Fall 2015 (class of 2019) USC DECISIONS STATS ONLY THREAD

[jmek15]

Decision: Accepted

Date applied: late November

Which school/major at USC: Viterbi, ChemE, plan to minor in dance

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): m 730, cr 710, wr 710 (2150/1440)
ACT (breakdown): n/a
SAT II (place score in parentheses): chem 780, math 1 730
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.87
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 3%
AP (place score in parentheses): Chem 5, English Comp 5
IB (place score in parentheses): n/a
Senior Year Course Load: AP Physics 1, AP Calc BC, Honors Spanish, Honors English, Biotechnology
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Math Honor Society, National Spanish Honor Society, School Orchestra (Viola, 1st chair, Vice-President), District Orchestra, All-State Orchestra

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Dance, solo & team competition dance
Job/Work Experience: Research Lab Intern at WPI
Volunteer/Community Service: Dress for Success, local church, food bank
Summer Activities: Dance Intensives
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 9
Teacher Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): 9
Counselor Rec (rating 1-10, details):: 10
Additional Rec (rating 1-10, details)::n/a
Interview: Hmmm, didn’t think it went very well. Had a bad case of the nerves.

Other
Applied for Financial Aid? Yes, Presidential Scholarship Finalist
State (if domestic applicant): Massachusetts
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: $150+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None

Reflection
Strengths: Long term commitment to dance & music, recs, rank
Weaknesses: SAT scores
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Possibly the combination of arts & STEM interests. Or they just need a violist in the orchestra
Where else you are applying or have already applied: Accepted: Case Western Reserve, Tulane University, UMass, UMBC, SUNY Stony Brook, Drexel. Deferred: UVa. Applied: URochester, UC Santa Barbara
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: USC is the dream school. So incredibly grateful for this opportunity!!!

[LesPronoms]

Decision: Accepted

Date applied: November 12th

Date decision postmarked/received: January 23rd / January 26th

Which school/major at USC: Viterbi - Biomedical Engineering with Pre-med Professional Program

GPA (out of 4.0): 3.96 UW, don’t know my weighted but I’m top 10% at my school (school doesn’t go below decile)
SAT: 2310 first sitting (800 M, 800 W, 710 CR), 2330 second sitting (800 M, 750 W, 780 CR), superscored 2380 (800 M, 800 W, 780 CR)
SAT II’s: 800 USH, 760 Math II, 730 Bio M
PSAT: 218 (weak, but the SAT more than makes up for it)
AP scores: 5’s in APUSH, AP Calc. BC, and AP CS. Under my senior year courses, I have a note explaining why I can’t take many APs)

Course History:

Freshman Year
Biology (A/A)
French 2 (A/A)
Alg. 2 Trig (A/B)
PE 9 (A/A)
Lit Writ (A/A)
Band (A/A)

Sophomore Year
Chemistry Honors (A/A)
French 3 (A/A)
Pre-Calc Honors (A/A)
PE 10 - 12 (A/A)
World CORE Lit (A/A)
World CORE History (A/A)
Teachers Assistant (A/-)

Junior Year
Physics Honors (A/A)
French 4 Honors (B+/A)
AP Calc. BC (A/A)
American Lit Writ (A/A)
AP USH (A/A)
AP Computer Science (A/A)

Senior Year (my school only offers a limited number of APs, and only to juniors and above, I have taken the most AP and honors classes compared to the other high performers at my school: this info will be included in a school profile that gets sent with my transcript to each school)
AP Gov. (A)
AP Econ (second semester, in progress currently)
AP Stats (A during 1st semester)
AP Biology (A during 1st semester)
AP French (A during first semester)
Voices of Modern Culture (A during 1st semester)

Teacher/Counselor Recommendations:
Am. Lit Teacher (she loved me, assuming great)
AP Calc BC teacher (FBLA advisor, also pretty fond of me, assuming great)
AP Comp Sci teacher (assuming great because I excelled despite not having taken JAVA and was constantly a high performer, as well as the fact that I went to many hackathons. Even though I didn’t place, he was impressed that I even attended and put effort into something I didn’t know about (programming) in the first place)
Counselor: At first, I thought it’d be crap. When he started talking to me, however, I could see that he truly believed that I would be extremely succesful. Won’t say its as great as my teacher recs, but maybe a 9/10)

Awards: FBLA 1st place in CA, FBLA 13th/14th nationals, DECA 7th in Silicon Valley, DECA 11th in states, AP Scholar, Top 15% in the National French Exam, National Merit Commended

Extracurriculars:

