Fall 2017 (class of 2021) USC DECISIONS STATS ONLY THREAD

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Southern California
21

Decision:Accepted

**Date applied: Around October (Questbridge National College Match, No Match, Deferred to Regular Decision)

**Date decision postmarked/received: 3/26

[ b]Which school/major at USC: Sociology, will be changing to Journalism (I heard it’s very easy since Annenberg and Dornsife)

**Scholarships: None

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): N/A
ACT (breakdown): 33 C (33 E, 32 M, 33 R, 34 S)
SAT II (place score in parentheses): Korean (720)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.87
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 7th percentile
AP (place score in parentheses): US History (4), World History (4), Biology (4)
IB (place score in parentheses): None
Senior Year Course Load: 3 regular classes, 2 honors classes, 0 AP
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Presidential Volunteer Service Award (Gold in 2015, Bronze in 2014)

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Korean Church Coalition for North Korean Freedom (Intern, helped lobby for a bill in Congress that would push sanctions against North Korea), Boys Volleyball
Volunteer/Community Service: A few park cleanups here and there, Homeless Ministry (served free food every Sunday in Santa Ana)
Job/Work Experience: None
Summer Activities: VBS (teacher’s assistant, basically a summer camp at church for little kids)
Essays (rating 1-10, details):: 7.5 (Definitely not my best writing; they weren’t great, but not terrible. Saw 2 grammar mistakes in retrospect. Talked about overcoming things like the death of a best friend, death of a basketball mentor of mine, moving multiple times, moving to South Korea after junior year)
Teacher Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):: 7? (not too sure, but they were probably a little vague since my teacher’s weren’t too close to me)
Counselor Rec (rating 1-10, details):: 6 (new school, counselor barely knew me, but she did read some of my essays and was impressed)
Additional Rec (rating 1-10, details):: None
Interview: None

Other
Applied for Financial Aid? Yes. Got amazing financial aid (my EFC was 0, got 60k in grants, 5k in loans, 2.5k in work study. 3k out of pocket expense)
State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant): South Korea
School Type: Homeschool for senior year, Public school for other three years
Ethnicity: Korean
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 0-30k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):

Reflection
Strengths: Internship with the Korean Church Coalition (lobbying in Congress probably helped), ACT score, GPA is good enough to be accepted, special circumstances (moving to Korea, talking to multiple Senators and members of Congress probably made for an interesting essay, although the work itself was a little messy and had a few grammatical errors)

Weaknesses: Recommendations, only 2 E.C’s, GPA is solid but not outstanding, only 3 AP’s, light senior year course load

Why you think you were accepted: Probably my essay about going to D.C and rallying for North Korean freedom and talking to members of the Legislative branch.

Where else you are applying or have already applied: Applied to 22 other schools; notable ones: Rejected at Connecticut College, rejected at Davidson, Waitlisted at Grinnell, Waitlisted at Gettysburg, Waitlisted at Macalester, Rejected at Williams, Rejected at Amherst, Rejected at Columbia, Rejected at W&L, Accepted at Wheaton (IL), Accepted at Vassar.

General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: Don’t fret too much about acceptance rates! USC had one of the lowest acceptance rates for me out of the 23 schools I applied to, but I was accepted to USC and rejected at most of the other schools. Don’t waste too much money preparing for the ACT; just use common sense, and think steadily and confidently. Sometimes, the time limits get to you and you lose a lot of points. Just practice pacing yourself. For those who are underclassmen, do something special! I think I stood out because of my trips to D.C. My ACT scores and my GPA are solid, but nothing insane. E.C’s can help you stand out! You don’t have to do 10 E.C’s to get accepted either (I only did 2), but do something that is relevant to your career path (I may want to study law, journalism, or political econ, so my trip to D.C was perfect).

22

Decision: Accepted

**Date applied: ** January 10th

Date decision postmarked/received: March 25th

Which school/major at USC: Dornsife - double major in mathematics and philosophy on the pre-med track

Scholarships: I didn’t really apply early enough

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): Didn’t take

ACT (breakdown): 33 (Math 35, English 34, Reading 34, Science 28 (lol))

SAT II (place score in parentheses): 740 Math2, 720 Bio, 700 Lit, 780 US History (I’m not sure if I submitted my subject tests or not though)

Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.64 (strong upward trend though w/ a weighted GPA 4.23)

Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): n/a my school doesn’t rank

AP (place score in parentheses): Note that I didn’t submit any AP scores… APUSH (2… don’t judge, I didn’t take the class), Enviro (5), Bio (5), Lang (4), Euro (4), Latin (5), Calc AB (5), Physics I (3)

IB (place score in parentheses): n/a

Senior Year Course Load: AP Lit, AP Psych, AP Stats, AP CSP, AP Calc BC, Creative Writing

Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): I’m not really sure

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): mainly swimming (I’m planning on walking on at USC)—that takes about 35hrs of my week. My creative writing class also takes a ton of time—we are one of the highest ranked lit mags in the country and I’m a senior editor. I run my schools “pride” club but we don’t really do much, and I’m also part of the robotics club but we also don’t do a ton there

Job/Work Experience: n/a

Volunteer/Community Service: I used to volunteer at my local rape recovery center for about 10hrs a week, and I used to teach swim lessons over the summer to families who couldn’t afford it

Summer Activities: Swimming about 35hrs a week

Essays (rating 1-10, details):: They were great! Personally I’d give myself 10/10s my common app essay was about how I felt all this pressure to be perfect and how I struggled with being biracial and gay. One of my supplements furthered that and talked about how I didn’t feel like I fit in growing up in Utah which is very white and very Mormon while I’m gay, Buddhist, biraicial, etc… and my why USC basically talked about the programs I was interested in.

Teacher Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):: I’m not really sure since we’re not allowed to read out letters of rec. But if I had to guess, my physics teacher was probably like a 6 - I know it was definitely really nice but I’m pretty sure he also might have written the same thing for everyone, and my english teacher was probably a 9 or 10.

Counselor Rec (rating 1-10, details):: Again, I didn’t read, but I’m really close to my counselor and I would guess around a 9 or 10.

Additional Rec (rating 1-10, details):: My swim coach wrote me one and it was really nice and talked about how’ve much I’ve grown since I was younger (he’s been coaching me since I was about 11), and it was generally pretty great. Maybe like an 8

Interview: n/a

Other
Applied for Financial Aid? Yes (and I received a pretty good package!)

State (if domestic applicant): Utah

Country (if international applicant): US

School Type: Private (and tiny)

Ethnicity: White/Asian

Gender: Male

Income Bracket: Well my parents are divorced and my mom is around 50k and my dad is very wealthy around 250k+

Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): n/a

Reflection
Strengths: Well, I think my essays were really strong, and I have had a strong improvement throughout high school, always taking difficult classes but having a steady improvement in my grades. My ECs are also pretty solid, while I don’t have a ton of them, the ones I do have I invest a lot of time too.

Weaknesses: Well, with my grades not being super great my freshman and sophomore year, my gpa is not super high. While I do have high test scores, they’re not super high. I don’t know though, I think I’m pretty well-rounded. I’m not super great in anything, but it’s not like I’m bad at anything either.

Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Just read above. I know I spent a lot of time on my supplements and I think it showed.

Where else you are applying or have already applied: I have heard back from everywhere now! UMich (Accepted), Tulane (Accepted), NYU (Accepted), Cornell (Accepted), Yale (Accepted), Princeton (Denied), Georgetown (Denied), Virginia (Denied), Oxford (Denied), Yale-NUS (Denied)

General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: Go Trojans! So excited to be a part of USC’s class of 2021!

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[ size=4][ color=red][ b]Decision: Rejected**[/color][/size]

[ b]Date applied: ** Early November

[ b]Date decision postmarked/received: ** Was out of town

[ b]Which school/major at USC:** Marshall

[ b]Scholarships:**

[ b]Objective:**
SAT I (breakdown):
ACT (breakdown): 31 (27 Math, 34 English, 33 Science, 30 Reading)
SAT II (place score in parentheses):
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.84
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):
AP (place score in parentheses): Euro (4), Psych (5), Lang (5), Physics (2), Spanish, Stats
IB (place score in parentheses):
Senior Year Course Load: A little lax but still I’d consider it rigorous
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):

[ b]Subjective:**
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Senior Vice President of a local community service organization, NHS, SHS, I’m a pilot, probably other stuff I’m forgetting I’m kinda done with this haha
Job/Work Experience: Ran a customer service team for a large company in 7th grade, have had lots of jobs since including working at a summer camp.
Volunteer/Community Service: Lots
Summer Activities: Working at a summer camp
Essays (rating 1-10, details):: These were my strongest essays for sure. I really worked hard on them and tried to make it clear why I wanted to go to USC. Maybe 8.
Teacher Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):: Probably 10.
Counselor Rec (rating 1-10, details):: Probably 10.
Additional Rec (rating 1-10, details)::
Interview: Flew to DC to interview, $300 plane ticket down the tube lol. Not that I expected to buy my way in with an interview, but kinda sucks.

