<p>Hi!
In the fall I am planning on applying to the following:
USC
Occidental
USD
Santa Clara</p>
<p>Here are my stats:
GPA: 3.25 (Don't know what it is weighted, but I have taken 2-3 AP or Honors classes every year)
SAT: 2060 (M:690, V:680, W: 690)
ECs: 3 years on ASB, over 1000 volunteer hours at local summer camp, volunteer at local Wooden Boat Restoration Center/Museum, MUN awards, position on MUN leadership staff, started Ultimate Frisbee team at my school.</p>
<p>I am wondering what chance I have at all of these schools. I understand that USC is a reach, but has anyone heard of someone getting in with such a low GPA? My SATs and ECs are strong, but I can't help thinking my low GPA will be a major turnoff for all of these schools. Any thoughts?
Thanks a lot!</p>
<p>Timb025,</p>
<p>You may have already gotten replies from your target schools but chances are you won't get accepted to USC. I don't know much about how the SAT's are scored now but your GPA is well below the minimum.</p>
<p>On the other hand, everyone is making much hay now about not depending upon one indicator anymore but rather taking account of an applicants entire body of academic work, non-academic interests, and other accomplishments (although I thought that was always supposed to be the idea).</p>
<p>Nevertheless, I think that with a 3.25 GPA (which is not so bad, don't sell yourself short) it's an uphill battle.</p>
<p>USC: reach (GPA)
Oxy: Slight reach (they emphasize GPA and ECs far more than SAT)
USD: likely admit
Santa Clara: likely admit</p>
<p>Occidental<br>
I found this from Oxy Page.</p>
<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=45504%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=45504</a></p>
<p>Decision: Rejected</p>
<p>Stats:
SAT: 1450
SAT IIs: 740, 680, 660
GPA: 3.5 weighted
Rank: school doesn't rank
Other stats: Bad APs
Subjective:
Essays: All right
Teacher Recs: Probably very good, didn't see them
Counselor Rec: Same as teachers
Hook (if any): None, really.. interned in the USC athletic office for two summers
Location/Person:
State or Country: Los Angeles, CA
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: White
Major strength/weakness: Good SAT, bad GPA?
Why you think you were accepted/rejected/waitlisted: Who knows. I didn't fit the mold. Whatever.
Other Factors: Not many extracurriculars, but a couple.</p>
<p>and this</p>
<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/archive/index.php/t-46431.html%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/archive/index.php/t-46431.html</a></p>
<p>I'm slightly surprised. Oxy is a competitive school, but I didn't think it was "that" competitive. It wasn't my first choice, but it was one of the colleges that I have been interested in for a pretty long time. My interviewer was sort of cold, maybe.</p>
<p>My Stats:
Gender: Female
Location: Southeast
School: Private prep school
GPA: 3.4 (unweighted)- that's pretty low I guess, but my school offers more rigorous courses than most publics
SAT: 1390 (far better verbal than math)
Extracurriculars: Editor of school paper, editor of literary magazine, piano, violin, swimming, volunteer at church, Amnesty International, mulit-cultural club (and those are ACTIVE memberships, not cheap space-filler to look impressive on college apps)
APs: Only three: foreign language, English and Euro His.
Interview at Oxy: Yes
Teacher Recs: foreign language teacher and English teacher (got straight A's all year in both their classes)</p>
<p>I dunno. Maybe my essay wasn't that good. </p>
<p>Anyway, congrats to those who were accepted! I'll probably end up in Los Angeles anyway, because I got accepted to USC. :)</p>