• Intern at Stanford Dept. of Radiology as a Bioinformatics Intern, helped to publish a research paper under a professor detailing the correlation between brain tumor growth and the failure of various tumor suppressor genes / proto-onco to onco conversion
• Intern at the Cardiothoracic Surgical Internship at Stanford, learned about surgical procedures, replaced valves of the heart and abdominal cavity, even designed a prototype of a medical device to “solve” the ASD (which is, for all practical purposes, a hole in the heart)
• Stanford Hospital Biomedical Engineering Mentee, was mentored under a couple of biomedical engineers on the processes that go into making medical devices and the research that goes behind it, as well as specifically how dialysis machines and blood thinner inputs work
• Founding Officer, PR, and Exec. Director of a Science National Honor Society chapter at my school, worked to create events for the club to attract research-minded students to compete and refine their ideas for Google Science Fair, Intel fairs, and local Synopsis fairs
• FBLA member, theorized a business plan and wrote about it in the state and national competition. From this, I created an educational nonprofit that helps to improve some of the deficiencies in the modern online education system, tailored towards high schoolers
• DECA member and entrepreneurship committee officer, worked to refine the ideas of newer members in entrepreneurship events specifically, and competed in silicon valley and california entrepreneurship events myself. The nonprofit education idea stemmed from a business plan I wrote here as well
• Event Organizer for French Honor Society, as well as intradistrict event organizing officer. I help to organize fun events for the FHS members in our school and within the entire district!

Volunteering (not a real strong suit)
~150 hours at a local hospital working with seniors and elders, mainly escort positions but in a friendly environment
~100 hours at various FHS events before I became an officer
~50 hours at a local farm

Essays:
Common App Essay was about an autoimmune disorder that my dad had, and that I have, and how it influenced me to pursue medicine and specifically BME as an outlet of relieving suffering. Was filed under Prompt #1 (tell us something that makes your application complete, 9/10 rating)
USC essays were probably the best of all the college app essays I wrote (especially the Viterbi-only prompts and the first of the 2 general USC prompts)

Interviews:
USC interview was awesome (spent an hour with Mr. Ledesma, the director of Viterbi, he was so frickin cool)

Hooks / Strengths (?): solid research, high scores, high GPA, consistent achiever, decent EC’s with research paper, published, and essays also explore other dimensions of myself (such as my heavily invested entrepreneurial “career”)
Weaknesses (?): Lowish SAT II’s for what I want to do, but I feel like the rest of my app makes up for it (could someone confirm / deny / explain)

School Type: Public (2000 students +)
Class Size: 508
Decile: Top 10%, school doesn’t subdivide ranks any further than deciles)
State: CA
Gender: M
Ethnicity: Indian
Income Bracket: $250k +
Intended major(s): Biomedical Engineering

Reflection
Strengths: Strong scores, strong EC’s
Weaknesses: Volunteering, SAT II’s are iffy (esp. Math 2)
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: STEM clubs + research + good recs
Where else you are applying or have already applied: Accepted: USC, Georgia Tech, ASU, Applied: JHU, Rice, Duke, BU, WashU, USC, couple others
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: USC is the dream school, and this just made it a bit more of a financial reality

[collegeapps2k14]

Decision: Accepted

**Trustee Scholarship Finalist **

Date applied: December 1

Date decision postmarked/received: Jan 23/25

Which school/major at USC: Dornsife/International Relations

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2400
ACT (breakdown):
SAT II (place score in parentheses): 780 Literature, 760 USH, 730 Math II
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): school has weird system
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 1%
AP (place score in parentheses): six 5s, one 4
IB (place score in parentheses):
Senior Year Course Load: 7 APs, multivariable calculus, PE
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): only minor stuff cause im lame

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): filled all 10 slots and then wrote a bit in additional info. normal stuff but highlights were exchange program to Japan, working at Texas Public Radio, and a STRONG commitment to community service
Job/Work Experience: work at a math learning center
Volunteer/Community Service: VERY strong. been doing this stuff for a super long time.
Summer Activities:
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
commonapp: 6/10
extracurricular: 9/10
why USC: 9/10
Teacher Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): didnt read either one, probably 10/10. known these guys since freshman year.
Counselor Rec (rating 1-10, details): 4/10 didnt read but probably boring and generic (she’s new)
Additional Rec (rating 1-10, details): none
Interview: none

Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: not yet but i will lol
State (if domestic applicant): TX
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: public
Ethnicity: @$i@n
Gender: female
Income Bracket: middle class
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): nada

Reflection
Strengths: SAT score
Weaknesses: sucky common app essay?
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: SAT score I’m guessing. My common app sucked (I changed it a lot after my deferral from my EA school) and so I was sure I wasn’t going to get a scholarship here. Legitimately a surprise.
Where else you are applying or have already applied: Ivies + mid-tiers + places w/ merit aid
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: This is exciting and unexpected. My parents aren’t sure if they are going to fly me out for interview weekend (which will disqualify me for the scholarship) so we’ll see what happens. I mainly posted this because someone asked. College admissions are luck so don’t worry bout this. Life goes on.