[ b]Other**
Applied for Financial Aid? No
State (if domestic applicant): Ohio
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Large extremely competitive
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket:
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Undiscriminated white male

[ b]Reflection**
Strengths: Again, this was my strongest application. I worked it. I was working my butt off to establish a relationship with my counselor, show how passionate I was and how much I wanted it, and really tried to seem different and like I did my research on why I wanted to go to USC.
Weaknesses: ACT, course load
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected:
Where else you are applying or have already applied:
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight:

It’ll all be okay guys. A few months ago I thought I didn’t know what the heck I’d do if USC rejected me, and now I’m kind of grateful because I don’t think I would’ve accepted admission, and it would’ve killed me and I would have lost a lot of sleep coming to that conclusion. YOU WILL SURVIVE. However, be smart about your actions and apply to plenty of colleges. My biggest singular piece of advice, as harsh as it is, apply in such a way that if you only get accepted by your safety schools, you’ll still be happy. Maybe not your first choices, but you’ll go, get a good education, and be happy. If you’re looking at USC then chances are your safety schools are pretty dang good schools, USC is top tier. It’s okay to not be top tier. Move on, get in the group me’s for whatever you go, and get pumped! Don’t dwell on the past, it happened for a reason. Big thanks to USC for IMO is one of the most personal and fair admissions processes. UVA and UNC were extremely distant and cold with their communication, and I think USC gets more apps than them (if not they both get a ton) and USC is waaaaay classier with how they do everything. I really feel like I did everything for my application, and I feel confident that they gave me every chance to be offered a spot for admission.

24

Decision: Accepted (Spring 2018)

Date applied: 1/13/17

Date decision postmarked/received: 3/25/2017

Which school/major at USC: Viterbi School of Engineering, Aerospace Engineering

Scholarships: N/A

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1410 (660 Reading, 790 Writing, 21 Essay)
ACT (breakdown): 30 (35 English, 28 Math, 26 Reading, 29 Science, 8 Writing)
SAT II (place score in parentheses): 660 Biology E, 670 Mathematics Level 1
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.92
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 19 out of 339 (5.6%)
AP (place score in parentheses): AP Chemistry (Test not taken yet)
IB (place score in parentheses): [ALL IB Classes, since 6th grade (5 in Psychology, other Tests not taken yet)]
Senior Year Course Load: AP Chemistry, IB Theory of Knowledge II, IB English, IB Biology, IB Math SL, IB Spanish VI, IB World Topics, Marching Band, Concert Band
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): 10 years Boy Scouts (Eagle Scout, Senior Patrol Leader, Assistant Senior Patrol Leader, Marching Band (2 year Drumline, 2 year Drum Major),
Job/Work Experience: N/A
Volunteer/Community Service: LOTS of hours helping Richmond Friends of the Homeless
Summer Activities: Hugh O’Brien Youth Leadership Congress (HOBY) and World Leadership Congress (HOBY WLC), James Madison University Summer Band Camp (for Drum Major), other leadership workshops, Marching Band camps, etc.
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Common App Essay: 8, talked about my how my social anxiety lead me to study philosophy;
Other Essays/Engineering Supplements: 9, about my leadership philosophies and experiences, favorite website (YouTube), my passion/background for aerospace & why USC (I put a heck ton of time into these)
Teacher Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): Did not see
Counselor Rec (rating 1-10, details): Did not see
Additional Rec (rating 1-10, details): N/A
Interview: N/A

Other
Applied for Financial Aid? No
State (if domestic applicant): Virginia
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: Mid-High
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): N/A

Reflection
Strengths: Extracurriculars, leadership experience, community service, student qualities, high school transcript
Weaknesses: Standardized test scores
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Accepted (Spring 2018). Not totally sure why, but praise God; it’s a miracle!
Where else you are applying or have already applied: Accepted to Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech; Rejected by University of Michigan, Stanford University, University of Colorado (Boulder)
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: I followed USC avidly on all platforms (especially social media), and everything I sent to them portrayed my excitement and passion for attending. I believe that was a major factor, and also the reason why I was denied to these other schools. Again, praise the Lord! It was a miracle that I got into this school (2nd most selective school I applied to) and got in! Never surrender!

25

Decision: Accepted

**Date applied: 12/1/17 **

**Date decision postmarked/received: 3/26 **

**Which school/major at USC: Dornsife/Biology **

**Scholarships: University **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1570
ACT (breakdown): Not taken
SAT II (place score in parentheses): Not taken
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.69
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
AP (place score in parentheses): None
IB (place score in parentheses): Not taken
Senior Year Course Load: English classes, Calc BC, Social Science, Art
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): State Scholar

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): University lab assistant, founder and leader of scientific research project for two years, writing a scientific paper to publish, presented research at conference, attended competitive summer programs in science, soccer, a number of clubs, teaching experience with grades 1-8, and peer tutoring.

