USC is officially my top school and I applied EA. Although I have great ec’s, I feel that my grades may be lacking for USC so I want to compensate in any way I can though I have already applied. I have already called the admissions office, allowing me to send my senior grades in. However, I still want to do something eye-catching. I am willing to fly down to California and speak to the admissions office firsthand if I have to. I want to show them I am capable and dedicated to their school, though I know they don’t really consider demonstrated interest. What can I do? What action or gesture could possibly prove to them that I’m right for the school?
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Don’t fall in love with any school.
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Your record is your record. If you can send in your senior grades, great.
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Edit for @ikg4answers comment - per common data set, DI is not used in admission decision** So visiting, bribing, etc won’t help.
Make sure you have a balanced list of schools - SC is a tough admit. I hope you get in. Best of luck to you.
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At this point, there is no single action or gesture that would show that you are right for the school. That should have all been conveyed in your application.
What major/college did you apply into? There are likely webinars and info sessions online that you could attend. That’s a good way to show that you are interested in the school and their programs.
USC does keep notes and records on student engagement. It might not be factored into the admissions decision but they do keep track.
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You’ve already done everything you can possibly do to have the admissions committee review your academic record and extra-curricular activities.
Anything that you try to do now, is not going to change your current application.
You have to remember that USC is a very popular school.
They don’t have seats for everyone so they will pick students who fit what THEY need. I’m sorry but it’s not about what you want, it’s about what THEY want and need in FIT of the students for their school.
If they need a tuba player for their USC marching band, then they’re going to be looking at tuba players; if they need gymnasts for their gymnastics team, they’re going to be looking for Olympic-level gymnasts. If they need a specific classical violinist, trained by a certain person, then that’s who they’re going to be considering.
We don’t know what and who they will choose. Every year it’s a different group of students that they are evaluating. If you go there begging and pleading to be admitted, that you want and have to go to their school, they’ll be nice and polite, but they know exactly what they’re looking for and we don’t know what that is.
They’re very specific in what they want for their school and you can’t put all your hopes and dreams on one school.
Nothing you do now, will change how they review your record. They’re going to look at academics, your school record, and your counselor’s/school information.
Be patient and wait. If you get in great! If you don’t get in, it’s not because your record wasn’t good; it’s just that there too many great students out there applying to these elite schools. You can always apply as a transfer; they do accept a good number of transfers.
Edited to add: my sister graduated from USC and she had a number of activities related to sports and academics. She had several hooks, and thinks she got in because of her sports-related activities.
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I applied for Sociology. Thank u! I’ll look into those info sessions, any recommendations?
My dad got into oxford and he didn’t qualify grades-wise. He continued pursuing and didn’t stop showing his potential after his application. This is what makes me believe that I can change my fate. I totally understand what your saying and I thank you for your advice but I know there is something I can do.
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Do it for yourself because you want to learn more. It’s not going to help you admission wise as I noted above.
Direct from their website with the link as well.
USC is a tough admit - their 25/75 for GPA unweighted is 3.82 to 4.0 - which means at least 25% of their class is straight As. Their admit rate is 12%.
I get you want it bad and I hope it happens - but you can’t fall in love. It’s too hard an admit - and you can have a great experience at many a school. You’ve done what you can. You cannot cure any shortfalls in a one shot deal.
Good luck.
How does USC use demonstrated interest in application reviews?
USC does not track demonstrated interest. Your chances of admission will not increase by signing up for more tours or informational sessions.
Tours and Information Sessions | USC Undergraduate Admission
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Almost everyone who applies to USC really, really wants to go there. The admissions office will not be swayed by how badly you want to attend.
Please don’t pin all your hopes on a reach school like USC. And know that the admissions landscape has changed drastically from when your parents went to school. What worked for your father 20-plus years ago is not going to work now for this particular school.
Please find some matches and safeties that you would be happy to attend. If USC says yes then you can happily commit there. If they say no, then you have other schools lined up and ready to go.
Edited to add that I just saw that usc doesn’t let EA applicants know until the end of January so please send in some apps to your matches and safeties by their deadlines, which will almost certainly be before you learn of USC’s decision.
