Hey guys! This year has been a pretty rough one… I have 5 AP classes, 1 honors class, and 2 study halls during which I go to my local college to take Calculus II. While on paper classes like APES don’t seem hard, the teachers I have are deceivingly difficult. I found these subjects to be enjoyable so I took them anyway knowing the risk and, unfortunately, it seems as if I will be getting a B in AP English IV: Literature, a B in APES, and a C in AP Physics C: Mechanics. The mechanics class is extremely difficult and generally completely changes who is in the top 10 of the graduating class, our valedictorian, our salutatorian, etc. Many people end up getting their first B in this class but, since I am not the best at physics, ended up with a C. My question for you guys is how big of a factor do these grades play into our admission in terms of statistics? Before I continue, I would like to say that I was also diagnosed with ADD and that will be mentioned in my mid-year report by my counselor. It caused the B in English as well as my low test scores in reading. Anyway, my competitive school (#1 in the state, almost top 50 in the country among public high schools) is as close to a feeder school to USC as you can get in my southern state. Two years ago, we had 6/24 students applying to USC get accepted although last year it was 11/21 students. The average accepted student’s profile (several of which receive rather large scholarships) includes around a 4.19 W GPA, 32 ACT, and 1480 SAT. My GPA is currently 4.11 W (3.80 UW) although there has been a huge trend in previous years, including one B first semester of junior year in AP Chem and straight As second semester. My ACT and SAT scores are exactly average (assuming we are taking superscored SAT as USC does which gives me a 700 in CR+W and 780 in M). In addition to this, I have an 800 on my SAT II Mathematics Level 2 Subject Test which I believe sort of helps with the GPA, although the upward trend and fact that Calculus I and II are not factored into my GPA due to the fact that they are dual enrollment classes taken on the college’s campus sort of makes it fine already. For my essays, I wrote my CA one on volunteering, one on my cultural identity (son of two immigrants), one on a physics project where teamwork helped me be successful for Viterbi, a pretty solid Why USC essay that mentioned my passion to explore and the multi-year internship I have had, and finally an essay on a math website for the Viterbi prompt on what your favorite internet page is or whatever. I know how hard it is to help me based on only this but I am freaking out as USC is my dream college in terms of vibe, location, affordability (NMF therefore automatic half tuition scholarship), and much more. CS at Viterbi seems out of question due to the C in physics but mathematics at Dornsife still seems possible if they are nice about the mid-year report. Any predictions, ways to improve my chances, etc? Thanks in advance guys!
Also, since I most likely will be deferred to the March admission cycle, there will be time for me to retake the ACT/SAT before admissions looks at my application again. Do you guys think a 33-34 or 1500-1540 on the SAT would help my odds at all? Hopefully this is the case because over winter break I can absolutely spend a lot of time working on my scores for the first time and make massive improvements. I also have adderall for the first time which helps me stay concentrated during tests, particularly pace-oriented reading ones like the ACT. What about if I improve my grades and show USC as well? I was thinking that, if I were to be rejected, I would pay the fee for my admission to be re-looked at and send a letter from my Physics teacher, counselor, or myself that explains how much my grades have improved along with proof.