Job/Work Experience: Tutoring, summer STEM teaching programs.
Volunteer/Community Service: Assisted with teaching programs for local elementary schools, involved a lot of students in collecting data for my research.
Summer Activities: Science oriented trips during summers, lab assistantships.
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common app: 9, showed passion for my intended career in science + I worked on it for quite a while. Supplementals: 8 or 9
Teacher Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):: Probably around 9, we had a great connection in class and through dif. programs.
Counselor Rec (rating 1-10, details):: Know them pretty well, they knew my interests, ~8
Additional Rec (rating 1-10, details):: None

Other
Applied for Financial Aid? Yep
State (if domestic applicant): Indiana
School Type: Public, top 20 in country.
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 40-60k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None

Reflection
Strengths: SAT, ECs, Recs, coursework, interest in major
Weaknesses: GPA
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I worked on my essays to make them represent me and my interests well, having a high SAT didn’t hurt.
Where else you are applying or have already applied: Accepted: USC, Vassar, Northeastern, UIUC, Occidental. Waitlisted: UMich.
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: I can’t say how happy I am to have been accepted to USC. To all those who weren’t accepted this year, I’m sure you’ll do great things wherever you go. I’m sure you have options if you applied here.

Fight on!

26

Date applied: 12/1/16

Date decision postmarked/received: In mail 3/24/17

Which school/major at USC: Keck School of Medicine, Global Health

Scholarships: University Scholarship

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): n/a
ACT (breakdown): 32 (one sitting) M-25 E-36 R-36 S-31
SAT II (place score in parentheses): n/a
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.97
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 16/458
AP (place score in parentheses): 5 (APUSH), 5 (AP ART HISTORY)
IB (place score in parentheses): n/a
Senior Year Course Load: Senior Honors Debate/Forensics, AP Lit and Comp, AP Chemistry, AP Calc AB, AP Comparative Gov, AP Gov, Honors Spanish 4
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): n/a

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses):
National Honor Society (11, 12; Representative: 11, 12)
Debate (9, 10, 11, 12; Vice President: 12)
Student Council (10, 11; Treasurer: 11)
Forensics (10, 11, 12; Historian, Judge Committee Chair: 11, 12)
Scholar’s Bowl (10, 11, 12)
Young Democrats (9, 10, 11, 12)
Job/Work Experience: Hostess at Red Robin, Intern for Project Consent
Volunteer/Community Service: Volunteered multiple places with a total of 250 hours (locations unnamed to remain anon)
Summer Activities: University of Kansas Debate Institute
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 8-9. All my essay responses were genuine and were reviewed by teachers/counselors. I re-used some essays from other applications, but tailored them to fit USC since I had researched their programs and professors.
Teacher Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): 8-9. Chose to not have the option to read them, yet both teachers that wrote me references taught AP classes and were my favorite teachers I have had. Both think highly of me.
Counselor Rec (rating 1-10, details): ??? Chose to not have the option to read it, do not have a close relationship with my counselor.
Interview: n/a

Other:
Applied for Financial Aid? Yes
State (if domestic applicant): KS
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: Low
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Single parent

Reflection:
Strengths: Extracurriculars, essays, recommendations
Weaknesses: Test scores, GPA/Ranking
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I wrote good essays and had great teacher recs. I’ve been super involved in my community and school, which I think really showed in my application.
Where else you are applying or have already applied: University of Kansas, Tulane, Emory, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill

27

Decision: Accepted

**Date applied: ** October 2016

Date decision postmarked/received: March 2017

Which school/major at USC: Viterbi/CS

Scholarships: NMF (1/2 tuition) and $2k University Scholarship

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown):1570
SAT II (place score in parentheses): Math II (800) & Physics (800)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0):4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):1
AP (place score in parentheses): three 5s and a 4
Senior Year Course Load:3 APs, college enrollment for math, other honors courses
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):NMF $2500 scholarship,Top 100 scholars in state

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): president of one and and vice of two clubs, about 7 clubs total
Job/Work Experience:research and summer jobs
Volunteer/Community Service:yes, lots (soup kitchen, etc)
Summer Activities: camp counselor

Other
Applied for Financial Aid? yes
State (if domestic applicant): midwest
School Type: large & excellent public
Ethnicity: did not report
Gender: male
Income Bracket: over 200k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):no

Reflection
Strengths: well-rounded, valedictorian, NMF, friendly & engaged attitude easy to see in essay
Weaknesses: no CS-specific ECs
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: stats & friendly attitude
Where else you are applying or have already applied: accepted at WUStL, Rice, Illinois, others, but he’s going to USC!
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: don’t overthink the quick questions (my son did and at the admitted student program learned that they are just used for fun)

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Trying to delete post I accidentally made here. Meant to post on transfer thread. Only lets me edit