Chances (Yes I know I'm a bit early)

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Southern California
1

<p>Hi, embarrassed to post this but I'm going to be a junior next year and I'm quite stressed out. </p>

<p>My grades from freshman year were all B's with a B+ in math. My grades this year are going to be worse because of family problems, no excuse but I attribute my first semester grades to this. I have been working very hard and I am expecting by the end of this year to have an UW GPA of 3.2 and weighted around 3.6. I know this is awful, but is it unsalvageable? </p>

<p>I desperately want to do USC's BMD program, and I currently volunteer at a hospital and am doing research over the summer. Other than that I have great EC's and test scores, and will hopefully be a commended scholar.</p>

<p>I have a bit of a special circumstance because my mother is a finalist for a high position admin job at USC, and I'm wondering if this will help me or hurt me for USC/BMD admission. Does anyone have parents who worked at the schools in which they were applying, or experience with that sort of situation? If my mom does get the job I will also from MA and will be moving to LA and attending a new school (all girls Marlborough expected). Will the Southern California competition hurt me greatly for USC and/or BMD?</p>

2

<p>If your mom gets the job you are most likely in (as long as by ‘high’ test scores you mean about 2100 SAT or higher)… USC likes to take care of its own and that especially applies to administrators and professors. Of course, it’s not 100% then.</p>

<p>If your mom doesn’t get the job your chances are much worse… this year you should try as hard as you can to get A’s, even if you are encountering difficult family circumstances. I know that many colleges will allow you to mention any unusual circumstances as to why your grades might not be a good reflection of your potential. If you can manage some A’s, it will look good because there will be an upward trend in your grades. Also take some AP classes next year and during your senior year. And write good essays.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

3

<p>Having your mom work at USC should definitely be a big boost, but as SabrinaFairchild said, you’d still need to be somewhat competitive. Unless you’re an athlete, even having your mom working at USC wouldn’t make up for say a 2.0 and 1700 SAT. But with a relatively high SAT, it could make up for your GPA and get you in.</p>

<p>In regards to the USC BMD program though, having your mom work there probably won’t give you much of a push there unless she’s say, the dean of Keck. Admissions to USC BMD (and most other colleges that offer programs like this with their medical schools) are EXTREMELY competitive. The selections for the program are as competitive, if not more, than the likes of Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. Here are just a few details from the BMD info page ([Baccalaureate/MD</a> Frequently Asked Questions > USC College of Letters, Arts, & Sciences](<a href=“http://college.usc.edu/baccalaureate-md-faqs/]Baccalaureate/MD”>http://college.usc.edu/baccalaureate-md-faqs/)).</p>

<p>What are the average SAT scores and high school GPA’s of Baccalaureate/MD students?
Our Baccalaureate/MD students average a 4.3 high school GPA and 2200 combined SAT. However, we evaluate applications and accept students based on careful consideration of several factors including academic history, test scores, essays, activity summary, and letters of recommendation.</p>

<p>How many Baccalaureate/MD students are accepted each year? How many apply?
Each year, more than 800 students apply for the USC Baccalaureate/MD program. 100 candidates are selected for special on-campus interviews. From that pool, about 30 are selected for admittance into the program.</p>

4

<p>Thank you for your advice! She will not be working at Keck, though I do have family/friends school who have attended and work there. Based on practice tests and such I’m hoping for a 2200 SAT. Do you think that with that SAT score and a GPA of about 3.6 UW or about 4.1 weighted I have a chance for BMD? I forgot to mention next year I will be taking two AP’s the rest honors and two languages. I have done extensive research on the program and I REALLY want to do BMD, any recommendations on how to be a more competitive applicant for the program other than volunteering, grades, research, etc?</p>

5

<p>3.6UW has little to no chance of bacc/md. just being 100% honest with you. as a bio major i had a lot of friends that were bacc/md and they were absolutely brilliant with very very very impressive high school stats.</p>

6

<p>According to your opening post, through sophomore year you have 3.2 UW and a 3.6 W GPA. Assuming you got a straight 4.0 UW junior year, barring overloading on classes, the best your UW GPA could be would be about 3.4-3.5, (3.2+3.2+4.0=10.4; 10.4/3=3.467). If you took all APs as a junior, which you aren’t, and you pulled a 5.0W, your weighted GPA would be about 4.07. What I’m getting at is that it’s mathematically impossible for you to get to a 3.6UW GPA through junior year and your schedule makes getting to a 4.1W impossible as well.</p>

