<p>I go to a gifted school in Florida that is ranked in the top 10 in America, but because of this I have a lower GPA. Overall unweighted for all of HS I will have around a 3.3 uw GPA but around 4.0 weighted. I'm a very social and friendly person, and I'm pretty sure I'll have a great interview. I play Varsity Lacrosse, President of school clubs, 100 hours community service, and some great recommendations..</p>
<p>Do I have a shot, or is it just a dream? Thanks for your input!</p>
<p>SAT I and II scores, please.</p>
<p>GPA means nothing out of context. When you say your GPA is 3.3 without giving your class rank, the history of your school sending graduates to USC, or discussing how competitive your school is, I have only a marginally better idea of your chances than if you told me your GPA was Alpha-Epsilon-17. Care to elaborate? Standardized tests?</p>
<p>Well, you can expect USC to consider your sending school, which is excellent and your 3.3 will look better than a less rigorous school's 3.3. But they will look closely at the difficulty of the courses you selected, as that and GPA are the most important criteria for these highly selective colleges. If there is a reason you didn't perform well in the early years, you should ask your GC to include it so they can understand the context of those grades.</p>
<p>Alas, most very selective schools like USC (this year the average GPA for accepted students was 3.8 UW, average SAT was a little over 2100) will have many excellent applicants who have top ECs and good recs, but also have high GPAs and high SATs too. The competition is so tough in these years with high populations of applicants.</p>
<p>Remember, a great essay, a compelling reason for the lower GPA, fabulous SATs or ACTs, and ECs that show true commitment and passion, and even underrepresented minority status can turn this picture around to your favor. Best of luck and work hard on your SAT prep and your first semester grades. USC often asks for 12th grade first semester grades to see if a student is able to keep up and thrive in a bunch of APs.</p>
<p>Well said, madbean.</p>
<p>Well I believe there has only been 1 student sent to USC from my school in the past 2 years, but he received a full scholarship.</p>
<p>What do you want to major in?</p>