Chance me?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Southern California
1

<p>Hi, I am currently a high school senior. graduation 2009. I was wondering if someone could tell what my chances are of getting into USC.</p>

<p>CA resident - So. cal
Ethnicity: Caucasian</p>

<p>ACT: <em>COMPOSITE: 30</em> English-31, Math-28, Reading-35, Science-24</p>

<p>SAT: 2000. CR: 720, Math-640, Writing 640.
the first time I took it I got a 1990 and if I superscore both tests then I got a 2080</p>

<p>GPA weighted: 4.22 unweighted: 3.8 ...
Please note: this is not including this past semester in which I got a 4.6 GPA. when that is factored in the weighted GPA should increase alot..maybe up to a 4.3 or 4.4. I'm not sure yet.</p>

<p>Also I was wondering how I calculate my UC GPA?</p>

<p>Classes I took in 10th grade: Honors english, ap european history, honors algebra 2, spanish 2, chemistry
Classes I took this year: Ap english language, Ap us history, honors pre-calc., physics, honors spanish 3.
Classes I'm taking next year: Ap literature, Ap economics, Ap government, Ap calculus, honors spanish 4, anatomy</p>

<p>The only classes I got B's in were Ap european history and english except this past semester I got an A- in Ap english language.</p>

<p>I'm somewhere in the top 10% of my grade but I'm not sure exactly yet.</p>

<p>Extracurriculars-
coached a basketball team, worked at a senior center 4 summers.worked at a bookstore...etc.etc.etc. i have alot of volunteer work
4 year varsity basketball</p>

<p>awards- basketball awards, awards from english teacher, etc.etc.</p>

<p>Essay: extremely good essay that talks about some challenges I had to face in the past couple years.</p>

<p>I was wondering if you could also chance me for UCSD, Berkeley, and UCLA (I don't know if this helps, but my mom,grandma,cousin,and uncle went to USC)</p>

<p>Thank you very much I appreciate it.</p>

2

<p>Your in dude.
Just do the same or better your first semester as a senior and your good to go.</p>

3

<p>ok, thanks. could you also chance me for UCLA?</p>

4

<p>pssh
youre a legacy like 10 times over
you're in ;-)</p>

<p>your stats and ec's are good enough for usc
ucsd shouldn't be a problem</p>

<p>probably not that likely for ucla and cal
maybe retake the sat's and you may have a better shot
but those schools are just so hard to predict anyways
college counselors hate those 2, so who knows</p>

<p>~from kathyc's d going to usc next year</p>

5

<p>I think you get into USC because you're a legacy and get into UCLA because of your GPA. Don't worry about SAT for UCLA. UCLA tends to discount SAT scores anyway. For USC, you have better chance if you beat USC average SAT which is 2108(?). This year from CC, somebody got rejected from USC but got into both UCLA and UCB(quixoticrick?).</p>

6

<p>Sorry to burst the legacy bubble. This has come up very often here but it's worth repeating. I had a long discussion with an admission counselor at USC who told me that legacy status is not a factor in USC admissions. They do, however, give legacies extra consideration after they are rejected. They will provide them with a "special meeting" with an advisor to discuss how to transfer to USC.</p>

7

<p>kk. i'm more interested in UCLA. but im curious..i go to a VERY wealthy highschool in socal. i was wondering how all these kids with like 3.0 GPAs and bad SAT scores get into USC (if legacies don't matter). one of my teachers at my school gave me a list of students at our school (names not included) which showed the gpa, rank, sat, and # of community service hours of people in my school who got into USC. my school is not even super competitive. there are people on the list who have like a 3.0 gpa and like a 1780 SAT score (and even lower than that) who got into USC. on this list, it says those who got in with athletic scholarships are not included on the list. i'm wondering, could it be because there parents donated money to the school or something? these people who got in are also NOT minorities. i have little to no minorities at my school. i am VERY confused.</p>

8

<p>Melissaray:</p>

<p>Welcome to the real world. Legacies count...if your stats are high enough AND you're a 4x legacy...it counts. If you go to...HarvardWestlake or Brentwood for example...(1)Even with a mediocre gpa and SATs SC knows that you can do the world because a 3.1 at Brentwood is harder to get than a 3.1 in most universities. If you go to a arty high school...but with wealthy parents who donate, if a university (and not just SC...all schools) sees that you can do the world and your parents donate...you've got a good shot. Universities are a business (I've stated this before on this forum.) and if your family is prominent/gives donations/is famous/and/or you have something different and special...you're heads above the other kids. This is true at private schools especially, but the rules bend for public schools as well.</p>

9

<p>
[quote]
there are people on the list who have like a 3.0 gpa and like a 1780 SAT score (and even lower than that) who got into USC...

