Hello! I am class of 2016 and I’ll be applying to schools this fall. I’d love to know which of the schools on my list are actually realistic options and what I could do to improve my chances of getting into them. Thanks in advance!
SAT: 2170 (will take again in fall)
SATII: USH:760
APs: HUG:5 EURO:4 USH:scores not out yet CALC: will take senior year ES: will take senior year
IB: IB English I and II, exam senior year, IB History of the Americas: will take senior year
Honors: H Bio freshman year, H English freshman and sophomore year, H Chem sophomore year, H Precalc junior year
GPA: 4.0 unweighted, 4.5 weighted, 4.3 UC weighted
Ecs: Key Club (4)- publicity officer (2), CSF (3)- publicity officer (1)
Girl’s league (2)
Volunteer work at local community center, library and children’s museum (all programs helping local, low income kids) ~ 200 hrs
Track team (2)
Cross Country team (2)
Major: undecided
Race: Hispanic (Mexican/Portuguese)
Applying for financial aid
California resident
Schools I’d like to apply to/ attend:
USC (dream school), UCLA, UCB, UCSB, UCSD, UCI, UCD, Pepperdine, CSUF (safety?)
You are qualified applicant and have a solid chance at all the schools on your list. Good luck
@Gumbymom
Thanks! Any suggestions on how to improve my chances?
Would love a few more opinions:) bump
If you are very low income, then you should be able to qualify for scholarships.
If USC is your dream school, spend time on your essays and getting strong recommendations. Do something that you genuinely like over the summer and try to make it interesting and impactful
@“aunt bea”
I’m not low income really (~90k) but in still hoping for financial aid as USC (dream school) is ~67k annually full pay and there is no way my family can afford that!
@booboojr
This summer I will be volunteering again at my local library and community center’s children’s programs. These are all programs that I participated in as a child and I love giving back to/ giving new children the same great experiences I had as a kid. These a programs that I am very passionate about. Are those sufficient?
good chance at all the schools you listed. USC is very possible, spend time on your essays and get good recs. an interview is not necessary, unless you are really good at talking to people.
@sinoue123
How would I go about getting an interview? Do they request one of you are borderline or something? How much should I worry about my test scores? 2170 is the top of the middle 50%, so I’m worried about that. Ill work on my essays all summer, so hopefully they’ll turn out well.
http://www.usc.edu/admission/undergraduate/firstyear/prospective/interviews.html
i had a 2150 and was accepted into USC Dornsife (class of 2019), so i wouldn’t stress too much about it. a higher score would definitely help, but maybe consider taking the ACT as well to see if you score better. i took the ACT once, got a 33 and submitted both scores, but i dont know how much that helped w/admission.
@sinoue123
Thank you! That made me feel much better! Did you have crazy awesome awards/Ecs or anything? Will you be attending USC and why or why not? Sorry, I have a lot of questions:)
no problem! glad i could help 
i actually didn’t have any crazy EC’s and my GPA was lower than yours, so i was pretty surprised that i got in haha.
im attending UMich Ann Arbor next year, but i was deciding between there and USC. i decided not to go b/c i kind of wanted a new experience of going OOS (i’m from SoCal), and i got more financial aid at UMich (also since my mom is a die-hard UCLA alumni she was a little reluctant to let me go to SC lol)
Haha thanks! I’m also from SoCal, but I LOVE it here, so I wouldn’t really want to leave. Plus, after 17 years of SoCal winters, I don’t think I could deal with real “seasons”. Fingers crossed I get in! I’m visiting next week, excited:)
@sinoue123
@sinoue123
Whoops one more question
How is financial aid at USC? I definitely need some to attend, so I’m hoping it isn’t awful (although I know it’s nickname is University of Spoiled Children, so I’m trying not to get my hopes up too high!)
financial aid is pretty good. i got around 25k in grants and 8k in loans, and my income bracket is similar to yours. have fun at your visit!
Don’t forget that the tuition and fees are really expensive.
https://catalogue.usc.edu/tuition/ (note the fees listed are per SEMESTER).
My Mexican-American NM Winner was accepted to USC. Given his sports and EC’s, he was given a ½ tuition-only scholarship, which equaled to $20K ish . That means we would be stuck with another $40K per year in fees and room/board.
So if you need financial aid to attend USC, you will be stuck for the major fees (with a family income at $90K per year). Don’t go in assuming that your financial aid will be covered by USC. Unless you are very financially needy, it’s not going to work. Add up the fees per semester times two. Your fees and tuition will run about $60K
If you want to go to Pepperdine you should make sure you are ok with their religious requirements and get involved in a local church, their mission statement is purpose, service,leadership so they care more about those things than SATs