<p>mdcissp- I support ellebud's comments; colleges are a business and USC will consider an applicant with less than stellar grades and SAT scores that attend prestigious private schools with rigorous college prep programs. Several of my daughter's friends know applicants of famous people in LA who have been admitted that don't meet the traditional profile outlined in the university's recent press releases. Young actors, actresses, sons and daughters of prominent producers and directors that contribute to the USC Cinema School (eg, the Katzenbergs, Bruce Willis' daughter, even Governor Schwartznegger's daughter Katherine, who was rejected this year from Boston College, located in the state that is the home of her mother's clan, the Kennedys), get special attention. I personally know of several applicants that are admitted with lower stats because they have an university trustee contact the admissions office for them. USC's song girls are nationally known and several of them did not achieve 2100 SAT scores coupled with 3.7 uw GPA's. (It happens in the Ivy Leagues as well...) </p>
<p>melissaray- the information that you were provided is probably accurate.</p>
<p>for some reason, it ticks me off when people go somewhere other than UC boards and expect us to tell them how to calculate UC GPA. Barring the fact that it's a simple process to search google.... why are you being so ridiculously lazy. Copy and paste to the UCLA board for christ's sake. </p>
<p>Also, I wish people would quit telling others that they're "in" at any competitive school. It's by no means a sure thing.</p>
<p>If the admissions process simply involved sorting everyone by GPA and SAT score and admitting/denying everyone above/below some threshold, there wouldn't be much for an admissions office to do, right? :) </p>
<p>In fact, no need to fill out any application at all - just send name, transcript, test scores, easy-peasy.</p>
<p>Ram, yes it's possible that some "developmentals" do get special consideration, it happens at all colleges. However I don't think we can assume that children of prominent people and celebrities would not get in otherwise (keeping in mind that you may be more privy to such information in particular cases). We don't know that K. Schwartzeneggar for example may very well have chosen USC over other colleges she was admitted to, based on a fit for her, and we don't know what her resume constituted. Also, she was waitlisted at BC, not initially rejected, and who knows...maybe she would not have gone had she been offered a spot.
That said, I agree colleges are a business. Talented athletes sometimes are also given special attention if some of their stats are not particularly great.
I am also not stating that there IS any assumption, but given the comments in another thread, I feel a bit of a need to defend the governor's daughter after that publicity, as we just don't know.</p>
<p>Regarding sports applicants (not USC): We know several kids who are going ivy league in a sport because they are highly ranked in their sport. Their gpas aren't the 4.6, but are in the 3.5 category. (They usually attended a good public school, not private) Since ivies do not give athletic scholarships (although they can find other scholarships when needed) these kids get the benefit of getting in without the usual stats.</p>
<p>...although a friend of my daughter's is going to a premiere university to play a sport (I am not mentioning the sport because it would be too identifiable) and he has a 4.3, 2350 from a top college prep school. His choice? Go to college or go pro...he is going to college. (did I mention that he is brilliant?)</p>
<p>Private universities take a variety of students in their incoming classes--some with outstanding academic records but some with other special talents or associations that bring a bonus to the campus. That's why recruitable sports talent matters and also why ability to pay the tuition matters. No one should be shocked by this practice, no matter how it seems to favor athletes or family $$ over brains, but also--no one can count on being one of these exceptions either. It's reasonable to assume that big contributors' children must get extra consideration, but I will offer evidence that counters RAM's comments as I know 3 families who are either trustees or over $1 million donors to USC whose own offspring were rejected this year. Hence the infamous USC rejection letter to SCions with the added paragraph that encourages them to hope to transfer to SC down the line.</p>
<p>SC is not as GPA driven as UCLA or UCB, which, as public universities, get huge numbers of public school applicants. While those top UCs field classes with higher avg GPAs than USC's incoming class, they are also significantly lower in avg SAT scores, which may be accounted to some degree by the one-sitting rule, but might also be a symptom of grade inflation from the vast pool of sending high schools. USC, like many private universities, takes into consideration the rigor and grade profiles of sending schools. From a HS that shows true excellence, USC knows they can accept lower down the class rank and still find students who are better equipped to handle their college curriculum than higher ranked kids from other schools.</p>
<p>I would question the poster who inferred that all the kids with 3.0 GPAs from her school were accepted to USC. This year, even kids from the top private high schools (which means academic grade deflation plus a perceived ability to pay tuition) were rejected from SC with GPAs much higher than mentioned. I suggest all students who are reading this thread and trying to figure out their chances be aware of this.</p>
<p>To get a more balanced perspective check out the stats of this year's rejected students posted to CC and you'll find many that are far above the stats listed by OP.</p>
<p>This discussion is only important really to let students know which schools are a legitimate reach, a match, or a safety. It is necessary to put together a balanced list so you don't end up without at the least a couple of great choices in April. If one were to over-estimate her/his chance of acceptance at USC she/he might not take the time to find other great schools that were closer to match or safety.</p>
<p>And if you really are a match--congratulations! Hope you all have lots of good choices down the road.</p>
<p>I will add that a friend of my older daughter's who had (read had) a world famous father who was a professor at SC who was rejected. The father left SC for a very prestigious school in a huge huff. (Again, this says don't assume that you will be accepted or rejected based on arbitrary stats, connections, or anything else.)</p>