[zgamergirl]

Decision: Accepted

Date applied: 12/1/14

Date decision postmarked/received: postmarked 1/23, received 1/26

Which school/major at USC: Andrew & Erna Viterbi School of Engineering/Computer Science, Presidential Scholarship Finalist

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2240 superscored (680R, 770M, 790W)
ACT (breakdown):
SAT II (place score in parentheses): Math II (770), Physics (680)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.98 (as of now… dun dun dun!)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 22/383
AP (place score in parentheses): Chinese (5), World History (4), Physics B (4), Statistics (4), English Composition (3)
IB (place score in parentheses):
Senior Year Course Load: Cisco (computer networking), AP Computer Science, AP American Government/Comparative Government, AP Calculus AB, AP Physics B, Senior English
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Some computer-science-related stuff + QuestBridge

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Programming-related stuff
Job/Work Experience: Internship with startup working as web developer
Volunteer/Community Service: Volunteering as web developer
Summer Activities: Girls Who Code (programming related), other programming-related volunteering stuff, and visiting China
Essays (rating 1-10, details): All are related to technology. I’d rate each around 8-10.
Non-academic pursuit: programming is like cooking turkey
Pursuing academic interests at USC: Snapchat is an inspiration => goals/dreams at USC
Engineering degree to benefit society: Power of technology/innovations
Geek or nerd: Hackathons, granola bars, sleep, Seahawks (GOOOOO HAWKS!!), matcha green tea latte, Freakonomics, Barnes and Nobles, UP, crocheting, Disney, family (I have to say, after rereading this essay just now, I’m purrrrty proud of it.)
Teacher Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): idk, didn’t read
Counselor Rec (rating 1-10, details): didn’t read
Additional Rec (rating 1-10, details): nope
Interview: didn’t have one

Other
Applied for Financial Aid? YES
State (if domestic applicant): WA
Country (if international applicant): USA, homeboy!
School Type: Public & competitive
Ethnicity: Very Asian, just kidding. I don’t even know what that would mean. But yes, Asian.
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: low-income
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): first-gen

Reflection
Strengths: Very laid-back essays and supplemental answers.
Weaknesses: that Physics SAT Subject Test, and AP scores
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Being real (and good grades + QB status + decent SAT score + rigorous coursework didn’t hurt)
Where else you are applying or have already applied: University of Washington and others
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: I just know that when I opened the application, I envisioned USC telling me, “You is kind. You is smart. You is important.” Now I just need to see the price tag.

To be honest, I think if you’re reading this right now then you have a good chance of getting accepted.

[lovely9775935]

so i just called the admissions office…
i asked them if they have sent scholarship notifications to those who applied to marshall and he said “i don’t think we have sent those out yet… we send them out in batches and one batch was sent on friday, and another today, so I think we will be sending those for marshall and deans later this week”

hope this helps

[LegacyMom]

On behalf of my son — sorry, I am obviously clueless on the formatting:

[ size=4][ color=green][ b]Decision: Accepted**[/color][/size]

[ b]Date applied: 11/30/2014**

[ b]Date decision postmarked: couldn’t read /received: 1/26/2015[ /b]

[ b]Which school/major at USC: Dornsife/Neuroscience candidate for Trustee **

[ b]Objective:**
SAT I : R:800 M:770 W: 800 (first and only sitting)
ACT : 36 across the board (first and only sitting)
SAT II : Math II - 800; Biology: 770
Unweighted GPA : 4.0
Rank: 1/81
AP: 4 in Biology (not many APs offered at his school. He took this test without the benefit of an AP class.)
IB
Senior Year Course Load: All honors classes — only 2 AP courses available – Chemistry and Physics
Major Awards : National Merit Semi Finalist (got a 239 on the PSAT, so I’m guessing a lock for Finalist), Illinois State Scholar

[ b]Subjective:**
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): (Captian) Math Team, (Co-Captain) Scholar Bowl Team, (Co-President) NETwork against Malaria, Science Club, (Co-Editor) School Newspaper, Student Council, Cross Country
Job/Work Experience: Tutor at Mathnasium
Volunteer/Community Service: volunteers at local hospital, tutors at local grade school
Summer Activities: work, yearbook, volunteering
Essays (rating 1-10, details):: Not very objective on this because I’m his mom
Teacher Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):: 10 --positively glowing
Counselor Rec (rating 1-10, details):: 9 - glowiing, but not quite as personal
Additional Rec (rating 1-10, details)::
Interview:

[ b]Other**
Applied for Financial Aid? yes
State (if domestic applicant): IL
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: very small, Catholic
Ethnicity: white
Gender: male
Income Bracket: (upper?) middle class

Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Legacy (though sons 1 and 2 were obviously legacy and didn’t get the early packet. He also published a novel, but it was self-published and I don’t think he made much of it on the application, so I don’t know if that carried much weight.)

[ b]Reflection**
Strengths: Test scores
Weaknesses: ECs? Sports?
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Combo of test scores, grades, EC and Legacy?
Where else you are applying or have already applied: MIT (not admitted for Early Action), UChicago (admitted for EA), Vanderbilt and a few ivies. (Getting the EA from UChicago liberated him from having to apply to a safety school and encouraged him to apply to a few ivies, just for grins.)
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: As a USC alum and USC mom, I am elated. However, it is a bit of a “Murphy’s Law” situation here. Sons 1 and 2 would have given anything to be a Trustee candidate. And who gets it? The son who is not so emotionally invested in USC. Isn’t that the way it always is? Ha ha. He is, nonetheless, thrilled and honored.

