<p>Let me start off by saying that if anybody has nothing useful to contribute, then they might as well not write. If there's no way of knowing, then there's no way of knowing. That much has already been established on this site's forums thousands of times already.</p>
<p>That being said, my nephew is really interested in going to USC, which happens to be my alma mater. He, however, is not sure if this is a good course-load. </p>
<p>~Freshman~
AP Human Geography
Advanced English
French III
Biology
Drama
Algebra II/Trig
PE</p>
<p>~Sophomore~
AP European History
AP Psychology
Advanced English
Chemistry
PE
Math Analysis
French IV</p>
<p>~Junior~
AP English
AP French
AP US History</p>
<p>And these are the classes he's taking at a science magnet school which offers dual enrollment:
Advanced Chemical Analysis
Calculus
Research Methods/Ethics</p>
<p>~Senior~
He went to the magnet school for just that one year. He's spending this year at his home school.</p>
<p>AP Statistics
AP Environmental Science
AP English
AP Comparative Government
AP Micro/Macroeconomics
AP Art History
AP World History</p>
<p>Assuming he's only gotten a handful of B's, is in the top 5% of his class, does he have a very good chance? </p>
<p>Once again, I'm not looking for "well, there's no way of knowing for sure" answers. I realize that. But what do you think?</p>
<p>The coursework is sound, so I’d say he has a good chance, but you need to state his major and what he does outside of class. What are his passions?</p>
<p>OP, what sort of answer are you looking for, if not a real one? Truly, no one here knows for sure because it’s not all about the numbers/courses taken, as you well know. </p>
<p>If you are asking a bunch of anonymous strangers to tell you what we “think,” here goes: I think you need to stay calm and just wait it out like the rest of the 47,000+ nervous applicants/families. If his UW gpa is 3.8 or above, his SAT is 2140 or above and his ECs and essays are great–he’s got a good chance. But hundreds with those exact same stats are denied.</p>
<p>And honestly - the best any student can do is get into the ball park. There’s no “legacy” status on the application that applies to him. Still, too many students “load up” on AP courses in the hope it makes them more attractive. At USC - not so much. The school’s admissions seems very subjective (in a good way). They seem to gravitate towards passionate, interesting students inside and outside of the classroom.</p>