Stats:
GPA: 2.8 UW 3.2 W
Class Rank: 297/534
SAT: 1580 (780 M, 800 R/W)
APs: AP European History (3), AP Art History (3), AP Computer Science (anticipated 5), AP Psychology (anticipated 5), AP Lit (anticipated 4-5)
ECs
Varsity Tennis 4 Years
Varsity Football 2 Years
Founder/Leader of Computer Science club (teach freshman and tutor other students)
500+ hours of intern work for local computer repair shop
3 second place medals for nationally ranked hackathons
Shadowed school system administrator for 2 years (2/3 hours of work every day at school fixing computer related issues)
Built my schools website and tennis team website
Created my own cryptocurrency exchange platform (business technically under my fathers name since I could not legally register)(Coded the entire thing myself, makes roughly $30k annually in transfer fees)
Letters of rec from AP Psychology Teacher, Principal and AP Computer Science Teacher (I am aware USC only takes one letter of rec, these are just the ones I have to choose from) (Principal’s letter directly addresses my weak GPA as the unfortunate result of a hard time assimilating to a new school and praises my strengths)
Co-Leader of CA Scholarship club (We take students and match them with applicable scholarships for free)
Taught intro to Java and Advanced Object Oriented Programming with Java class through the NR computer learning center (Personally taught my own class of roughly 30 freshmen at UCI (high school freshmen not college, class was just held there)
Mentor ship program through UCSD (business professional helped develop my exchange idea)
Created and ran an online forum for 4+ years (average 10,000 unique visitors monthly)
2nd place team for business building competition at local community college
I am sure I could include any other little thing I did but I tried to keep it relevant to my major of choice.
Applying as Entrepreneurship/Entrepreneurial studies major
Other “push factors”
Uncle and Father are USC alumni
Ranked top 300 Tennis player in California
Closing: I know my chances are astronomically low with my GPA. Yet I have seen amazing stories of some people being accepted with lower stats (most likely recruited athletes) I am currently in contact with the USC head tennis coach and I have had USC scouts watch my matches (this may help quite a bit)
I AM AWARE THAT I CAN ALWAYS ATTEND A JC FIRST AND HAVE A MUCH BETTER CHANCE TRANSFERRING!
Asking for chances on freshman admissions only, I dug myself into a hole with my academic performance and I know it is possible to dig out.
Gonna be brutally honest here because those amazing stories are one in a million at USC and you are looking at tennis as the pull??? So…your gpa is super low and your tennis isn’t anywhere in the range. USC is a top 10 tennis team, always has been, was number 1 for several years in the last decade. They typically know who they are looking at and trying to get years in advance and they don’t use scouts, coaches do attend tournaments (which includes the later rounds at Kalamazoo and junior slams because that is the level they are looking for). Top 300 in California or even the country is not their target player. Coming in with a 2.8 even for a blue chip player can be a tough sell - tennis players are a smarter bunch than your average recruited athlete. No way a tennis coach at a top tennis school, which certainly includes USC, is gonna play the favor card with admissions to pull in a 2.8 gpa that isn’t a blue chip. And even a blue chip or top ITF player with that gpa can be a challenge to get past admissions. Remember, they recruit throughout the entire world to typically bring on 2 players, at most 4 a year, depending on the number of seniors moving on. It is selective as it gets, this isn’t football with a giant roster. They find stellar players in the US or internationally with great or at least solid academics.
Your gpa also doesn’t coincide with your projected AP test scores. Someone with a 2.8 typically isn’t getting all 4s and 5s, but then your SAT is crazy good. Not sure how that all happened. So are you just a really smart underachiever?
Certainly apply and use the entrepreneurship angle throughout - that is way more your strength. But still a very long shot, because there are applicants with that strength and a 4.0. It’s just very competitive. So hope, but be real and apply broadly.
Not sure what to think about legacy - Nikias pretty much voided the importance of legacy, or at least diminished its importance greatly - not sure if that will change much in the future. It’s more about your family member having a direct relationship with someone in a position to do something than simply being a legacy.
Hey, thanks for the reply! Yeah I would say that I don’t really have any chance at the tennis team, just thought it would be nice to include as an EC since it takes up a lot of my time (The USC Head tennis coach’s son; who is already pretty much guaranteed to be recruited play in the same league as me. We have played against each other before with his father watching so I was kind of holding on to a small hope lol). As for my anticipated AP scores I feel as if these are fairly accurate, obviously I can not guarantee a specific score it is just based off of how comfortable I feel with the classes material at this point. Currently on track for a 4.6 GPA for my senior year (still pretty early to tell), hopefully the mid-year report adds to my application strength a bit. Testing has always been a strength of mine, I had poor grades due to not turning in assignments as I was constantly working on projects of my own (I know this is not an excuse but it will be the main theme of my essay). Again thanks a million for the information!
I agree with @CAdreaming, GPA is GPA. They will, and do, look at activities and say, “he spent more time on his own activities than he did in class”. Why is this an issue? They have to think about how you will function, as a student on their campus. Will you be too busy doing your own thing, versus making connections? They want you involved, with other students, in team activities on campus. An upward trend is a good, but this is senior year where it counts less.
Admissions is trying hard to lure NMF, with merit money, who do have the grades/activities. Believe me, they have more than enough applicants. I agree that legacy is being used less and less; they just have too many great students out there with good grades and test scores.
Apply, because you really never know, but apply to other schools as well.
Yeah I’m gonna agree with @“aunt bea” and @CADREAMIN here. The high standardized test scores vs gpa will kinda not look great. USC wants to bring in people who will do well academically all around. Not just in standardized test scores. I’m sure you’re a smart person, but the gpa is gonna scare admissions.
Again thank you all for your responses @AndyWarski @“aunt bea” @CADREAMIN . Does anyone have an idea as to how much my mid year report could improve my chances? Obviously skyrocketing my GPA (compared to previous years) must look somewhat favorable in the eyes of admission officers, but I am worried they will see me as someone with no long term dedication. Is this something that should be addressed directly in my application? I would assume that doing so within my essay would be frowned upon but should a direct reference to my poor academic performance be included in the extra information section of the common app?
It’s hard getting into USC.
You seem to be putting all of your eggs in one basket.
You need to ALSO apply to other colleges where you may have a chance of getting in.
It’s not just USC that will be considering your GPA, it’s your other schools, as well, that need an elevated GPA.
You’ve made it even more difficult by assuming USC is “it” and will accept you, and that all you have to do is:
fix the senior year GPA
fix the essay,
get noticed by the coach,
use Daddy’s legacy,
anticipate higher AP scores,
etc.
I mentioned applying because maybe the applicants this year have a lower overall GPA, and you MIGHT be considered. But, you need to be realistic. APPLY to your other schools.
FWIW: I have a younger sister who graduated from 'SC. [not a legacy]
My son got into USC, but chose not to attend because the merit dollars weren’t enough. [not a legacy]
Both had extremely high GPA’s.
Midyear report confirms that you haven’t failed any classes.
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 with 3K+ applicants with 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.
I suggest reading an excellent thread on the topic from the beginning…