[arjunn11]

Decision: Accepted

**Date applied: ** 12/1 @ 10 PM (lol)

Date decision postmarked/received: 1/23/2015 (postmarked), 1/26/15 (received)

Which school/major at USC: Viterbi/Computer Science & Interviewing for Full-Tuition

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2270 (800M, 800W, 670CR)
ACT (breakdown): Didn’t Take
SAT II (place score in parentheses): 790 Math II
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.91
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 11
AP (place score in parentheses):
IB (place score in parentheses):
Senior Year Course Load: 4 Higher Level IB’s, 2 Regular Classes
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): International DECA Finalist?

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses):
DECA Chapter President/Member
FIRST Robotics
JSA
Ran my own startup/nonprofit
Don’t want to list, view more here: ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/in/arjunn11

Job/Work Experience: Microsoft High School Internship
Volunteer/Community Service: Volunteered at Asha for 4 years.
Summer Activities: Internships, Sleeping, etc.
Essays (rating 1-10, details):: Common App - 9/10, Supplements - 9/10
Teacher Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):: 8/10 (didn’t see).
Counselor Rec (rating 1-10, details):: (8/10)
Additional Rec (rating 1-10, details)::
Interview:
Honestly this was average. The interview gave no body language feedback and I didn’t feel it was my best interview.

Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: No
State (if domestic applicant): Washington
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: Large Public
Ethnicity: Asian (Indian)
Gender: M
Income Bracket: No clue
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None, stereotypical indian boy applying for computer science

Reflection
Strengths: I thought I had a very distinct and developed passion for social entrepreneurship and technology which I displayed throughout my application in my essay, supplements, EC’s, internships, etc. I was very specific about why I wanted to go to USC and I spent a LOT of time editing my essays.
Weaknesses: GPA/Class Rank, SAT Reading, No Subject Tests
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected:
Honestly anything can happen guys. When you have more highly-qualified applicants than there are spots, it’s inherently somewhat random. But I think for me it was my distinct passion, and commitment to pursuing that passion at a very high level through demonstrable involvement. Specifically, the nonprofit startup I’m working on, my Microsoft Internship and DECA involvement (international finalist, president of huge chapter, etc.). I WASN"T EVEN TOP 10%, and I had a few B’s, so don’t stress about GPA, it isn’t everything.
Where else you are applying or have already applied: UC’s, Stanford, UW, other schools I’m too lazy to list.
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight:
Honestly I am so honored to be here. I spent the past few months agonizing about this and I’m very surprised to have been accepted and interviewing for the full-tuition scholarships. The past 4 years of hard work have all been worth it for this moment. Feel free to message me with questions.

Fight On!

[Jimboboy]

Can someone explain to me why they are coming out so early? Is this normal? and will rejects get an email earlier too? or will that email come during april?

[LegacyMom]

@Jimboboy‌ , only acceptances for those being considered for major merit scholarships are coming out now…and tht has been the pattern for several years. No rejects will be coming out now. If you don’t get notification for a major scholarship this round, you are still in the running for regular decision, which comes out the end of March.

[Jimboboy]

When will this round be over?

[dster77]

Decision: Accepted

Date applied: 11/15? Maybe earlier. I wanted to get it done well before the deadline.

Date decision postmarked/received: 1/23/2015 (postmarked), 1/26/15 (received)

Which school/major at USC:
Viterbi

Computer Science/Business Admin.
Interviewing for Half-Tuition

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1950…
ACT (breakdown): 32
SAT II (place score in parentheses): somewhere between 600-700 for math2, i don’t remember. The rest aren’t relevant.
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.88
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 75/600
AP (place score in parentheses): 11 total, too lazy to write them all out. Passed all with mostly 4s.
IB (place score in parentheses): –
Senior Year Course Load: 5 AP , kind of rough first semester.

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses):
ASB Exec. Student Body Vice Pres, ASB 2 years
Own tech-startup
Work Experience
Volunteering
INVOLVED student

Job/Work Experience: DBA at a startup, my own startup, janitorial work.
Volunteer/Community Service: 500 hours volunteering with underprivileged children
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common App - 9+/10, Supplements - 7/10

Interview:
VERY good. With Paul Ledesma. Later in November.

Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: YES
State (if domestic applicant): CA
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: Medium-Large Public (2200 students)
Ethnicity: White
Gender: M

Reflection
Strengths: My startup and work experience, both recognizable brands. Lots of APs. INTERVIEW HELPED A LOT, I THINK.
Weaknesses: Rank (but competitive school!), SAT, SATII. (not sure if I sent the SAT, but definitely sent all SATII)

[erochh]

Decision: Accepted

Date applied: 11/30

Date decision postmarked/received: Jan 23/Jan 24

Which school/major at USC:Marshall School of Business/Business Administration (Presidential Scholarship Finalist)

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2150 (CR: 670, M: 800, W: 680)
ACT (breakdown): 31 C (E: 33, M: 34, R: 32, S: 32)
SAT II (breakdown): US History (710), Math II (720)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.94
Weighted GPA: 4.80
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 10% of 585 students
AP (place score in parenthesis): US History (4) Calc AB (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP English & Literature, Physics (H), 4 College Courses (Writing 1, Writing 2, Statistics, & American Government)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Hispanic Scholar, Young Man of the Month (one senior selected each month), Graduating from both my high school and the local community college this spring (I will graduate with an AA Degree in May, then receive my high school degree in June!)
**Dual Enrollment Program is the reason why I have less AP Classes. The program started freshman year and each semester we take two college courses. These courses count as both high school and college credit and cover the same credit as AP classes (Psychology, World History, Goverment, etc.)

Subjective
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Leadership/Student Government (ASB President, Junior Class President, Sophomore Class Vice President), Confirmation (9th/10th grade), Soccer (4 years), Pink Ribbon Club President (3 years), Anti-Bullying Project Club Treasurer (3 years), Link Cru Leader (2 years)
Job/Work Experience: Currently working at Chick-fil-A since the end of Sophomore year (6/2013-present)
Volunteer/Community service: (weakest part of application) not too many hours (~40 hours): Soup Kitchen, Peer Court, Knights of Columbus Tootsie Roll Drive, American Red Cross Blood Drive Volunteer
Summer Activities: Worked during the summer, ‘stay’-cations, USC Summer Leadership Program (Marshall School of Business), Pepperdine Youth Citizenship Seminar Program, Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership Seminar (Chapman University)
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 9/10? My English teacher said, “the best essay that I have read this year”. (but when I reread my submitted application there were two minor grammatical errors)
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): 9? Both of my teachers are really kind and empathetic. I worked hard in both classes and made a personal connection with both of them!
Teacher Rec #1: Junior English H Teacher. Assuming it was strong! (9/10 out of 10?)
Teacher Rec #2: AP US History Teacher. Assuming it was strong! (8/9 out of 10?)
Counselor Rec: I’ve known him for four years and we have grown pretty close over the years!
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: I interviewed in August and I think it went really well. My interview lasted about 30 minutes and it was professional, yet casual. I ranked my interview a 9+/10

Other
Applied for Financial Aid? Yes
State (if domestic applicant): California
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Hispanic
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: $195,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Catholic

Reflection
Strengths: Leadership, Extracurricular Activities, Dual-Enrollment Program, Well-rounded student, Common App essay
Weaknesses: SAT/ACT, Community service,
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I think my interview really showed my personality and after visiting USC multiple times, I honestly think I am a good match for USC.
Where else you are applying or have already applied: Boston College (Accepted Early Action), UCLA, UC Berkeley, Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, Penn, Northeastern, Cal Poly SLO, University of Washington
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight:

[jazzdancer2102]

Decision: Accepted

Date applied: October 28th

Date decision postmarked/received: postmarked: Received January 27th

Which school/major at USC: Undecided at Dornsdife

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2190 Math 740 CR 710 Writing 740
ACT (breakdown): Didn’t take
SAT II (place score in parentheses): Didn’t send
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): School does not calculate. Approximately 3.9-4.0 on a 4.0 scale. No Bs in my end of year reports all through high school.
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): school doesn’t rank
AP (place score in parentheses): N/A
IB (place score in parentheses): 38-41 on 42 predicted I believe.
Senior Year Course Load: English HL, Economics HL, Physics HL, Math SL, Spanish B SL, Theatre SL, TOK
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): TOEFL India Learners Awards, Highest Academic Achiever in HS

Community service: +200 hrs
Volunteer at:

• Operation Smile
• Dam project in India for displaced victims
• Habitat for Humanity
• Dance and theatre teacher for underprivileged
• Founder of arts non profit The Dream Project and Foundation and started a legacy of theatre festivals in my school
• Independent organizer of cancer seminars

ECs:

• Light and theatre set design - worked on Asia’s first production of Sunshine on Leith
• Marathon running
• Dance: Dancer on scholarship, train more than 10 hours a week in jazz, ballet, contemporary and Bollywood
• Pianist, Keyboard and Tabla player
• Mandarin, Italian and Arabic self-study
• Zumba: I’m one of India’s youngest instructors
• Co-founder and editor of my school’s magazine
• Member of Relay For Life organizing committee
• Head of Registrations for TEDxYouth@OIS
• Blogging on TheDesiBallerina
• Varsity badminton and basketball player
• Chair of Human Rights Commission and ECOSOC at MUNs including HMUN

Leadership role

• Founder of Dream Project - school’s first ever charitable theatre festival where I directed and supervised 6 plays and raised 100,000 rupees
• Zumba classes
• Self initiated runner
• TEDx

Internships:

• Digital Media Associate with The Indian Economist
• Social media manager with V Designs, India’s first vegan firm
• Overseas internship with Sudar Global FZE in Middle Eastern trade, did a lot of writing

Essays: CommonApp was very personal. Related it to being a superhero in my own way with my fascination with quantum physics and a very personal incident in my life.