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I'm very confused also. What you are stating about students being accepted with 3.0 GPA and 1780 SAT is very hard to believe so there has to be more to it. (We've never had anyone report acceptance near those stats here on CC.) </p>

<p>Along with legacy not being a factor, it is VERY rare for someone to get in based on money donated to the school. There are so many large donors, it would be impossible to accept all their children. The "accepted" statistics are going up every year for a reason. USC is becoming more and more a first rate academic school that is able to accept only top-notch students. </p>

<p>I hate to say this but I just don't believe that list you were shown. There must have been some mistake. </p>

<p>Your stats fall on the low end of 2007 USC Admits. USC, UCLA, and UCSD are possible but by no means for-sures. Cal is going to be a far reach. Good luck.</p>

10

<p>As I reported earlier: My daughter, accepted for spring: 3.3 and 1750. Special assets (not necessarily contributions).</p>

11

<p>Another admittee from my d's school: very mediocre grades, SATs, famous father...admitted/fall</p>

<p>Please note: I love USC. The school gives more outstanding options for education than I have seen elsewhere. If you don't know what you want to do SC has wonderful diversity of majors. All of their departments are strong, especially film which is number one in the country. But getting into college is a business, it is about understanding what to say about yourself (the truth) and having enough to set you apart.</p>

<p>We have a friend who interviews for Harvard. He is never impressed with the perfect gpa/SAT combos. He always looks for the different, the quirky and the undiscovered talent. And his recommendations are taken very seriously.</p>

12

<p>cc411- sorry im not trying to attack you or anything but the list was compiled based on the stats of graduates from my highschool and i do not think that my school would give out false information.</p>

<p>ellebud- i agree with you.</p>

<p>p.s. USC is not my first choice at all.</p>

13

<p>I think you'll get in. I got a 3.92 UW and 1810 SAT score. I got in for Spring 2009 though =&lt;/p>

14

<p>:) After reading my post, it sounds like a rant. I should have ended with a smilie face to show my tone. Didn't mean to come off like that- sorry.</p>

15

<p>USC had 36,000 applicants this year for 2,600 or 2,700 spots. Average SAT 2100 and GPA 3.8. If you have students who got in to USC from your high school with significantly lower stats, my guess is these students had a different very special talent to offer the school (for example-played a needed instrument in the marching band, research awards, published poetry/book, film talent, etc.)</p>

16

<p>Melissa,
All selective colleges are going to take some students who do not fit into their usual SAT/GPA categories for one reason or another. An alumna of Notre Dame posted statistics from a letter she had received asking for admissions data. This was for last year's class.<br>
In that class 10% of the enrolled students scored between 500-599 in Critical Reading, 7% in Math and 13% in Writing. In the 400-499 range 2% scored there in CR, 1% in Math and 2% in Writing.
Perhaps someone on our forum saw the post from a student who was admitted to Stanford with an 1800/2400 SAT.
It is disturbing to read that high school counselors give out private information regarding test scores and GPA averages of individual students, even if names are withheld.</p>

17

<p>I don't think it is appropriate for a "teacher" to give out confidential info. about students' stats (even without saying the names of the students). I never saw this type of thing at my son's high school. I can also say that sometimes there is some surprise about which students are going to which colleges. We don't know all of the community activities, awards, quality of essays, etc. that go into student's applications. Sometimes there is just something truly exceptional about a particular applicant that goes beyond GPA and test scores which prompts a university to give an acceptance. This is because that particular applicant has something special to offer the university that is hard to find.</p>

18

<p>Georgia Girl and mdcissp-You must not be aware of a computer-based program called "naviance" which many, many schools use as a college planning tool. On it, one can access graphs with data points showing each student's gpa and sat/act score and whether they were admitted or rejected from each college. This is VERY common practice and very helpful in when determining where it is reasonable to apply.</p>

19

<p>The usual criteria over whether schools can release this kind of thing is whether it's personally identifiable or not. </p>

<p>If, say, these lists included class rank, and a valedictorian was announced, then effectively they've released personally identifiable information (since you can easily look up the person's data who has #1 rank).</p>

20

<p>There is something similar to the naviance program researchmaven mentions at our high school. However, you have to be sure that when you look at it now, that it reflects this year admissions and not last year. I don't know exactly when the high schools give that update. USC, for example, has higher stats this year than earlier. The program is very helpful to tell you if you are within range of acceptance as long as the program you look at is updated for this year's admissions statistics. Also, some students do have something very special to offer schools which may explain why some acceptances are off the charts (i.e. lower than usual stats but may have some great awards, outstanding community service, research, and the like).</p>