<p>I'm an African American male from SoCal living in a single-parent, low income household. I will be a senior in the fall.</p>
<p>I plan on majoring in business.</p>
<p>Stats:
- Cumulative GPA: 3.44 (RL issues freshman and sophomore year; I'll elaborate on my applications. Everyone says I have "a story to tell." Junior year GPA: 3.64) Senior year GPA will hopefully be a 3.8-4.2. School doesn't rank percentage-wise.
- ACT: 30
- 4 honors courses and 1 AP course - all math classes; taking Honors Precalculus and AP Statistics for senior year. I've taken Public Speaking and Spanish III at my local Community College and earned A's in both; taking Introduction to Business this summer.
- I've been a professional actor with an agent since I was 5 1/2 months old. Since then I've established a pretty long resume and been in numerous TV shows, commercials, billboards, print ads, etc. I have an agent and am currently on the IMDB website.
- Starting a non-profit organization for lung cancer patients who don't receive the right treatment due to not having medical insurance (in memory of my favorite aunt).
- I'm in NHS and CSF.
- I've been part of a Church youth group since I was about 3 that goes out to witness to the homeless and people in poverty-stricken communities.
- I've been in a ton of church plays and musicals.
- Will have great essays and recommendations.
- If it helps to create any sort of diversity, I will major in Finance/Economics and minor in Acting.</p>
<p>So what do you think? I know my GPA isn't the greatest, but will my ECs balance it out?</p>
<p>USC Admissions very much looks at the whole application. I think your background, acting experience, commitment to being involved in the community plus the upward trend in academics will be looked well upon. You sound like an interesting person with diverse interests and experiences. USC also encourages double majors or a major/minor combination in disparate fields and you are expressing you want to do that. Makes sure you spend time on refining your essays in presenting your story.
I think you have a pretty good chance too.
Best of luck in your senior year.</p>
<p>You have a very good chance in getting accepted as long as you explain your situation during 9th and 10th grade. You could even ask your counselor to mention it in his/her recommendation for you unless you want to use it for your personal statement.</p>
<p>You said you’re majoring in Finance, so I’m assuming that you’re applying to Marshall, correct? Make sure you show them that you have activities that reflect your major. Of course, all the activities you’ve listed should also be mentioned in the EC portion of the application because they show you are well rounded.</p>
<p>Did you take the SAT? Is it higher than your ACT? Though, your ACT score is around the middle range of USC and it is competitive.</p>
<p>Finally, good luck! I think the admissions rate will be slightly lower this coming year, but only by about a percent or two, so you definitely have a chance of getting accept. Personally, I’m entering USC in the fall.</p>
<p>Your acting experience shines on your application. If you were applying to the Cinema school with a minor in business/finance, then it would look like excellent chance of acceptance. However, since you want Marshall school of business, I am not sure of your chances because your GPA is low compared to the average stats and I don’t see a lot of business related interest in your activities. Have you considered being a theater arts major with a business minor at USC (if they have it) or at other universities?</p>
<p>midcissp has a point. Since Marshall may be more competitive than CLAS, you might consider applying undeclared and expressing your fields of interest in one of the essays. I believe you could try to transfer into Marshall (if that’s possible) in soph or junior year. As for Cinema, that’s extremely competitive (a 4% or so acceptance rate from what I understand, at least in Production and Critical Studies). I think your essays will be an important part of your application, and if you are aiming to have a career which combines business with theatre, your experience in the acting industry will be an interesting advantage.</p>
<p>If I remember correctly there is a space on the application where you can explain special circumstances. But as nhsharvard said, having your GC make mention of those circumstances is a good idea.</p>
<p>Technically, you could double major in Business and Theater/Cinema/something along those lines. However, it DOES require a LOT of effort. Business is a BS and Theater and Cinema are BA (I believe, Theater might be a BFA). Thus, things will vary slightly (mainly BA’s need to take a language and BS’s do not). However, the thing with a dual degree (which would be required if you do business and “something theater-related”) requires 160 units (~5 years minimum with no incoming credits). So if you do not come in with a lot of AP/IB credits, you WILL need to take summer classes. Not to mention you will need to gain admissions to both programs, which is VERY difficult (being the 2 most difficult programs at USC).</p>
<p>With that said though, an option that may appeal to you is the Business Cinematic Arts (BCA) major through Marshall. You apply to Marshall for a business degree as in incoming freshmen. If accepted, you then apply to one of their speciality degrees if you want, in this case the one with the cinema school. Basically, your concentration becomes Cinematic Arts (instead of something like finance, marketing, etc). So you graduate with a business degree, but get to take a the cinema/television/etc classes as your concentration. However, note that only freshmen can apply to this program, so if you’re interested, it’s better to apply for it and drop out later if you don’t like it.</p>
<p>my stab at it: 89% chance of getting in (im dead serious here)</p>
<p>dont worry about it too much, but do mention the upwards grade trend AND HIGHLIGHT THE REAL LIFE ISSUES. If its that serious (and unique), and you learned life lessons, maybe you could base your essay off of it. or the acting. or the non profit. haha</p>
<p>You said you wanted a theater minor. USC is "cinema, film oriented. Are you more interested in plays? You might want to consider applying to NYU. NY is tops for theater (more with the Broadway plays). What kind of acting do you want in college? As I said before, your GPA is low compared to stats but you have a lot of talent in acting. You want business, but don’t show business related activities. Perhaps you might want to take an SAT prep course this summer and with a stellar SAT score you will improve your chances of acceptance.</p>
<p>One of my friends got into USC last year, who auditioned for USC’s vocal performance major, and he got accepted. He wasn’t in the top 30 in my high school, but he did have a GPA around 3.0 or a bit higher. Remember, the admissions committee looks at the whole picture.</p>
I didn’t think I’d have much of a shot, to be honest.</p>