Chances for admission and for the varsity crew team

<p>I know these are annoying, but, well...everyone likes to have a sense of where they are.</p>

<p>That said, I've got two questions for you all:</p>

<p>1) What's the likelihood that I'd be admitted to USC with my stats so far?</p>

<p>Rising senior, grades: Around a 95-96 unweighted, I get mostly A's with the occasional B in terms of quarter averages. I've never gotten a "B" for the year on any course, though.</p>

<p>SATs: 2320
Math - 790
CR - 750
Writing - 780</p>

<p>SAT IIs:
Math Level 2 - 790
Physics - 800
Biology - 770</p>

<p>Courses taken so far - I'm accelerated one year in science, history/social studies, English, and math:
Earth Science H, Biology H, AP Chemistry, AP Physics
World History H, World Cultures H, AP US History, Public Affairs H, Economics H
Typical 9th-12th grade level math, all honors
English 9H, World Literature H, Lit Classics H, Lit Decisions H, Modernism H
Digital Electronics H, Computer Aided Drawing I and iI, Principles of Engineering H, Java
Spanish 9-11</p>

<p>Senior Course Load:
AP English
AP Computer Science
AP Calc BC
AP Biology
Psychology H
Robotics and Automation H
Spanish H</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
Math team, minor involvement
Varsity Crew Team, coxswain
-(see next question for what I've done here. this is a commitment that takes up more than 1000 hours each year.)
Key Club, 9th grade, minimal involvement
National Honor Society
Spent time over the summer interning at a national laboratory, I have a paper with my name listed on it, but I'm not a primary author.
Played violin for 11 years, I have so-so credentials here, considering the length of time I've been involved.</p>

<p>Volunteer work: 120ish hours, here and there, nothing special.</p>

<p>Demographics: Asian, female, upper-middle class, upstate NY</p>

<p>2) Is it possible for me to make it as a walk-on to the women's crew team? I'm a coxswain for a New York rowing club with three seasons of experience coxing (six by fall 2007) and two seasons experience rowing. I don't really have super-stellar credentials, and I'm totally unsure as to how the coach selects coxswains, or even if he/she likes them.</p>

<p>-4th place in Scholastic Rowing Association Nationals, girls' Jr. 4+, spring 2006
-1st place at NYS Championships, girls' club 4+, spring 2006
-2nd place at NYS, girls' jr 4+, spring 2006
-Placed 11th (I think) at Head of the Fish, girls' youth 4+ (this has college rowers in it, too), Fall 2005
-3rd place at NYS, girls' 2nd varsity 4+ (I don't think this one counts, as I was rowing and not coxing), spring 2005</p>

<p>Potentials for Fall and Summer '06:
-I'm probably getting sent to the Charles this fall with the womens 4+. Last year, we had the same boat go with a different coxswain, and it got 6th.
-Possibly coxing the HS lightweight 8+ at Head of the Fish. Last year, these girls got silver. This year, they're better.
-We're going to the Canadian Henley this August. A few of our j18 and j16 boats may make it into semifinals.</p>

<p>Great stats...could possibly get recruited for rowing. Contact the coach and see if they recruit for cox position.</p>

<p>Why USC? Stats and EC's qualify you to apply to almost any school (the odds for the most selective make them a reacy for everyone...but you're certainly qualified to apply.)</p>

<p>I agree. Call the athletic department regarding the rowing bit, but you should definitely be applying for the merit scholarships regardless.</p>

<p>Well...I have my reasons for doubting myself.</p>

<p>First off, I've been told that it's extremely hard to be recruited as a coxswain. I'm still pretty inexperienced, and also five pounds over the regulation collegiate weight. I'm kind of scared to apply to any Div I school, since crew is my only major commitment and I don't really want to be 7th varsity. Also, certain coaches really despise coxes. They believe that their only responsibilities are to provide as little deadweight as possible and steer. I'm not sure how common that is in the collegiate world, but I commonly see high school coaches with this attitude. If that's the case with this particular coach, all my wins will be seen as "Oh, the club's rowers are good."</p>

<p>Second, I am planning on applying to more prestigious schools just to see if I can get in, but I really doubt it. My counselor recs will be terrible, considering that in our school, each counselor takes care of more than 200 students; quite frequently, the only students that they know well are the troubled ones. My ranking isn't exactly the best, either. I barely make the top 5% (by barely, I mean if one person decides to start studying really hard, I won't make it). My GPA also has somewhat of a downward trend, considering that my "freshman" grades were given by middle school teachers who grade really easy.</p>

<p>Wow. I need to stop bashing myself.</p>

<p>Being in the top 10% of your class is a huge accomplishment (and you're not even, you're in the top 5!). Don't sell yourself short for not being #1. Plus, if you're that highly ranked I'm sure your grades can't have too much of a downward trend (A to A- is not a downward trend.) USC is practically a safety for you!</p>

<p>question #1 - you have good all around stats and I would not worry. your SATs are good and probably APs will be too. </p>

<p>Ditch your counselors. Find some sympathetic teacher that loves you to write the rec. Picking the wrong person to write your rec can be (and has been, for some people) a really bad move. If you think someones not going to give a good rec then don't ask them.</p>

<p>question 2: well if you really want to do crew then you should get busy now! I googled for "usc womens crew" and got <a href="http://usctrojans.cstv.com/sports/w-crew/usc-w-crew-body.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://usctrojans.cstv.com/sports/w-crew/usc-w-crew-body.html&lt;/a>. Down at the bottom I saw:</p>

<p>
[quote]

•Interested in Rowing at USC? Email Kelly(<a href="mailto:babraj@usc.edu">babraj@usc.edu</a>) or Zenon(<a href="mailto:zbabraj@usc.edu">zbabraj@usc.edu</a>) or fill out a USC rowing questionnaire (<a href="http://www.fansonly.com/schools/usc/ot/crew-query.html)%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.fansonly.com/schools/usc/ot/crew-query.html)&lt;/a>.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>You gotta let these people know you exist, for one thing, and also to get them familiar with what you can do (especially if you have events coming up that they might even come to)</p>

<p>If they don't know you exist you're never going to be recruited even if you can win a gold medal at the olympics.</p>