<p>I am a Junior from Massachusetts with a weighted 3.94 gpa and a uw of 3.3. At my High School I am fifth out of 205 people. I am part of National Honor society (possible President of School Chapter), will be Captain of Football team this year. I am establishing a debate and math club at my school with a possible Engineering club to come later. I do community service a couple hours a week at my local Library. I will be getting involved with Habitat for Humanity over the summer. I have work experienced in a Restaurant, I prepped food and mainly washed dishes. SAT's i will be taking in June, and I expect to get a high 1920+.<br>
I want to major in mechanical engineering. What are my chances
Classes I have taken are below. </p>
<p>9th grade
English 9 Hon A+
Geometry Hon B (took Algebra 1 Hon in 8th grade, got an A)
Biology Hon B+
World History A+
Spanish 2 Hon B
Gym A +
Computer course B
Health B</p>
<p>10th
English 10 hon A+
Algebra 2 Hon A
Chemistry Hon A-
Anatomy and Physiology B+
US History Hon A+
Spanish 3 Hon B
Gym A+</p>
<p>11th
AP Language & Comp A
AP US History A
AP Economics B
Precal Hon A-
Physics Hon B
Spanish 4 Hon B
Photoshop A</p>
<p>12th grade
AP Calculus
AP Lit.
AP Chemistry
AP Statistics
Constitutional Law Hon
Engineering Science
AP environmental Science.</p>
<p>it is definitely harder to get into the viterbi school of engineering in comparison to USC. hence, it is important that you have stellar essays. especially with the new transition to commonapp, it is super important that your essay can convey a message and show your true self. it will probably be even tougher this year since the common app will draw more applicants. they want a well rounded applicant, so you should work on your stats a bit. try to get a 2100 SAT (study over the summer) or perhaps take the ACT. maybe you can start the engineering club before the other two. try to do some volunteer that relate to engineering or your love for hands on things and etc. good luck and make the most out of your summer!</p>
<p>I see a lot of Bs. Make them As. A 3.3 UW gpa and a 1920 SAT isnt gonna cut it at Viterbi. It will be pretty hard to bring up your cumulative GPA, so if youre not doing anything this summer, spend most on your time studying for SATs. Get McGrawhills, Princeton Review and the Official guide book, do them all, and score a 2200+ on the Oct/Nov? SAT.</p>
<p>solid ECs though. Idk if admissions will believe your founding of 3 clubs in one year, so make engineering and math a priority. Commonapps gonna make USC more competitive, so start thinking about your essay now (prolly the same questions as last year), and if possible read your teacher recs before giving them in. good luck.</p>
<p>Are you an american citizen? What is your ethnicity? financial aid?</p>
<p>USC is tricky to try and predict. Personally my GPA w and uw was worse than yours (3.55 and 3.1), my class rank was barely in the top 1/2 and I didnt have many ECs (some volunteering, football like you, and founding a fantasy sports club). BUT USC looks at a lot more than GPA and ECs. My SAT score was 2200+, I was a minority, and a first-gen. I also liked my essays. I saw a lot of people with more impressive GPAs and ECs get rejected. </p>
<p>The point is, theres no one “formula” to get in. Try to get all As - it shows upward progress, which they like. Do your best on the SAT, and dont ignore the essays.</p>
<p>As others have noted, you have the credentials to get in, USC’s admissions department is looking for someone well rounded versus strictly academic. This is especially true for Viterbi. I was accepted into Viterbi this year and they mentioned that several times at the preview days. In fact, no one else was accepted in my senior class and I’m only in the top 10% of my class.</p>
<p>Stat’s</p>
<p>3.98 w, 3.5 u/w and 3.3 u/w (excluding religious courses)
31 ACT’s
Loads of EC’s, including NHS Treasurer <em>high five</em>
Good Essays
Great Recommendations
IB D. Candidate
Hispanic</p>
<p>I got the feeling that viterbi really is looking for someone who got involved in high school and who went beyond the status quo. They get thousands of applicants but only have about 400 who attend, so they’re looking for people who aren’t hindered socially but would rather flourish as a team than working individually like at most colleges.<br>
College Admissions are getting more difficult each year, especially as this year showed, its difficult to really say but you’re definitely going in the direction of what USC wants.</p>
<p>Oh, to the poster above, theres no use studying for SATs… they’re standardized for a reason. Anyone who tells you to “study” for them doesn’t understand that there really is no way to study for them unless you don’t know proper grammar or just need to brush up on forgotten math. If you do the ACT (which I HIGHLY recommend doing both tests twice), go over practice questions online a little because they include more advanced math, science and a different style of english.</p>
<p>^ You probably had an edge because you are Hispanic, though. No offense against the URM angle – I am Hispanic and noted as such on my college applications, too. It does give you a second “look.”</p>
<p>I think there are too many Bs scattered across his/her high school record. Again, I know there are exceptions and people with varying GPAs get in to USC all the time, but many of the “A” classes the OP has are classes USC will theoretically ignore or won’t consider a mark of excellence. (ie: an A in gym or Photoshop)</p>
<p>If he/she gets all As senior year, it may make them a more appealing applicant – but considering how hard it is to get into USC now, having this many straight Bs is a hindrance. I’m not so certain of my HS record at this point, but I maybe only had 2 or 3 Bs total in high school – and I applied to USC in the fall of 2005, so it was slightly less difficult to be admitted then. Just a thought.</p>
<p>OP should also consider reaching for a 2100+ on the SAT. To the person who said “studying” or classes don’t help – maybe not for you, but certain students can benefit from being taught the test-taking skills and strategies that influence one’s performance on standardized tests. I never took an SAT class and I only skimmed through the math sections of a prep book, but I know of many people who saw raised scores from classes and extra studying. Some people aren’t great at tests or don’t have strong vocab skills; a book or a class will help boost their scores.</p>
<p>ECs are OK. Football may help you, but working in a restaurant over the summer won’t.</p>
<p>Thanks, I like to feel like my racial background was the only reason why I got into USC… not the hard work.</p>
<p>As someone who did take an SAT class and had an entire group of friends who did with me, we all found the results to be lackluster. I scored 30 points more… my friends even scored lower. There are few things that can actually give you an edge on SATs, reviewing material a few days before is really the only way to “study”. If you do study, do not waste your money on a “class” when google holds the same information for free.</p>
<p>Anyways to the OP, the best advice is to just take both tests at least twice. Some people are good at the ACTs and some at the SATs. I only got an 1830 on my SATs but did far better on the ACTs. Its a matter of preference.</p>
<p>On the subjects of grades, mine looked exactly like the OPs. Saying that having “this many straight B’s is a hinderance” is too late anyways. USC’s admissions, and all College Admissions for that matter, are really just the luck of the draw now.</p>
<p>I’m confused about the 3.3 UW GPA. I counted 18 academic classes with 9 flavors of “B” and 9 more with various flavors of “A” - seems like you should be closer to a 3.5. The link below paints an uphill battle:</p>
<p>Your GPA is certainly on the low end and a 1920 SAT is going to be a problem as it’s below the 25th%-tile for all enrolling freshman. In your favor, your in the top 5% of your class. I think your best shot is going to be to improve your SAT score (hopefully to at least the 2000 mark). Right now USC looks like a reach.</p>