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Nothing says demonstrated interest, “eye catching”, (and permanent) like…
But I would listen to the advice given, let your application stand on its own, hope for the best but prepare for the worst and do not get a USC tattoo or drop in on the admissions office to express your determination to be a Trojan.
Good luck!
“My dad got into Oxford and he didn’t qualify grades-wise.”
How long ago was it that your dad got into Oxford?
When I applied to my schools, decades ago, I got into every single school where I applied and I was a B+/B average student. We are talking ivies as well. Things have changed.
The landscape has changed drastically from decades ago. Now everything is extremely competitive.
All of our children (3) got into USC.
They were all National Merit scholars, They were all competitive recruited athletes, as well as competitive classical violinists. Our son (2014) was a National Merit winner.
If you find out that you’ve won the National Merit, that is one of the few ways, that I think, you can get into USC based on your actions.
Check with your Principal, at your high school, to find out if you’re in the top 1% of students from your state for to score high for a national merit award based on your PSAT scores. The Principal, at our children’s high school, knew firsthand because he was advised immediately by the College Board. Since the principal knew our family and our three children on a first name basis, he spoke personally to each of our kids.
So be patient and wait for your NM scores, and admission letter. At this point, if you’re not confident in what you’ve sent in to USC, then I don’t know of anything you could possibly do to influence the admissions committee, short of donating a multi-million dollar building. And even if your parents were to donate the multi million dollar building, that would not guarantee you an admission, but it would get your children closer.
What exactly do you mean by this? They won’t announce who advanced from Semifinalist to Finalist until sometime in March, too late to have any impact on admissions. Most will advance. And the difference between being a Finalist and a Scholar comes down to whether you get one of the small number of NM association scholarship, your parents work at a company with its own or you pick a school (like USC) with MN scholarships. So what do you mean by “winner”? DO you mean getting one of the NM org’s 2,000 scholarships (which are far smaller than the USC ones)?
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This student wants to “fly in”. and produce an activity now, to prove that he is a viable candidate. The only thing that I know, that would probably get him into USC is his status on national merit. Not a whole lot of things he can do now, after the fact, to change his chances.
Our son won a corporate scholarship. USC offered a half tuition merit scholarship with the acceptance letter, and a chance for the Presidential. This is the only thing I could think of that happens “after the fact” of submitting an application. I’m pretty sure that Admissions offices can check test scores.
If this student did well on his PSATs then he may have a better chance of admission and positive results vs. flying in to say hello to a very busy admissions staff.
I am assuming that the USC offices are closed for winter break until the first week of January.
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Respectfully, I think you are mistaken as to how USC views National Merit applicants.
Applications from students who are NMSF are viewed the same as any other student. If a student is accepted, and they are a NMF, they will receive at least a half-tuition Presidential scholarship. They don’t have a chance at it, they are guaranteed it as long as they list USC as their first choice with NMSC before May 31. Presidential is Presidential in that Presidential scholarships awarded to non NMF are the same as the Presidential scholarships awarded to NMF.
In the past, some students (regardless of their NM status) were offered the chance to interview for the full-tuition Trustee scholarship. Trustee and Presidential scholarship (for non NMF) interviews occur on the same weekend so it may have felt like your NMF son needed to interview for the Presidential. He didn’t. If he participated, he was interviewing for the larger Trustee scholarship.
There are three ways to become a NM Scholar - NMSC $2500 scholarships, corporate-sponsored scholarships, and college-sponsored merit scholarship awards. In the past, if a NMF student was accepted to USC and was not awarded either a NMSC or corporate scholarship, USC awarded that student an additional college-sponsored scholarship (on top of Presidential) to make them a National Merit Scholar.
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Will students still - if they meet the eligibility criteria, (regardless of their NM status) be offered the chance to interview for the full-tuition Trustee scholarship ?
USC changed the process this year with EA. In the past, a select group of students were invited to interview for a merit scholarship. There was one interview and the outcome was that some students received Trustee, some received Presidential and some received Dean (1/4 tuition). I’m not sure how they are going to do it this year.
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