Chances for Tufts and USC? Will Chance Back

Preface: Bit about myself- I was an Indian international student in Singapore who moved to the US (Virginia) after freshman year. I didn’t really take the first two years of high school seriously but I have a huge upward trend (my unweighted GPA for each year respectively is 3.59, 3.54, and 3.875). I got a C+ in my Chemistry Honors class sophomore year for the second semester (first semester I had achieved a B+) but I completely aced my Junior year (earning an A+ in AP Macroeconomics for the whole year). My interests are not even STEM-related- I want to major in history as a lot of my academic accomplishments are in that field. My weighted GPA (the GPA reported to colleges) is the GPA of my sophomore and junior years combined as I didn’t attend my current private school during my freshman year.

UW GPA: 3.66
W GPA (reported number): 4.04 (school does not rank)
ACT: 33 (35 E/34 R/29 M/35 S) I got a 21 in W but who cares really.

Honors: AP Scholar, Honorable Mention on National Spanish Exam Level 3

AP Scores: AP Euro (5) APUSH (5) AP Macro (5) AP Lang (5) AP World (self-studied 5)

SAT II: US History- 770

Recs: I know they’ll be amazing since one is written by the vice-principal who also taught my AP Euro class and has seen me grow as a student and the others are written by my Lang and Macro teachers, both of whom saw me do very well.

Awards: National History Day South-East Asia Winner, National History Day Virginia State First Place

Languages: Fluent in English, Tamil and Spanish, proficient in Mandarin Chinese

Extracurriculars:

National Security Archives internship- I had an undergraduate level internship at the National Security Archives. I researched and indexed declassified government documents and wrote historical analysis reports to aid Archive researchers.

NHD- 1st place South-East Asia, 1st place Virginia state (already mentioned above)

Drama- Been participating since freshman year and had major roles and lead roles in school productions.

Relay for Life leader- Led Relay for Life team to raise nearly $2700 dollars for the American Cancer Society.

VP of Young Democrats- Was Secretary and am now Vice-President of the club. I helped host mock caucus/primary elections at school to raise civic awareness. I also interned at the John Foust for Congress and the Mark Warner for Senate campaigns.

President of WWA- Founded this club when I came to my new school. Raised nearly $700 dollars for a rainwater harvesting facility in India to help villages without water. Interned at the Dhan Foundation in India to help oversee development projects.

Blue Earth Capital intern- Interned at my dad’s hedge fund and learned a lot about finance, portfolio construction and investment strategies.

Varsity Tennis- Been on my Varsity tennis team since sophomore year and play 3rd doubles.

APPLYING AS A HISTORY MAJOR TO BOTH SCHOOLS.

I think you are more likely to get into USC than Tufts. However, applying as a history major will help at both schools. If you write very interesting essays (seems like you can because of your history), I think you’ll have a good shot at both of them. The only thing that is weak in your app is your GPA, and if it’s reported weighted, that will help too.

Although your UW GPA is below the average for USC, your ACT is strong and your National Archives Internship stands out. If you have equally strong essays, you have a good chance at USC especially as a History major.

Good Luck.

I think you have a good chance at USC, but your GPA is a little worrisome. Bit definitely apply! There’s no harm in trying.