Recs: Waived FERPA. But every recommender of mine knows me extremely well. The one from my dance teacher was apparently phenomenal.

Other
Applied for Financial Aid? No

Reflection
Strengths: Leadership, Extracurricular Activities, Well-rounded student, Common App essay, Probably Recs
Weaknesses: SAT scores
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Probably my essays and ECs. They were quite different.
Where else you are applying or have already applied: Brown, Barnard, Pitzer, NYU Gallatin, Haverford, UVA, UMich Ann Arbor, UCB, UCLA,
Indiana Bloomington and Rutgers- Accepted

PS: HOW DID WE GET TO KNOW SO EARLY?! I HONESTLY THOUGHT DECISIONS DAY WAS 1ST APRIL. So stoked!
PPS: Need to know more about the Dean’s Scholarship because apparently, students notified early qualify for it.

[ackack]

@lovely9775935 - did you understand him to mean that NO deans had been sent yet? Even for Dornsife? Thank you. Very stressful wait.

[bsb4389]

Decision: Accepted

Date applied: 12/28

Date decision postmarked/received: 1/27

Which school/major at USC: Andrew and Erna Viterbi School of Engineering (Biomedical Biochemical Engineering), Pre-Medical Emphasis

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): Not Submitted
ACT (breakdown): 34 (34 Math, 34 English, 35 Reading, 33 Science, 8 Essay)
SAT II (place score in parentheses): 740 Math II
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9 UW
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Not ranked, but #1-2 in class
AP (place score in parentheses): None
IB (place score in parentheses): All IB Courses, Testing in May (see below)
Senior Year Course Load: IB HL Literature, IB HL Mathematics, IB HL Physics, IB HL History, IB SL Spanish, IB SL Visual Arts
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): A few class awards, Scholastic Art & Writing Gold Key (Poetry) and American Voice & Vision Nominee, Harvard Book Award, George Eastman’s Young Leaders Award, some other minor things…

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Orienteering Club, Varsity Soccer, 2 Bands, Academic Decathlon (Various High Leadership Positions in Each), Some other fun things
Job/Work Experience: Performed a few paid gigs, nothing else!
Volunteer/Community Service: Athletic Leadership
Essays (rating 1-10, details):: 10 (I put a ton of effort into each one, probably my saving grace)
Teacher Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):: History teacher 11/10 (Incredible), Math teacher 9/10 (Excellent)
Counselor Rec (rating 1-10, details):: 10/10 (Amazing)
Interview: None

Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
State (if domestic applicant): Idaho
School Type: Private IB
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: >200000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None at all

Reflection
Strengths: Essays, Academics, Recommendations
Weaknesses: Extracurriculars (I love what I do, but there is nothing incredible, not much volunteer nor work experience), no hooks/major awards
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Hard work, passion and energy!
Where else you are applying or have already applied: Some other schools, all regular decision
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: I am freaking out right now! I didn’t get anything yesterday in the mail so I assumed I wasn’t getting an award. Checked online this morning and find out I’m in consideration for a Presidential Scholarship! I needed this; I had no ED or EA schools! Anything is possible guys just do your best and forget the rest! Good luck guys!

[LayraSparks]

Decision: Accepted

**Date applied: December 1 **

Date decision postmarked/received: Postmarked January 23, received January 27

Which school/major at USC: School of Cinematic Arts, Critical Studies and finalist for Trustee Scholarship!

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2150 (M:690, CR: 690, W:770)
ACT (breakdown): Didn’t submit
SAT II (place score in parentheses): French (800), Math I (760), Literature (790), German (800)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.95
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/94
AP (place score in parentheses): N/A
IB (place score in parentheses): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: N/A - International
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Finalist in national German competition

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Ballet, acting & film course, Russian Club, French courses, Student Government etc.
Job/Work Experience: Payed tutoring in English, French and German
Volunteer/Community Service: I volunteered at MigHelp, an organization helping refugees integrate, and was a volunteer tutor at school.
Summer Activities: Group leader at acting camp for kids, film courses and teaching.
Essays (rating 1-10, details): “Common App” 9/10, I took a really unique approach, and my counselor thought it was a bit too literary, but I worked a lot on it. “Why USC?” 7/10 I was really, really enthusiastic and wrote about the squirrels on McCarthy Quad, the Reality Ends Here game, and minoring in Forensics & Criminality. “EC essay”: 7/10 I wrote about organizing and hosting a school charity ball. “Cinematic Arts Supplement”: 9/10 I wrote about a French post-modern film in one essay, the other was more general.
Teacher Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): 9/10
Counselor Rec (rating 1-10, details): 10/10
Additional Rec (rating 1-10, details): N/A
Interview: Later…

Other
Applied for Financial Aid? NO
State (if domestic applicant): N/A
Country (if international applicant): Hungary
School Type: Public, but part-time student at independent school as well.
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Income Bracket:
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Not well-represented country, maybe.

