Chances at USC

Colleges & Universities A-Z University of Southern California
1

<p>Personal:
Ethnicity: Asian Male
Location: New York
School Type: Moderately Competitive Medical Magnet High School
Intended Major: Biology/Chemistry or Computer Science/Engineering</p>

<p>GPA:
3.1 UW</p>

<p>SAT I :
Critical Reading: 740
Mathematics: 780
Writing: 760
(1520/2280)</p>

<p>SAT II:
United States History: 750
Physics: 790
Math Level II: 780</p>

<p>Extra-curricular Activities:</p>

<p>H.P.R.E.P. (Health Professions Recruitment and Exposure Program) at
Joan and Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University</p>

<p>R.E.A.D.Y. Program (Responsibly Employed And Dedicated Youth)</p>

<p>Leadership Positions:
Treasurer of Student Government (11)
Founder of the Chess Club
President of the Chess Club</p>

<p>Club Activities:
Member of the Health Sciences Club (11,12)
Member of the Social Wellness Club (12)</p>

<p>Instrument :
Experience Playing Piano (8 years)
Experience Playing Harmonium (10 years)</p>

<p>Work Experience :
Private Student Tutoring in literacy, grammar, and mathematics (9,10)</p>

<p>Community Service :
220 hours for Website Design
30 hours as Teacher's Assistant</p>

<p>College Now Courses at York College : (11)
PSY 102 : Introductory Psychology – B
POL 103 : Politics and Government in the United States *
College Now Course at Borough of Manhattan Community College :
CHE 110 : General Chemistry *
PHY 110 : General Physics **</p>

<ul>
<li>Will be completed before applications are due.
** Will be completed after applications are due.</li>
</ul>

<p>Senior Year Schedule: (Most rigorous schedule possible)
AP Biology
AP Calculus AB
Honors English IV
Participation in Government/Economics
POL 103 : Politics and Government in the United States (Semester One)
CHE 110 : General Chemistry (Semester One)
PHY 110: General Physics (Semester Two)</p>

<p>Do I have any chance at University of Southern California? Also, it would be gladly appreciated if you could suggest solid safety, and match schools. Thank you for your help!</p>

2

<p>Your SAT I and II scores are stellar, but you need to bring up that GPA your senior year. I know that graduation is the only known cure for senioritis, but yeah. Everything else is right on target. USC is probably a Match/Slight Reach.</p>

<p>I'm a total California girl so I can only suggest a few California schools, sorry...</p>

<p>UC-Riverside: Safety (strong programs for Biomedical Sciences, Engineering)
UC-Irvine: Match (Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science)
UC-San Diego: Match/Slight Reach (Biology, Engineering/Bioengineering)</p>

<p>I don't know much about the other UCs, but you can research them. All the UCs are Safeties/Matches except fUCLA and Berkeley, which are slight reaches. But I know they're gonna love your SAT scores!</p>

3

<p>I hope you're right. Thanks for weighing in.</p>

4

<p>If you're interested in a smaller school in Southern CA, I highly recommend my alma mater, the University of Redlands. Being smaller, it doesn't have the same variety of course options as USC, but there is a lot of personal attention. It is very well regarded but would be considered less of a reach than USC.</p>

5

<p>
[quote]
If you're interested in a smaller school in Southern CA, I highly recommend my alma mater, the University of Redlands. Being smaller, it doesn't have the same variety of course options as USC, but there is a lot of personal attention. It is very well regarded but would be considered less of a reach than USC.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I'm not trying to be a jerk or anything, but selling your liberal arts alma mater to an over-qualified prospective science student isn't the best idea. I'm not saying Redlands is a bad school, I'm just saying that it's not a match for his profile and shouldn't even be considered an option.</p>

6

<p>"I'm not trying to be a jerk or anything, but selling your liberal arts alma mater to an over-qualified prospective science student isn't the best idea. I'm not saying Redlands is a bad school, I'm just saying that it's not a match for his profile and shouldn't even be considered an option."</p>

<p>He inquired about safety as well as match schools. I was honest about Redlands' reputation not being on a par with USC and the pros and cons of that school. Every student is different, and simply because he's a science major doesn't mean it would be the wrong match. Not every science major with high stats ends up at a large research school; I'd urge you to be a little more open-minded on that score. Now having the name of the university, he can easily determine for himself with further research (which he is obviously smart enough to carry out...) whether or not Redlands merits a deeper look. He might far prefer another science-centered school like Harvey Mudd (which comes to mind at this moment), which is more of a match for him than a safety. On the other hand, I noted he also has extensive musical experience; although I didn't mention it when I dashed off my quick note, Redlands has an <em>extremely</em> fine music department. (As, of course, does USC.) </p>

<p>Are you <em>sure</em> you're not saying Redlands is a bad school? (Grin) They <em>do</em> have science students there, and many successful graduates. Some of my daughter's stats are higher than his, and Redlands was in the running for her with USC till the last week. (You may be surprised that when asked, I recommended USC over my alma mater to her...she was really taken with the intimate campus and personal one-on-one attention she would receive at Redlands, but ultimately chose USC, with its greater resources and options.)</p>

<p>I think it's important, before coming to a decision, for students to look at a range of options and then choose the environment that suits them best. Summer before junior year is a great time to be doing that. Best wishes --</p>

7

<p>Correction: I meant to say "summer <em>after</em> junior year..." in my last paragarph.</p>

8

<p>For what it's worth, I know someone who chose Redlands over Cornell.</p>

9

<p>back on topic, I'm kinda curious as to see what the weighted GPA and the class rank are, given an oddly low unweighted GPA considering the other (stellar) stats</p>

10

<p>I'm not sure about my weighted GPA, but my rank should be about 20/100.</p>

11

<p>Bring up my post.</p>

12

<p>Weighted is not as important as unweighted. I'm just surprised your GPA's so low despite your other excellent stats... although can you be in the top 20 percent with 3.1? I had 3.7-3.8 and i barely was in top 20... hmmm.</p>