Chance me Marshall!

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Southern California
1

<p>I'm a senior and I am applying to Dartmouth College ED! I've already made the commitment so if you recommend me not to apply... then its too late :P</p>

<p>I take the full IB diploma, and the courses I take are...</p>

<p>English A1 HL
Math HL
Biology HL
Chinese B SL
Economics SL
Drama SL</p>

<p>In my last report my grades were:</p>

<p>English 5/7
Math 7/7
Biology 5+/7
Chinese 6+/7
Economics 5/7
Drama 4+/7</p>

<p>And at the moment my predicted grade is 35/45.</p>

<p>SAT 1: 2190 (CR: 670, M: 770, W: 750 [best essay was 11/12] [best single sitting was 2100])
SAT 2: Math 1 - 710, Math 2 - 700 (MUST improve), will take Biology M</p>

<p>Extra Curriculars:
-Basketball (9,10,11,12)
-Soccer (10,11)
-Model United Nations (10,11,12)
-Choir (10,11,12)
-Volleyball (9,11)
-House Captain (10,11)</p>

<p>Summer Activities:
-Center for Talented Youth (3 years)
-Stanford Forensic National Institute (1 year)
-Dale Carnegie Training - TA (1 year - twice)</p>

<p>Leadership Roles:
-Varsity Basketball captain
-Choir Bass section leader
-Model United Nations school ambassador</p>

<p>Awards:
-National Merit Scholarship Letter of Commendation (12)
-Industrial Technology Research Institution Award for Academic Excellence (11)
-UK Senior Mathematical Challenge Silver Certificate (11)
-UK Intermediate Mathematical Challenge Silver Award (10)
-UK Senior Mathematical Challenge Bronze Award (10)
-JHU CTY International Mathematics and Verbal Talent Search - Award for High Honors (9)
-JHU CTY International Mathematics and Verbal Talent Search - Distinction in Mathematics (9)</p>

<p>Oh yeah... and I'm Asian...</p>

<p>I'm also planning on applying before the scholarship deadline. Do you think I'll even stand a chance in getting a scholarship of any sort?</p>

2

<p>Your qualifications (GPA/SAT scores) seem a little low, but not out of the range of admitted students (you can look up the class info for ranges). You’ll never know if you don’t apply, and you may make a wonderful case in your essays and EC’s. Same opinion about merit scholarships— your credentials seem low, but there is a range and they look at everything-- not just test scores and GPA.</p>

<p>You do understand the ED process, though, right? If you apply to Dartmouth ED, you’ve limited yourself.</p>

3

<p>2190 is low for USC? I thought that’d be an okay or above average score… :(</p>

<p>Yes I do realize what I’ve done with EDing to Dartmouth… I really wanna go there! But I’ve grown to love the Cali life… and for a long time my dream school was Stanford. I went to CYY there for two or three years and I loved it! But I really slacked off in school my grades are subpar… so I’m probably not even going to bother with Stanford :(</p>

<p>But I’ve looked into USC and I’ve realized that its one of the few that I have a better chance in (in my opinion).</p>

4

<p>My essays, in my opinion, are pretty good. At least good. :)</p>

<p>Thanks for your post though!</p>

5

<p>A 2190 is slightly above the mid-point for USC admitted student SATs. SAT IIs are typically only reviewed during scholarship consideration. </p>

<p><a href=“http://www.usc.edu/admission/undergraduate/private/1011/FreshmanProfile2010.pdf[/url]”>http://www.usc.edu/admission/undergraduate/private/1011/FreshmanProfile2010.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>As for your GPA, it’s difficult to translate your IB GPA to a “regular” 4.0 scale. A 35/45 strictly converted to a 4.0 level would be roughly a 3.1. That number would be painfully low for SC; however, IB tracks are considered much tougher workloads so I suspect you’ll get a boost beyond a strict conversion of GPA.</p>

<p>In short, I think your profile will be considered “average” for the admitted pool. That doesn’t guarantee admission but it certainly makes SC a “match” school for you in my opinion. I don’t think your profile qualifies you for any of the major scholarships (1/2 or full tuition).</p>

6

<p>By what conversions do you use? Because to my knowledge a 6 in IB is the equivalent to a 4 in AP, so that’d mean that a 36/45 would be a 4.0, of course factoring in the fact that IB is substantially harder than AP.</p>

7

<p>eklee as I said, it was a crude conversion. I also pointed out that I thought you are a basically the average admitted USC candidate (UWGPA 3.8, SATI ~2120-2130). I think that SC is a match for you. </p>

<p>The only problems I foresee are, 1) Marshall is rumored to be a slightly tougher admit that USC as a whole, though I’ve never seen statistics to support that, and 2) USC has moved to the CommonAp this year, typically that results in a bump in the number of applications, so an already very selective school (~24% admit rate) is likely to get even more selective.</p>

8

<p>Thank you for the clarification! But I hear the terms ‘match’, ‘reach’, ‘safety’ thrown around a lot, but around what percentages would they be around? For example, would a safety be a 90% you’ll get in?</p>

