Chances Please!

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Southern California
1

<p>3.5 UW, 3.7 W GPA,
Rising senior, total of 7 Honors/AP classes so far, taking 3 AP's senior year
ACT: 30
Somewhat of an upward trend in GPA: 3.5, 3.85, 3.72
EC's:
Freshman yr: Cross Country, JV Baseball, Volunteer Baseball Camp Counselor </p>

<p>Sophomore yr: Varsity Track, JV Baseball(captain and MVP), Habitat for Hummanity Club, DECA(marketing club), Volunteer Baseball Camp Counselor </p>

<p>Junior yr: Varsity Baseball, Youth Basketball Coach, FBLA(business club), National Honor Society, Volunteer Baseball Camp Counselor </p>

<p>Senior yr: Will coach youth basketball again, good chance at being Varsity baseball captain, NHS again, Volunteer Baseball Camp Counselor </p>

<p>Also took microeconomics at University of Richmond over the summer, got an A- and received credit</p>

<p>Essays should be good, as this is my top choice and will devote most attention towards this app</p>

<p>Recommendations should also be solid, coaches/teachers seem to really like me</p>

<p>From a very high ranking public HS in VA, difficult grading scale</p>

<p>If you have any suggestions, they would be most appreciated. SAT II's? I haven't taken Calc yet, will this be a problem if I'm interested in econ/business? Any other schools that I should take a look at?</p>

<p>Also, if you're feeling generous, you could chance me for Villanova, Michigan, Tulane, and Georgetown
THANKS!</p>

2

<p>Sure - USC is a reach but certainly possible. Nova and Tulane matches, Gtown a reach, Michigan a match stats wise but still tough because you are OOS (unless they really are accepting more OOS students to raise more money). You have a solid record, but I assume you are applying to a couple of safeties.</p>

<p>How about money? Is that an issue?</p>

<p>Lots of schools in your stat range. Give us some idea on your ideal school for</p>

<p>1) Size of school
2) Location (urban, suburban, rural)
3) Weather preference (warm, medium, love snow)
4) Are sports important. either as a spectator or a participant?
5) Are Fraternities/Soroities in your future?
6) Anything else that is of particular importance to you personally?</p>

<p>Knowing this will make it far easier to make suggestions. Your possible majors are well taught at most schools you have the stats for, so that is not really an issue.</p>

3

<p>Hey thanks for the reply! I am trying to go to a school that has good academics, big sports(D-1, ACC, Big Ten, ect.) Would prefer warm weather, hope to join a fraternity, would love a school with great intramural programs, and would generally prefer a school that is in an exciting area- like LA. USC seems to fit all of these requirements, but I know its a reach and was wondering if there are any other schools out there that match up with what I am looking for.
Also money isn’t a big issue. Obviously a cheaper school would be appreciated, but I can pay for private schools</p>

4

<p>The link below shows that your GPA and ACT are on the low end of the range, so while I think you have a chance at USC I agree that it will be a reach.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.usc.edu/admission/undergraduate/private/0910/FreshmanProfile2009.pdf[/url]”>http://www.usc.edu/admission/undergraduate/private/0910/FreshmanProfile2009.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>The profile at Georgetown is even tougher:</p>

<p>[Georgetown</a> University- Office of Undergraduate Admissions](<a href=“http://uadmissions.georgetown.edu/applying_firstyear_sdprofile.cfm]Georgetown”>http://uadmissions.georgetown.edu/applying_firstyear_sdprofile.cfm)</p>

<p>I think Villanova is a match and you might want to consider UMiami as another match.</p>

<p>Michigan would normally be a match but OOS makes it a reach, consider applying EA, if accepted you’ll now by Christmas.</p>

5

<p>I probably won’t apply to GTown, I was just throwing it out there just to see what people think. I think Michigan, USC, and maybe UVA/Boston College will be my reach schools, PSU, Villanova, and maybe Tulane/Miami will be my match schools, while Indiana and maybe VTech will be my safety schools. I will probably try to apply as early as possible to all the schools. Thanks!</p>

6

<p>That’s a really solid list. PSU, I think is on the edge of match/safety, but those are just labels so doesn’t matter. You might want to take a stab at UCLA/Berkeley. The rumor is they will take more OOS because of budget issues.</p>

7

<p>I am considering Cal Berkeley, probably won’t try for UCLA because I heard it’s extremely hard to get into. I knew a few people who had fantastic resumes and got rejected from UCLA, but I might shoot for Cal as a longshot because my mom has been annoying me for years to go to school there. It’s probably a little out of my range, but I will be helped by the fact thqt they only look at junior and sophomore year grades, which helps me because those were my best two years. Hopefully I get into at least one of my reach schools. Thanks for the advice</p>

8

<p>I know several ppl from my school who got in UCLA/ Berkeley without taking any AP or honors classes, and with standardized test scores about your range. But I’m from an international school in asia and theyre prolly paying the full tuition.</p>

9

<p>I don’t mind paying the full tuition, but I think because they were international students they probably had a slight advantage. I think I am going to apply to at least one of those two, but I don’t know which one. I am reading alot about how Berkeley is the ‘flagship’ school and is much harder to get into out-of-state, while UCLA is easier for OOS apps. But, from personal experiences(people I know who applied, ect), UCLA is damn near impossible to get into. Is it even worth applying, and if so, which one should I apply to?</p>

10

<p>Hey! It never hurts to try unless it’s a financial thing. UCLA is actually more of a crapshoot than USC in my opinion, like it’s a lot more broad in who it selects. If anything I feel like USC is harder to get into, even though with UCLA there are so many other applicants and you’re out of state. If you can, apply to both Cal AND UCLA, in addition to USC, because you never really know which of them is looking for an applicant like you. I got into both USC and UCLA but not Cal, if it’s any consolation on how each school is different. Your GPA is a little low to be honest, all schools I’ve mentioned are pretty competitive to get into, but you’ve still got a chance. Make sure your essays make you stand out, that they’re not just good but fresh: it really really helps to ask anyone you can to proofread them and ask what vision they get of you from it.
Are you not planning on taking SAT I? SAT IIs in my opinon don’t matter as much because they were probably one of the weakest points of my application but I still got in! Only one score was above 700, and that was like 730. Good luck!</p>

11

<p>I took the SAT, got an 1860. My ACT score is much better than my SAT and I am only going to submit my ACT score, so I didn’t feel like it was necessary to mention it. I am not going to take the SAT II’s because I would have to wait until November to get the scores back, and I would rather just apply earlier with what I’ve got now. I know all three of the Cali schools are reaches, but if I got into one of them I would definitely go. I heard applying to the UC schools is real easy, so I might as well go for it. Can’t hurt to try. Just gotta convince my guidance counselor that I’m not crazy…she doesn’t think I’m very smart and will probably laugh when I tell her where I am going to apply to haha.</p>

12

<p>So are Cal and UCLA really worth the time to apply to? I’ve been reading alot of stuff about them, and they seem way out of my range. Should I even bother?</p>