<p>I'm a California Community College student hoping to transfer USC. Unfortunately, I was a pretty good candidate until I received a single C in Macroeconomics. By the time I apply to USC, I will have a 3.71 GPA (because of the C). The C was in Macroeconomics, and I was planning on applying to the Business School. I got an A in Microeconomics. I'm incredibly bummed out right now. My question is: has anyone ever been accepted with a C? Additionally, as much as I feel like a total loser throwing this out there, do they forgive a poor grade for circumstantial situations? During that semester, I had taken up a full-time job in order to pay for half of rent and food for my little brother and sister. Literally out of the blue and in a process that took about one week, our father left our family for another woman and my mom was just hysterical. I tried taking care of her but she stopped being responsive. She just cried all the time telling my little siblings that she was going to kill herself and that there was no reason to live anymore. After that, I found a full-time job in order to pay some of the rent and food since she would only go to work (she's a nurse) about 1-2 days a week. I had to take up the parental responsibilities for my brother and sister and tried to make them as happy as I possibly could by taking them to the Zoo, Chuck E. Cheese, etc. Additionally, we later found out that my father THOUGHT he was leaving us for another woman but it turns out he developed very serious illusions about this fantasy and is now receiving treatment at a Mental Institution as he still thinks she's "waiting for him at home." (The girl has a restraining order on him). I understand this story is very... out there. I hate explaining it to people because everyone looks at me like I'm automatically considered crazy due to my family, or being dramatic. I wish I was being dramatic, but this sudden situation drastically affected me. I managed to escape that semester with all A's, a B, and then that dreadful C. I'm an A student, with about 3 B's, and that one awful C. I was doing so well for myself until then with a 3.77 GPA at the time of applying and a 3.93 by the time I submitted by final grades for the last semester. Does anyone have any input or experience or knowledge of this topic? I would greatly appreciate it.</p>
<p>The average transfer GPA is 3.6, so you should be in good shape. Ds, Fs, Ws and Incompletes need to be explained, Cs do not. With a 3.7 and no grades below a C I would strongly advise AGAINST including any “extenuating circumstances” or long explanations as above - they are not necessary. Check in on the very active USC transfer thread for more opinions <a href=“Official USC 2014 Transfer Thread - Transfer Students - College Confidential Forums”>Official USC 2014 Transfer Thread - Transfer Students - College Confidential Forums;
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>Transfer Brochure (GPA info on page 4): <a href=“https://www.usc.edu/admission/undergraduate/docs/TransferringToUSC_2013.pdf”>https://www.usc.edu/admission/undergraduate/docs/TransferringToUSC_2013.pdf</a></p>
<p>Out of curiosity (because I’ve literally never heard of anyone get accepted with a W), would USC forgive a W for a class that isn’t transferable for credit due to circumstantial situations? I wanted to withdraw out of Chemistry because it’s not a requirement and my specific chemistry course isn’t transferable to USC at all. It’s time consuming work for someone working full-time and trying to take of care of my siblings. I’m not going to just withdraw though, I’m still thinking about it and weighing out my options. I’ve asked a counselor but she actually said she wasn’t too sure since they don’t take non transferable classes that seriously. If you have any idea, that’d be great to know. Thanks.</p>
<p>The best place for these questions is the USC transfer thread linked above. In the meantime, yes, transfer applicants with Ws on their transcripts have been accepted. It is not out of the ordinary. As with the “C”, if you have only one W on your transcript, I would not include long and complicated explanations/excuses.</p>
<p>My D did transfer into USC with a W and also an I (incomplete) or two (I’m not sure). She also had some extenuating circumstances–she some chronic health issues that flared up. They accepted her as a spring admit (after she completed 3 terms of CC–she had applied after completing her 1st semester), so she had time to make up her incompletes before starting USC.</p>
<p>If there is a college advisor at your CC, you might ask how to explain the issue without revealing too much information if you want to. As was stated, your GPA remains very good and should be good enough for USC. </p>
<p>By the way, is there anyone else who can help out your family, so that someone will help with your mom & siblings when you go to USC and provide any financial and emotional support to them and your mom? It will be tough working full time, caring for them AND attending USC. Please be sure you have the finances to attend? It is an expensive school, and while they do tend to be pretty generous with some students, it is a lot of $$$></p>
I’m a Business Administration major in CC right now and I have a W for an English class that I dropped but I took an English class the next quarter that fulfilled the same requirement even though it was different from the W. I’ve also just received a C+ in calculus my fall quarter while applying for transfer and I’ve had all A’s and A-'s before then, including A’s in the precalculus series and statistics. I have no circumstantial reasons, the class was just difficult and calculus isn’t a requirement for USC but it is for some of the other schools I’ve applied to like UCLA and UCSD. Do I still have a shot at USC?
There are a ton of knowledgeable and experienced posters on the transfer thread, you may want to repost your question there…
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/transfer-students/1903737-2017-2018-usc-transfer-p1.html