<p>I talked to some director in Marshall (they are on this Asia tour) and she said that there is no difference in admission… but common knowledge says that business schools are frequently much more competitive than the college…</p>

<p>I’m kind of scared at the moment about getting into college because competition is getting fiercer and fiercer each year! My friend is applying to Michigan and he saw a stat saying that last year they had 40,000 total applicants, but this year they already have 50,000…</p>

9

<p>“Safety, Match & Reach” are subjective ratings. Each person has to come up with a definition that they are comfortable with; ultimately you have to live with your definition, after all, you can argue that a school is a safety all you want, but if they reject you it most certainly is a “reach”. I base my criteria off the information available at [College</a> Navigator - National Center for Education Statistics](<a href=“http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/]College”>College Navigator - National Center for Education Statistics). GPA numbers are not always available though researching at the various college admissions sites can usually give you a good guess at the average number.</p>

<p>Here are my basic criteria:</p>

<p>Safety: a school with an admissions rate of 50%> where statistically (UW GPA & Standardized Test Scores) you are at or above the 75%-tile. Apply to two.</p>

<p>Match: School with 25-49% admit rates where you are at the mid-point statistically. Since at a minimum more than half of all applicants are rejected I recommend applying to 4 schools of this type. Furthermore, as the admissions rate drops I think you need to move higher up on a percentile basis in order to feel good about your chances (Being 50th%-tile at a school admitting 45% of applicants is a more comfortable position than being 50th%-tile at a 25% admit school).</p>

<p>Reach: Any school where you are below the midpoint and has a <25% admit rate. Any school where you are below the 25th-tile statistically. Any school, regardless of your statistics, that has an admit rate <20%. Apply to 4.</p>

<p>Obviously there are other factors in an application - recommendations, essays, work experience, extra-curriculars, etc, but these are the stats that are discoverable and measurable across most schools. People can quibble with my definitions, but they are the ones I’ve used to good effect with my own kids and many of their cousins. Also, remember there is the issue of financial safety. Generally speaking, US colleges are not very generous with foreign student financial aid. So you need to do some research on that front. You may have the greatest statistics in the world but if you can’t afford the college it doesn’t matter.</p>

<p>Finally, college admissions are getting tougher. The Michigan example is especially useful because the jump in applications last year was directly connected to their (1st time) move to the CommonAp. If SC’s move to the CA generates the same level of increase then expect admit rates to drop below 20%.</p>

10

<p>In your opinion, based on my stats, which schools would I be applying to?</p>

<p>Also, how would you define foreign student? I am a US citizen that lives abroad, so… I wouldn’t be a foreign student right?</p>

11

<p>eklee,</p>

<p>I don’t know how SC or any other US college will view your residency status. I suspect they’ll treat you as a “domestic” applicant. A quick email to financial aid should get you an answer.</p>

<p>As for other schools, I a bit confused on your goals. You’re going Dartmouth ED (which doesn’t have an undergraduate business school) but your question here is about Marshall Business at SC. Assuming you want business…</p>

<p>Indiana Kelley School - Great if somewhat underrated school. Comparatively cheap and with your stats I think you might qualify for an automatic $4K yearly scholarship (I’d look into this one quickly - I think the cut-off for automatic merit aid is having your app in by Nov 1). Probably a safety school for you.</p>

<p>Carnegie-Mellon - Your math scores are solid. Probably a match.</p>

<p>Boston College - Similar profile to SC.</p>

<p>Villanova - A bit easier admit than BC/USC</p>

<p>Northeastern (Boston) - Probably safety/match</p>

<p>Minnesota Carlson - Safety</p>

<p>Washington University Olin - Match/Reach</p>

12

<p>vinceh, thank you for the recommendations. I want to study economics, and I do realize that Marshall is one of the fewer colleges that do not have economics as a major part of their curriculum. USC is not one of my first choices, though I want to go there. If I were to go there I’d probably do a double major in Business Administration with an economics degree in the college of arts and sciences.</p>

<p>Would Carnegie Mellon really be a match for me? I don’t know much about the school, but now seeing that it could be a possible match I may look more into it.</p>

<p>Could you recommend other schools as well? More reaches?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

13

<p>vince,
It is always great to have alumni post here. SC now has the 2011 profile on the undergraduate admissions website. As anticipated the test sdores were up again and the admit rate went down to 23%. </p>

<p>In the freshmen class there are 247 National Merit Scholars.</p>

<p>Applications were up for the freshmen class. There were 37,210 frosh applicants and 9611 transfer applicants. </p>

<pre><code>These were the SAT scores of admitted students. Enrolled students were slightly lower.
</code></pre>

<p>Admitted:
CR 640-740
M 680-770
W 670-740</p>

<p>That should give the poster an idea how his scores compare with those admitted last year. With the common application it is only speculation about how many will apply. My guess is about 40,000. Last year 22,000+ applied early for consideration for the merit scholarships.</p>

14

<p>Accepted USC Marshall, Boston College business school (Carroll), UCLA</p>

<p>Wait listed WashU Olin, CMU Tepper</p>

15

<p>Congratulations! Fight On</p>