<p>I just finished sophomore year and my GPA is REALLY low.. but tell me what you think of my application!
GPA:
UW: 3.4
W: 4.4
Moved from a school in Minnesota and I had no clue how competitive the new high school would be so I completely screwed myself over.. Hoping to raise it Junior year</p>
<p>Extra-Curriculars:
Concertmaster of high school orchestra
Co-concertmaster of PVRO
Principal Violin I of AAYO
Principal Violin II of PVRO
Vice President of Tri-M Music Honor Society
First Violin of Prima Volte Quartet
First Violin of <em>unnamed</em> Quartet
First Violin of AAYO String Quartet
Founder of *unnamed Quartet
Founder of AAYO String Quartet
Co-founder of Acoustic Trio
President of French Club
(Expected) Concertmaster of AAYO</p>
<p>Awards:
Second place of ASTA
Rookie of the Year
First place of SYMF (3)
Outstanding Musicianship Award from California Summer State School of the Arts</p>
<p>Junior Year Courseload:
AP Psych
AP Envi Sci
AP US History
AP Language
AP Calc AB
Advanced Orchestra
(still figuring out my last class..)</p>
<p>Test Scores:
SAT I: Haven't taken yet but expected 2300+
SAT II Math IIC: 800
SAT II French: 770
AP French: 5
AP Music Theory: 4
AP Euro: 3 (however I'm getting this re-scored)</p>
<p>Misc:
Asian Female
Volunteered 200+ hours
Sibling Legacy (brother)
Going for AP National Scholar
Fluent in three languages</p>
<p>Studies:
Studied at the Colburn School of Music
Studied at the California Summer State School of the Arts
Studied under Professor Sally O'Reilly of the University of Minnesota
Studied under Elmer Su
Studied under Ralph Jones of Oberlin College
Studied under Lesa Jones
Studied under Dr. Phoebe Dalton
Studied with David Benoit</p>
<p>I'm really hoping to double major for music and business so please let me know what you think! Any help is greatly appreciated! Thank you!</p>
<p>Asking to be chanced is really a waste of time and just creates anxiety. On any given year Admissions is looking for a set of attributes that you’re never going to predict. When you look at USC’s stats they’ll quote averages or “top” percentiles for their admissions stats. But really - some are higher, some are lower and not always for the reasons people think.</p>
<p>I’m affiliated with admissions for another nationally competitive college (We accept approx 8% of applicants. It comes down to “who is in the pool that year”, “what are the holes that need filling in terms of skill sets,” “is the student a good match”, and a lot of other things that are subjective. Even then, there are so MANY students who qualify even my spouse and I were shocked when our child got into USC. It’s just that competitive. So you won’t know unless you actually go for it, will you?</p>
<p>The best you can do is be passionate about what you do, and do the best you can in school and in your outside life. I’ve met some successful students who’ve had less than perfect scores and grades but soared and met the challenge, and seen others who crashed and burned because despite their perfect stats they never took the time to full enjoy the journey and learn from it and were burnt out (or worse, assumed that they were “set” to keep up with college pace).</p>
<p>So no one on this board can tell you if you will or will not qualify because no one knows. Try looking at the boards of accepted students who post their stats here. And even those are skewed because they’re all self reported and doesn’t necessarily reflect what the range is. Only a tiny percentage who don’t mind sharing. And even they don’t know for sure what one or two things tipped the scales for them. Just as others are scratching their head that they were rejected despite having done “everything right.”</p>
<p>Good luck on your journey. And a hint - when I’m screening applicants for my university I don’t care WHAT they did. i care WHY they did it. The ones who focus on the first part don’t tend to make it through to acceptance. The latter candidates have a fighting chance of at least getting into the finalist category.</p>
<p>Bump10char pleaaseee</p>
<p>Thank you so much for the advice! It’s extremely helpful!
I’ve just become so stressed and nervous about this process because even though I’m going to work to do my best, I can’t help but to think that some stats(GPA) are lacking compared to other applicants… I guess I’ll have to work hard and try to portray my passion in my essays.
Thank you again!!</p>
<p>eileen (and everyone else applying to USC and other selective universities)–ArtsandLetters is telling you the truth. So try to take a deep breath. 
Everyone who applies has things that go in their favor, so you should always hope for the best.</p>
<p>For the creative arts schools (Thornton, SCA, Roski, Arch, SDA, et al) with creative / talent-based majors, chance threads are even less credible. If your admissions decision contains evaluation of talent, performance, auditions, creative supplements, writing samples, art portfolios… no one here can tell you how well your work will be received. However, if you have a history of success, school / regional / state or higher awards, exceptional accomplishments, etc, you should feel reassured that USC will note those heavily. For such talent/potential based Schools, one’s achievements can help offset one’s gpa/test scores. But only to a point. Schools can only admit students who they feel confident will thrive in all their academic courses. </p>
<p>Best of luck.</p>