Reflection
Strengths: Cinematic Arts Supplement, Essays, Recs
Weaknesses: SAT scores
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I went to two schools at the same time, & I think that definitely contributed to the acceptance. I was also really, really enthusiastic in my essays.
Where else you are applying or have already applied: Penn, Vassar, Oberlin, Dartmouth, Vanderbilt, Amherst, Duke, Swarthmore, Johns Hopkins, Cornell, Kenyon, Occidental, Bristol (UK), Leeds (UK), York (UK), Lancaster (UK), Newcastle (UK)
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: Those people who have been here for a longer while know that I applied last year as well and was rejected. This year I’m up for a Trustee scholarship! I’ve spent the past 5 years of my life dreaming about USC and I got in, so anything is possible, everyone!

[thvirginia]

[ size=4][ color=green][ b]Decision: Accepted**[/color][/size]

[ b]Date applied: ** Nov 29

[ b]Date decision postmarked/received:** 1/23, received 1/26

[ b]Which school/major at USC:** Dornsife, Int’l Relations and the Global Economy

[ b]Objective:**
SAT I (breakdown): 2230 (770R, 660M, 800W)
ACT (breakdown): n/a
SAT II (place score in parentheses):
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): school doesn’t rank, top 5%
AP (place score in parentheses):
IB (place score in parentheses):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Comp Gov, AP French, AP Lit, AP Physics C, AP AB Calc, World Religions, Journalism
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):

[ b]Subjective:**
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): French Club and French Honor Society (President), NHS, Writing Center, School newspaper (Editor), Varsity Rowing, Odyssey of the Mind, Black Student Union
Job/Work Experience:
Volunteer/Community Service: school tutoring and NHS
Summer Activities:
Essays (rating 1-10, details):: I’d say about an 8
Teacher Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):: 8-9
Counselor Rec (rating 1-10, details):: unknown
Additional Rec (rating 1-10, details)::
Interview: Actually thought my interview went terribly.

[ b]Other**
Applied for Financial Aid?
State (if domestic applicant): Virginia
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Large Public
Ethnicity:
Gender: F
Income Bracket:
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): International

[ b]Reflection**
Strengths: Not sure, maybe my essays and recommendations
Weaknesses: Probably SAT scores
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected:
Where else you are applying or have already applied:
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: So excited to have been accepted to my dream school

[rachaelrosen]

[ size=4][ color=green][ b]Decision: Accepted**[/color][/size]

[ b]Date decision postmarked/received:** 27/1/2015

[ b]Which school/major at USC:** School of Cinematic Arts, Critical Studies

[ b]Objective:**
SAT I (breakdown): 2210 first sitting (720 CR, 740 Math, 750 Writing)
ACT (breakdown): -
SAT II (place score in parentheses): Maths II (620), French (700), Literature (740)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): School follows the GCE ‘A’ Level system, but I’d say 3.5 thereabouts.
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School doesn’t rank, but I’m only slightly above average.
AP (place score in parentheses): -
IB (place score in parentheses): -
Senior Year Course Load: H1 General Paper, H1 Project Work, H2 English Lit, H2 Math, H2 History, H2 French, H3 English Lit (research paper)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): -

[ b]Subjective:**
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Red Cross Youth, Orchestra (section leader), Prefect (committee head)
Job/Work Experience: Spent my term breaks working at a childcare centre, then at a bookstore
Volunteer/Community Service: Regular weekly volunteering, Red Cross first-aid provision, local feminist organisations and events
Summer Activities: Youth judge for Singapore International Film Festival, local Pre-University Seminar facilitator
Essays (rating 1-10, details)::

1. CA: counselor said it was heartfelt and polished - 8
2. Non-academic pursuit: wrote about my participation in the local feminist movement - 7
3. Academic interest: Literature and film, mostly the transnationalism of both. This was nothing special, though. - 5
4. SCA supplementary: a review of Elia Suleiman’s Le temps qu’il reste that I also wrote for the Film Festival (see above); I spent a lot of time researching and writing, and it went up to about 3 000 words. - 9
   Teacher Recommendations (rating 1-10, details)::
5. Form tutor’s wouldn’t have been helpful, since I didn’t take his subject - 4
6. two Literature tutors, one of whom was also my mentor for a research paper - 8
7. Ex-Literature tutor whom I’ve known for 4 years - 9
   Counselor Rec (rating 1-10, details):: -
   Additional Rec (rating 1-10, details):: -
   Interview: -

[ b]Other**
Applied for Financial Aid? Yes
State (if domestic applicant): -
Country (if international applicant): Singapore
School Type: Public (I think.)
Ethnicity: Chinese
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: around $15 000 a month (in Singapore dollars)
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): first gen, Asian student (?!) I’m honestly not sure about any others!

