<p>I'm not going to do a full overview of all my individual class grades and everything, but just the rough outline.</p>
<p>GPA: 3.56
SAT: 2280 (2300 superscored between two sittings)
National Merit Semifinalist (and probably Finalist)
A bunch of Theater related ECs.
A pretty large amount of volunteer work.
Probably good recommendations, and good essay.</p>
<p>What are my chances? I know the GPA is low, but USC seems to really like National Merit, so that might help.</p>
<p>Yeah, the GPA is low, but it also depends on your school. If your school is known for having extremely difficult courses, your GPA might be really good in context. Your SAT score is excellent, and it sounds like your EC’s will show both passion and long-term commitment. I’d say you have a strong chance of getting in. Good luck!</p>
<p>my roommate transferred into theater from a CC w/ a 3.4</p>
<p>different schools within the university look for different things. i’m pretty sure theatre focuses less on gpa than others.</p>
<p>I thought USC had to accept people first, and then out of those they accepted, the “schools” would accept people? And if the major one applied to didn’t accept him or her, he or she would still be accepted into USC as an undeclared major?</p>
<p>I’ve heard the Admissions rep in SCA say both the general university admissions office for CLAS and the SCA admission office simultaneously look at your file. In other words, it’s two separate processes. If the SCA (or Thornton, Viterbi, Marshall, Theatre, Roski Art) wants a candidate, CLAS admissions must then also approve them. Sometimes, this may lift a so-so academic (near the 25% level SAT or GPA stats of admitted or even slightly lower?) candidate to an acceptance. Without the special talent, they may not have been accepted by the university at large. But without the stats to convince the USC adcom a talented student will be able to handle all their courses, including the GEs, they can veto that admission.</p>
<p>OTOH, a student may not be selected by one of the competitive talent-based Schools, yet still present very high GPA, test scores, recs, etc. That student is likely to be admitted into CLAS as an undeclared major. It can be a bittersweet result, and I know students who decide to attend other schools that admit them to their film schools, as well as those who attend USC and try to transfer into their first choice major, taking the risk they may never get in. </p>
<p>In short, if your stats are very competitive for USC in general, you may get an acceptance–but there is no guarantee based on those stats that you will be accepted to an audition/portfolio-judged major.</p>
<p>I think you will get in if you’re applying Theatre. From what I’ve seen in past stats posted, there have been prospective students with lower qualifications who have been accepted. I think your SAT is probably strong enough to make up for the lower GPA. Good luck.</p>