tl;dr. I have bad grades in high school, 3.0 gpa overall, want to go to a good university, USC is the dream. What are my chances? And if there is a way, how do I get there? Thank you!
I want to say I hate excuses. For anything in life, where there is a will there is a way. That being said, I have the honor of being the first generation in my family to go to college (immigrants). I also have taken education for granted all my life. I did well in my early years throughout elementary and middle schools but when it came to high school, everything changed. I went from the one of the ranked students of my class to delivering a near subpar level performance in my freshman and sophomore years. Recently I received a rude awakening to how hard it is to get into a university and the amount of competition there is. Up until this point I never took school seriously, I took honors and APs but barely passed and failed 2 classes in Munich sophomore years. I had always thought living in the United States granted you a free admission to college. I was wrong. I was stupid. I was lazy and gave zero care to how valuable education and hard work really is. Only this year have I taken my education seriously and even then, going from slacker to academic is a challenge for me, I’m still barely maintaining B’s. I have a 3.0 GPA overall and really want to go to USC. I have no doubt in mind I am going to community college. So I have to ask, what are my chances of going to such a university with my grades? And if there is a way, how would I go about getting in? Thank you in advance.
While anything is possible, your chances are realistically not that good unless you offer the admissions committee some compelling reason or reasons to overlook your GPA. USC is holistic in its admission policies, so it is possible to stand out among a crowded field via other elements of your overall application packet… i.e. – ECs, essays, demonstrated passion, potential artistic or creative or athletic skills, potential leadership roles, potential community involvement, demonstrated interest and solid answers to your Why USC? explanation, etc. Of course, if you are also an URM or FirstGen or QuestBridge or some other underrepresented category, that could be to your advantage as well.
Basically, with 87% of all applicants rejected this year - including many 1000s of applicants with test scores in the 99th percentile, my advice if you really wish to attend USC is to do your best to raise your GPA, try to secure the highest standardized test scores possible and then also look to every other element of your application packet as the pieces that you can possibly use to sway the admission committee. USC especially is looking to craft a well-rounded and diverse freshman class. It is not all about just admitting the 8250 applicants with the best stats. So research USC and actually tell them why you are convinced that it is the best fit for you… and moreover, also try to convince them what you would be adding or bringing to the USC community if admitted.
If you truly have no doubt that you are going to a community college, then focus on being a star there and transferring to your dream school. It’s something of a clean slate opportunity.
Unless there are some really, truly, mind blowingly amazing additions to your application, USC is not a possibility for you, not even with a near perfect SAT score. I believe the average GPA of accepted students is 3.86, unweighted. This year they only accepted 13% of applicants…
You may really really want to go to a great school, but it’s something that is earned based on performance, not handed to you based on desire. That will be an important lesson in all aspects of life, moving forward.