[ b]Reflection**
Strengths: My extracurriculars, which were diverse. and my supplementary, which was strong and well-researched. I’m sure the recs also made a huge difference.
Weaknesses: Definitely grades and SAT scores.
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: My SCA supplementary, my recommendations, and definitely my time at the Film Festival.
Where else you are applying or have already applied: BU, NU, Brown, Barnard, Tufts, Cornell
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: I didn’t expect to be accepted into USC because of my less-than-stellar academic results; generally I think it concentrates more on activities and extracurriculars, and your ability to demonstrate your passion for something. Furthermore my lack of experience in film is fairly apparent in my application, since I only decided I was interested in it last year, but I tried my best to find avenues of exploring that interest in a short time. If you’re not sure of what you want to do, that’s always an option.

[LizzyBethy]

Decision: Accepted

Date applied:11/30

Date decision postmarked/received: 1/23 and 1/27

Which school/major at USC: Dornsife Biochemistry/Spanish, Trustee Finalist

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2340 (R: 800, M: 770, W: 770)
ACT (breakdown): N/A
SAT II (place score in parentheses): Math 2 (800), Chinese (800)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.71
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
AP (place score in parentheses): Gov (5), Spanish Lang (5), English Lang (5), Chemistry (4)
Senior Year Course Load: AP Bio, AP Spanish Lit, AB Calc, AP Chinese, Biochemistry, English Electives

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Varsity Tennis (Co-Captain), some foreign languages stuff, piano, literary magazine; nothing special
Summer Activities: study abroad in Europe
Essays (rating 1-10, details):: 8/10
Teacher Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):: 9/10
Interview: N/A

Other
Applied for Financial Aid? No
State (if domestic applicant): TX
School Type: Private
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Female
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): N/A

Reflection
Strengths: Test Scores, Essays, Interest in both science and non-science fields
Weaknesses: GPA, ECs
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: They really are holistic and like well-roundedness.

[KelMoo]

For two years, I have dreamed of the day I could finally fill one of these out!
Decision: Accepted

**Date applied: ** November 29, 2014

Date decision postmarked/received: January 23, 2015/January 27, 2015

Which school/major at USC: Dornsife College. Undeclared Major. Pre-med interest. Presidential Scholar Finalist.

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): CR: 750, M: 690, W: 780 - 2220

ACT (breakdown): Did not submit

SAT II (place score in parentheses): Math Level I (710), Math Level II (660), Biology E (650), Literature (650)

Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.8 (No weighted GPA)

Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A; In the top 10 of my class

AP (place score in parentheses): 5 in AP English Lang and Comp; 5 in AP Music Theory

IB (place score in parentheses): N/A

Senior Year Course Load: AP Calc AB, AP Lit and Comp, Honors Chem, Honors World History, Honors Spanish III, Music Theory, Music Literature, Wind Ensemble, Chamber Ensemble, Chorus (I go to a performing arts high school. Music classes weigh the same as academic classes)

Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Nada. I was Outstanding Participant in the National Achievement Scholarship Program

Subjective:
-Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): All my music stuff. I’ve been playing the clarinet for 6 years. I also have done some shadowing at my local hospital. I don’t have much time for anything else.

-Job/Work Experience: 11th Grade - Member at Golden Corral. 12th Grade - Member at Chipotle.

-Volunteer/Community Service: 155+ hours: Giving performances counts as community service. I also volunteer at the local food bank. I’ve also volunteered time at the local hospital. As I said before, I go to a performing arts high school. Students are admitted upon auditioning, so I volunteer with audition week.

-Summer Activities: Johns Hopkins Summer University. I was enrolled in ‘Intro to Calc’ and ‘Feminism and Films’

-Essays (rating 1-10, details):: Common app was 10. It’s about being a gay Atheist in a religious family. Writing that essay actually helped me to accept myself more.
The supplement was about an 8. I had a typo and for the fictional character, I put Kim Kardashian… Lol

-Teacher Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):: Didn’t see, but I imagine really good. They all enjoyed having me in their classes.

-Counselor Rec (rating 1-10, details):: Didn’t see, but she openly tells me I’m her favorite senior so I imagine extremely good.

-Additional Rec (rating 1-10, details):: N/A

-Interview: N/A

Other
Applied for Financial Aid? Yes

State (if domestic applicant): Maryland

Country (if international applicant): USA

School Type: Selective, Public Performing Arts High School

Ethnicity: African American

Gender: Male

Income Bracket: 150K-200K

Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): I don’t like the term URM, because the color of my skin does not make me minor in any way.

Reflection
Strengths: Essays! I’m a great writer when it comes to narratives. I always try to show my voice.

Weaknesses: Scores and GPA obviously. I had a rough freshman year (3.43 GPA) but I showed an upward trajectory.

Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I really think it was my essays.

Where else you are applying or have already applied:
-I’ve been accepted to the University of Michigan, the University of Maryland College Park, and the University of Maryland Baltimore County. I find out from Chapel Hill sometime before the 31st!
-I was deferred from Stanford University.
-I am waiting for Harvard, Brown, Stanford, UPenn, WUSTL, Chapel Hill, UChicago, and Boston U.

General Comments/Advice/Hindsight:
I cannot even express how happy I am! This entire college process has been a humbling experience. I commend everyone who has been accepted and root for those who are still waiting. Congratulations and good luck guys!