<p>im looking to get into the accounting program at USC for fall 2010 but its a long shot based on where im at in life right now</p>
<p>this isnt going to be a relatively short post so im looking for serious answers and advice from helpful people out there with more knowledge than me; as long as you can contribute something useful, please do so.</p>
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<p>as a kid, i always received A's and 1 or 2 B's in middle school and advanced ahead of my class in subjects like math. when i got into highschool, my education priorities changed and i started slacking off really bad. freshman and sophmore year was when i started doing drugs, partying, basically just wasting my potential. i had a gpa of around 2.35~ at the time. then junior year was when i really started focusing on my work, and raised my gpa to 3.4~, taking classes like AP lang, AP bio, honors physics, honors chem, precal. i had planned on becoming a pharmacist and going to pharm school with one of my friends. but when i started an internship for a pharmacy outside of school, i soon realized that this was not my dream job. it just wasnt what i had expected. i started getting really confused at that point and combined with stress outside of school (family troubles, depression), senior year started off very badly.</p>
<p>i could not pull myself together to finish highschool strong. everyday i would come late to my english class (which was the one and only credit i needed to graduate) and eventually would receive a loss of credit due to too many lates/absences. my teacher would not approve my appeal and forced me to take summer school. i just did not know what to do or where i wanted to go after highschool. i did not want to be the guy that takes 6 years of college and later on realize that they hate their career field and feel that they've wasted years on useless studying and tuition $, or even worse- keep that job for the rest of their life. i became really picky about choosing my major after experiencing the kind of work that i first chose and almost went to pursue. as second semester came i became more and more stressed about what i wanted out of life, what kind of career to choose, what my passion was. and adding the idea of having to graduate late without my class wasnt any help.</p>
<p>on april 26th, 2008 i dropped out of highschool. </p>
<p>at the time i was planning on enrolling in a cc and transferring out to a university thinking i will eventually find the right major. i still had no idea of what i wanted to do, and moved out to a big city on my own. i payed my own rent and took classes at a nightschool and worked everyday to support myself. i started getting into gambling, sometimes almost on the verge of losing my rent money. i saw life in a whole new way during my 1 year stay out on my own. over the course ive learned and seen alot. continuing education is always the better choice. after a while i settled on the idea of going into accounting, as i was always good with numbers and wanted to understand how business really worked.</p>
<p>i came back with my family and enrolled in cc, planning to take 30-60 credits worth of classes. ive also started working for a small billing company nearby and really enjoyed the accounting type of work i did there, at its most basic level. having been exposed to it now i feel this is a good choice and not a big risk as there will always be a need for an accountant.</p>
<p>now you've got an idea of where im at. i screwed up in highschool but im serious about becoming an accountant or working for an auditing company in the future. i would like to to know what are the necessary steps to maximizing my chances of getting into a school like usc or ucla for a undergrad degree in accounting (i prefer the west coast!). im 19 now, supposed to be a sophmore in college but technically considered a freshman. i hold a ged and a SAT score of 1665 (which i took back in '07)</p>
<p>what would be the best way to increase my chances of getting admitted to one of these top tier schools?
how many credits should i get first before applying?
would you recommend i take GE or business/acc related courses first?
should i retake the SATs? and what is the average score accepted for schools like usc?
is it worth money-wise going to an expensive school or will third tier schools do?
what would you recommend i do besides work and school (extracurriculars, clubs, internships)?
how high of a gpa should i be aiming for?</p>
<p>my college advisors are not very helpful</p>
<p>any help from you would be appreciated.</p>