because they want to have a higher rank. Scholarships for you will be minimal. I am not familiar with UChicago that much, but I hear they really look at the essays, so if your essays are just "ok", it might be hard for you.</p>
<p>Just wondering why did you choose these universities, they are totally different from each other? USC is very sports oriented, a party school and in SoCal, while Chicago is cold and it seems "fun dies there".</p>
<p>I think you'll get into USC. Your CR SAT score is good, but I found the difference between the CR and W very intriguing (normally people score higher in Writing, like I did -- and any difference wouldn't be that big). But your SATs aren't terrible, they'll get you into USC.</p>
<p>Chicago, I'm not entirely sure (I applied there too, haven't heard back but two of my friends got in and we have around the same qualifications). I have heard they look at the essays, so I would rather have waited an extra two weeks and writing an excellent essay over turning it in earlier without blowing the readers away. But hey, I don't know. Question for Chicago: Did you respond to all their essay prompts, even the optional ones? (I did, I figured it couldn't hurt me.)</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Dad doesn't donate money to USC =(</p></li>
<li><p>Why I chose them? For Uchicago I have been watching programs on the Chicago school of economics since I was probably about 12. I've read some books by former and current economics professors there. Its kind of been my dream school for a long time. For USC I was born in Southern Cal and have gone back many times since I have a lot of family there and it is probably my favorite place on earth. As for the geek/jock differences: I fit pretty easily into both groups so that doesn't really concern me.</p></li>
<li><p>I was pretty surprised by my writing score too. =S</p></li>
<li><p>Perhaps I should rephrase my description of my essays. Both are good, but the Common App/USC one is just a lot more inspired since I was able to draw a lot more on my personal experience. I did spend several weeks on the essay (I actually wrote about 3) but none of them ended up sounding as inspired or passionate as my common app essay.</p></li>
<li><p>Yes i did respond to their optional essay prompts.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Also I forgot it in my original post but I do have some great teacher recs. Several top 1%s and all but 1 other was a top 5%.</p>
<p>I know Uchicago has merit scholarships (full/half tuition). However, they only give out like 100 a year, so chances are very slim, especially to inernationals. As a side note, I think you have a good chance at USC. I don't think they take writing into consideration as much as the other two. Also, your dad is an alumni.</p>
<p>UChicago will depend. Your essays have to be really good, and you have to just keep at a high level. It isn't impossible, but it's not very likely.</p>