<p>With the first letters going out in less than a month for those being considered for Trustee and Presidential scholarships, my worries are higher than ever. USC is my top choice, and money is a huge factor in deciding where I can go to school, but my family probably won't qualify for a lot of need-based aid. What do you think my chances are at both acceptance and the top scholarships?</p>
<p>GPA: 4.383
GPA (UW): 4.0
ACT: 33 (two times; higher if you were to combine sub-scores: 34 or 35)
Rank: 1 out of about 195
APs: 8 total; US History - 5, Biology - 5, English Language - 5, Psych - 4, Currently taking: English Literature, US Government, Calculus, Spanish Language
Class load: Always taking hardest classes possible, lots of APs and Honors
Extracurricular activities: Lots of theater, Boys' State, lots of legislative debate activities, many clubs, leadership in some clubs and choir
Community Service: At least 10 hours a year; about 60 hours total in high school
Letters of Rec: I didn't get a chance to read (my school is dumb), but I know the teacher (AP English), and I bet she wrote an excellent one.<br>
Essays: I thought they were good; maybe written a little rushed, but still very good; my writing is a favorite of my English teachers
Applied School: Cinematic Arts
Applied Major: Production major</p>
<p>Anyone can feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but the consensus that I've gotten from the SCA kids that got Trustee or Presidential is that they were really lucky and they really don't know what they did that separated themselves from everyone else who applied. Apparently it's given out to a small handful of people (since it is such a small school) and, because it is one of the top film schools in the nation, the admissions department feels you need them more than they need you. But again, that's just going off what I've been told.</p>
<p>From what I've read, sometimes those Trustee scholarship winners would have qualified for financial aid anyway so USC gave them full tuition scholarship instead.</p>
<p>Does anyone know how many get asked for interviews versus how many actually get awarded the scholarship? When do the interviews take place? When do the awards get announced??</p>
<p>Maybe my S's experience can provide some anecdotal info. My S is a Trustee scholar in School of Cinematic Arts (Interactive Entertainment major). Like OP, he took a tough course load at a rigorous high school, had good grades and test scores, ECs. He also had kind of quirky outside the box accomplishments such as talking his way into an internship his junior summer of HS that led to a professional level-design credit on a published game, acting in 3 plays at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and taking several focused art and 3-d design software classes at the Art Center College of Design and UCLA. His essays were centered on this intense focus he has for a future in game design. He spent a lot of time on his SCA supplement, including (required for IM majors at that time) submission of a creative sample (for which he had to photograph and compile a slide art portfolio). He took the process seriously because this program was his first choice, and he'd heard they would accept only about 12 new freshmen in his major. We tried to keep our expectations realistic. So we were just as surprised that he actually was accepted to SCA as we were to find he was a finalist for the Trustee. As with most of us, my S has had his share of disappointments in his life--things that didn't quite go his way. But good things happen to all of us, too. And this was a WAY good thing. </p>
<p>In fact, it is extremely difficult for us here on cc (on the outside of the process) to predict chances for admission to any of the SCA majors from critical studies to production to screenwriting-since a lot of the decision is based upon your SCA supplement, especially writing samples and creative statement. I don't think it's luck that gets a student accepted, but it's going to come down to how unique your vision comes through--what you want to bring to your films, what your creative voice is, and how well that fits into the new class of freshmen they are putting together. To all who are applying to SCA, this is a most competitive field. They quote the acceptance rate at 4%. So don't get discouraged, but try to keep a perspective on the process. </p>
<p>I think you have a great chance of getting accepted to USC, but I don't know about SCA because it is highly competitive. I think USC gives out about 100 full Trustee scholarships out of around 36,000 applicants last year. I suggest you apply and hope for the best.</p>
<p>As I remember it [ Son is a Trustee Scholar] around 200 invitations are sent out to interview foe Trustee scholarships. I'm not sure how the distribution of scholarships winners are decided- applicants are interviewed by professors in their declared major/ college they are applying to.</p>
<p>I think my supplement essays were pretty great. I worked on them a lot. A lot more than anything else I worked on. Hopefully that will pull through for me.</p>
<p>It's good to hear that other people have gotten into the program, and even better to hear that there are those in the program with the scholarship.</p>
<p>Any idea how many production students are admitted each year as freshmen?</p>