COURSE RIGOR:
9th:
English 1 Accelerated
Algebra 2/Trig Honors
Biology Honors
Spanish 1 Accelerated
PE (Semester Only)
Dance 1 (Semester Only)
Speech and Debate (Class Period During the School Day)
Religion Elective
10th:
American Literature Honors
AP Calculus AB
Chemistry Honors
Spanish 2 Honors
AP US History
Speech and Debate (Class Period During the School Day)
Religion Elective
11th:
AP English Literature
AP Calculus BC
AP Biology
Physics Honors
Spanish 3 Honors
AP World History
French 1
Religion Elective
12th:
AP English Language
AP Statistics
AP Chemistry
AP Spanish Language
Dance 2 (Semester Only)
AP Economics (Micro and Macro)
American Government (Semester Only)
French 2
Religion Elective
UC GPA - 3.97 (W), 4.71 (UW)
SAT/ACT SCORES
SAT - 1520 (one sitting), 790 math, 730 reading, 21/24 on essay (another attempt I got a 24 on the essay)
ACT - 34 with a 11/12 on the essay
NOT SURE WHICH TO SUBMIT?? OR BOTH???
SAT 2 SCORES (lowest pt of application)
BIOLOGY M - 760
MATH 2 - score TBD
NOT SURE IF I SHOULD SUBMIT??
AP SCORES:
AP English Literature - 5
AP World History - 5
AP US History - 5
AP Biology - 5
AP Calculus AB - 3 (not submitting because I got a 5 on the AB subscore on the BC exam)
AP Calculus BC - 5
EXTRACURRICULARS:
Competitive Jump Rope (10 years)
regional tournament over 50 medals, nationals top 10 for the past 5 years, world top 10 last year, team captain this year, have coached younger kids on my team
Bollywood Dance (12 years)
on my school Bollywood team, have done it outside of school as well but kind of on and off, have performed for 5,000 people
NonProfit Founder CEO (2 years)
started an organization to teach Foreign Languages to young children as I am fluent in Spanish, French, Hindi, Punjabi, taught over 500 kids with one other person
Lab Intern
Interned at a Stanford lab for one summer, completed a poster presentation and will be mentioned in a couple papers/posters in the future
Bio Club President
this is padding, but have kinda been part of Bio club at my school and am now a president
Volunteer work
Have volunteered at several places, but primarily 2 hospitals with roughly 300 hrs combined
Peer Tutoring
padding once again, tutor kids at my school in spanish, math, and English
CSF/NHS
again, not anything that special
Girls Who Code
was part of a girls who club club where we learned all the basics of coding and I completed my own robot as a final project
@Gumbymom I think they posted UW GPA at the top, although I think their grading system is out of 5.0 or 6.0? Out of your two scores for the SAT and ACT, I think I would post the ACT but I would like to see what @Gumbymom@ucbalumnus@Lindagaf and @Hamurtle have to say. As for your ECs, there are a couple that will be quite strong such as interning at the Stanford Lab and hosting the Bio club.
I would say you definitely have a shot at USC but it has become increasingly competitive over the years, so anything can happen.
On another, you mentioned that the bio club was just padding. I strongly advise you to never say that to anyone. First off, it will come off as not a genuine interest of yours but rather something you were forced to do. In addition, you should really be focusing on things that you want to do. For example, I do the CS club and TEDx because I genuinely like to see people learn something new and enjoy creating inclusive communities in both of the clubs while acting as a mentor figure to underclassmen. In the future when you go off to college, engage in activities that you want to do that are not solely on your resume for “showing off”.
@Hamurtle
I think the Bio score is fine. However, I would consider retaking the Math II to get an 800 because many of the applicants will have an 800, but your current score is fine as well!
Perhaps you’re right. 3.97 WGPA seems low for a student who has taken that many AP/Honors classes, so OP is likely not a California resident and some schools do the 6.0 or even 7.0 GPA scale.
I’m confused: Are you a junior or a senior? I think you have a very good chance of being admitted, but USC is very competitive. If you want to go there, you should tell USC that. I would submit all your scores, which show your scores are not a fluke. You did well on all of them. USC does not require subject tests, but your scores are over 750, so I would send them. It can’t hurt. Also, USC superscores the SAT, but not the ACT. If you are a junior, try to show an upward trend in grades for this semester and next year.
ACT is solid but overall ECs are pretty average, as you seem to also express and some are obviously padding. You took French 2 as a senior but are fluent in French? French 2 is hardly conversational and certainly not likely proficient yet fluent…That makes me wonder if anything else is puffed up? Did school not offer multi variable after AP Calc BC? I know engineering at USC isn’t big on a lighter math senior year (stats) if a higher math alternative is available, but they know not all schools provide that path. But if they do, that can make a big difference between applications. Overall great resume, but it’s so competitive, and there are so many spots given to fill certain pieces of a school’s puzzle (demographic based criteria), not even the best can assume anything these days.
You’re a strong student, but USC is very competitive, so I will only say you have a decent chance. Submit both test scores, as they are both very good. I think your competitive jump rope is interesting, but it seems you’ve already applied, so you just have to wait. Good luck!
If you are a senior, then the deadline to submit your application has passed, so I don’t understand the questions about which test scores to submit. You should have submitted them by now – at least I hope that is the case. Maybe you were cutting and pasting from another post? Best of luck! I hope you hear good news in March.
In terms of getting “Chanced” for USC, it is virtually impossible for others to predict what may or may not occur in your specific case. With an admit rate now of only 13% and falling, and with 4K+ applicants with 4.0 unweighted GPAs and test scores in the 99th percentile among those not gaining admission, your success will instead likely depend on too many potential factors for anyone to correctly evaluate… making predicting admission nearly impossible.
Instead… it will likely come down to a composite and holistic analysis of your stats coupled with writing ability / essays, ECs, potential leadership roles, potential other unique qualifiers (URM, First Gen, geography, demographics, etc.), your Why USC? explanation/reasoning, etc.
I suggest possibly reading an excellent thread on the topic from the beginning…