I got a D my sophomore year in Geometry Advanced due to depression. Can I still get into USC?

Hi. I’m currently a junior in high school doing pretty well (A’s and B’s). However, during my sophomore year (last year), I ended with a D in Geometry Advanced. I was going through extreme depression and was suicidal and in addition to that, I have ADHD and was not on meds so that didn’t help. My GPA is currently a 3.2 UW and a 3.4 W but I can get it up to a 3.5 UW by the time I apply to colleges next year.

I really like USC film school and UCLA. I was wondering if I have any chance of getting into either schools with the D grade from Geometry as well as a C in US History Honors and Financial Literacy (semester course) that I received that year as well. Some of my extracurriculars include: captain of high school volleyball team (captain 1 year, played for 4), started a non-profit organization and volunteered with photography non-profit, have various film and photography awards, have 34 ACT.

Is there any possible way I could get into USC and or UCLA (film major?) Thanks.

USC and UCLA are reaches for most people but their film schools have acceptance rates of around 1%. Your ECs are good. The D and Cs will probably be more of a problem at UCLA, especially since US History is a core and financial literacy is really important. Your GPAs are way too low for both schools, and your ACT doesn’t make up for it, they’d be almost impossible for you. Try looking into schools like Depaul and Emerson, both amazing film schools but not in the T50.

At the end of the day your film portfolio will matter more for film school at UCLA. You better knock it out of the ballpark.