<p>Why do you have to do the BMD program? It’s still four years of undergrad and four years of med school; what’s so important about getting into med school now? Statistically the odds are very long; if you don’t get into BMD will you turn down “regular” USC if you’re accepted? </p>

<p>With a 2200 SAT, a strong junior year and your mom getting hired at 'SC, I think you’ll be a lock for acceptance; but not for BMD. Feel free to fill out the supplemental application but I wouldn’t put to much hope into getting accepted.</p>

7

<p>Thanks guys! Yeah, I was doing GPA calculations in my head, I meant within that range. AP’s and honors are also weighed the same at my school. I guess I really don’t need to do BMD, it’d just be a relief later. I’ll still apply for kicks. If I don’t get in, SC will still be my very first choice.</p>

8

<p>2200 is really good, try to get up to like 2300 and you might still have a chance</p>

9

<p>SabrinaFC I think it’s important to remember that bigsur is a sophomore and hasn’t posted any “live” SATs yet - the 2200 is an estimate based on practice tests. There’s a lot of water still left to flow under the bridge before bigsur applies to USC or anywhere else. IMO, the best bang for bigsur’s buck is to really pound on junior year classes. Posting a sharply rising grade trend will go a long way toward easing the admissions process at all of his/her schools.</p>

10

<p>still, don’t count on the BMD</p>

11

<p>Hi. I just got a PM from a regular parent poster on USC threads, who asked whether I could add anything to this conversation. As way of background, my H is on the math faculty at USC. My S will graduate from a public HS next month. </p>

<p>With college acceptances in hand, in the end it was between USC and Northwestern University for him. NU got the nod because he was also accepted into their honors Integrated Science Program, which is a fairly unique program. His stats were USC caliber (2190 SAT/800 Math 2/740 Physics/680 US History/4.3 W GPA/8 AP at time of application, plus Linear Algebra and Multivariable Calculus) and decents ECs across the board.</p>

<p>We have known other faculty member’s students who were accepted to USC, and to a student all their stats were in the 50 percentile or higher for admitted students. Some attend USC, some make other choices for various reasons. Obviously the financial consideration for tuition remission for faculty/staff children is a major factor.</p>

<p>I’ve not known anyone applying to the BMD program. Anecedotally, my H told me he’d heard that the BMD students are seen as less strong than the med school applicants that are accepted in the more traditional way. Futher, the BMD students sometimes have more struggles in the early stages of their med school education.</p>

<p>Living in SoCal even if your mother doesn’t get the admin job at USC will not harm you in admissions. There are many SoCal applicants that are accepted. From my S’s HS (in LA County with about 520 in the graduating class) there are five students who will be attending USC (so including my S who isn’t, that means at least six out of however many applied were accepted.)</p>

<p>I also have no idea how many children of faculty apply to USC in any particular year, or whether there is a hard/soft cap on how many they will accept if all are qualifying. Given that there are more faculty than administrators, I’d give a slightly higher edge to the administrator’s child getting the nod, providing other things are relatively equal with the other applicants.</p>

<p>I have heard that USC looks favorably on upward trending stats, so work on those. USC is big on promoting itself for its interdisiplinary approach (ease for double majoring), so if that’s a true interest you have passion for, you might consider tying that into an essay if it works. </p>

<p>I guess that’s it. Hope it helps and good luck. And as they say … Fight on!</p>

12

<p>Thank you so much for all of these posts… Love the SC threads, but of course I have a long way to go and as of right now I am just trying my hardest in school, extracurriculars, etc. I am not expecting anything yet, and I luckily have a good amount of time to think about college - no harm in starting early! I’m big into science, but also interested in majoring in a business type field during undergrad. Does anyone know anybody that has majored in business and been able to finish up their pre-med requirements? I know it’d be a load, but that is one of the reasons BMD appeals to me so much.</p>

13

<p>Vinceh - I agree with you about the necessity of bigsur getting good grades this year. SATs will also be very important in their case, and I took a lot of practice SAT tests and found the results to correspond very closely with my actual scores. But that’s just my case, of course</p>