Do I even have a shot at USC, Pomona, Scripps?

State Forums
1

Yes, I realize no other person besides the admission officers can decide my fate, however I don’t even know if it’s worth it to have hope.

I am a QuestBridge Finalist so I applied to USC (my top choice) but didn’t get matched and found out Dec 1 , but they rolled my application to regular admission. Pomona and Scripps were also on the QuestBridge list and I could choose them and have my application rolled over to them, so I did. I chose Pomona ED because I know I have an extremely slim chance.

My stats are lower than average USC, Pomona and Scripps students but I decided why not since I got QB finalist which is pretty difficult to get.

I live in GA, female, Asian (Lao & Thai)
GPA: 4.0 W 3.9 UW
Rank: 45/684
ACT: 26 (sucks, but my SAT were worse but I still got into QuestBridge with only my SAT scores which I’m still shocked)

Have taken 8 AP’s by the time I graduate, 4 levels of German.

E’C’s
German Club President (10th-12th)
Natonal Honor Society President
Social Justice Club vice president
German national honor society president (11th, 12th)
Student ambassador
(I have other clubs but didnt include because I wanted to include volunteer work)

Volunteer work (500+ hours)
Refugee Services : where I helped resettled refugees in metro Atlanta with choosing clothes and sorting clothes (sophomore and junior year)
Refugee services: kids club where we offered therapeutic activities for Refugee children and took them to the zoo, I cooked and led activities and chaperoned
Day care: I volunteered at a day care almost everyday during the summer and was a teachers assistance (sophomore & junior)

I also organization a Refugee donation drive at school (11th and 12th) for newly resettled refugees in metro Atlanta area.

I interned at a health program in ATL writing articles for the Asian community.

In my essays I wrote a lot about my passion for volunteering with Refugees and wanting to work in International Relations / Business/ humanitarian work.
Also wrote about my experience with Syrian refugees and how interested I am in the crisis.
Sorry if this is long, I just really want some advice since due date is coming up.

Yes I did apply to safeties but I getting any of the QB schools is ideal since I would get amazing financial aid. Thanks to whoever answers !

2

The GA location will help because these schools try to build a national entering class, but your test scores make these reach schools. Difficult to say whether QB will make a difference. Hope for the best and make sure you are happy with your match and safety schools.

3

Your UW GPA is high, but weighted is low for a school like USC (can’t speak on the others). You’ll be competing against people with much higher than 4.0 weighted. Which APs have you taken?

4

Your test scores are definitely going to hurt your chances. All these schools put a large emphasis on test scores, but all you can do is hope for the best. Good Luck and you have a competitive GPA along with some solid EC’s.

5

My $.02 - I don’t think your ACT score will keep you out of Scripps as long as you put together a solid application.

Good luck!

6

@socalkid1 My school only weights AP classes, not honors, so maybe that’s why Weighted isn’t as high. I’ve taken AP Calc BC, AP Psych, AP World History, AP US History, AP Lit, AP Lang, AP Macro Econ and AP Gov. Rest of my classes are honors. Thanks for the input!