Interested in majoring in Communications and minoring in Theatre
Okay so basically I’m a complicated story. I’m saying like 2.7 average. Now, a senior, a 4.0 unweighted. Sophomore year was ok with around a 3.5 average. (Got a 3.8 second semester though) Junior year was perfect as well. 7 AP’s overall. (zero offered 9th grade, 1 offered sophomore year)
So yes, my overall GPA is quite mediocre because of my freshman year.
33 ACT
2300 SAT
Scores are pretty good. Should I try to raise them?
My extracurricular are pretty much the highlight of my entire application.
-Founder of my school’s Cancer Charity: I collect toys and deliver them to children battling cancer
-Founder of my school’s Drama Club
-Founder of my school’s Arabic Tutoring Program (10th-12th)
-Student Body President this year
-Student Council for 3 years: grade representative in 10th, secretary in 11th
-2 years on the Badminton Team
-2 years on the Soccer Team
-Forensics and Debate Team (11-12)
My essay is about the struggles of being a raised an Arab girl and how it changed my perspective on life and education. I think it really gives the individual reading my application an idea on why I’m so passionate about studying at USC and why I’m a passionate person about what I do overall.
I’m an international student and CANNOT afford full tuition at USC. I need at least half tuition. Would my excuse for my mediocre GPA be good enough to get me a scholarship? What else would I need to do to raise my chances? My GPA ruins everything and it sucks, because I know everything about my application is pretty solid.
This post was edited for privacy.
Unweighted 4.0 in states typically means someone got all A’s all through high school, are you on a different scale (since you didn’t get perfect grades as you stated)?
Not trying to be harsh, but realistic so here goes…Trustee is almost impossible to get and takes incredible stats and achievements (regardless of circumstances) so I believe that is highly unlikely, and Presidential, while more attainable is still very difficult. Let’s put it this way, first, you went through something horrible and I am very sorry about your mom. But what it there are others who went through the same thing, but didn’t have a dip in grades - who handled the adversity without impact? Who is more likely to be chosen? And there will be those people. There are thousands of applicants presenting struggles, people getting full tuition don’t have an excuse because their stats show they didn’t utilize one, does that make sense? When you look at your application, you have to see where there is a hole or weakness, and understand that there is likely to be someone that fills that hole. That is the difference between just getting admitted yet getting scholarships.
USC says this about these scholarships: “Candidates are selected by USC faculty and staff from an extremely competitive international pool. Applicants pursue the most demanding curriculum and achieve at the highest level.
Average SAT and ACT scores are in the top 1 to 2 percent of all students nationwide. In addition to academic criteria, candidates’ talent, perseverance, innovation, involvement and leadership are considered.”
Now of course, USC is holistic, so there is a chance your passion really comes through. Submit your best package, but have other plans to fall back on, do not be fooled into thinking it is easy to get anything from USC - I see many international students believe this, not sure why. It is very competitive.
@blueskies2day I got perfect grades my junior year (straight A’s) , and now I’m getting the same grades my senior year. I got almost perfect grades my second semester of sophomore year and pretty good grades my first semester. It’s my freshman year that’s the TERRIBLE weight that I have to carry. But thank you for your feedback!
@blueskies2day @onedayusc. My daughter is one of those Trustee Scholars who did not suffer a dip in grades after the death of her father from cancer. I have no way of knowing whether her application nudged out someone whose grades did suffer a dip or not, but I do think her entire application was strong, not just grades, and was viewed holistically–in fact, her SATs were average for USC.
Onedayusc, I hope you are aware of Camp Kesem. This organization is the only national group that helps children with a parent who has or had cancer. Student leaders from over 40 campuses throughout the country welcome thousands of kids each summer for a week at camp away from the daily anxiety and fear when cancer grips a family. When a parent has cancer, the whole family has cancer. www.campkesem.org.