<p>Hey! I know I've posted before but I'm back with updated stats. This is my last chances thread because everything is pretty much set for my application, besides a couple of retakes. I've even finished my essays I'm so ready to apply. Thanks! :)</p>
<p>Stats:
-Rising Senior, Female, Hispanic, Southern California
-GPA: 3.75 UW, 4.05 W
-My school hasn't really told us our rank but I'm pretty sure the top 10%
-Competitive Catholic School APs:
Spanish Language - 5
Next year I have 4: Spanish Literature, AP 3D (Ceramics), Government, Literature</p>
<p>Testing:
-SAT: 1910 (yucky)
-ACT: 29 (I liked the ACT alot better. Probably going to retake for a 30+)
-Subject Tests:
Spanish: 740
Literature: 640 (retaking probably)
US History: 680</p>
<p>ECS (My main ones):
-Girl Scouts (12 years): Gold, Silver and Bronze Award. I earned the Gold Award by working with the Ronald McDonald House.
-Soccer (11 years): Played in a club environment (not school). Got to travel to England to play. It was pretty tight. I stopped Sophmore year.
-Guitar (5 years): It's fun. I'm not amazingly good or anything but I enjoy it
-Volunteering (4 years): I dedicate days I have off to going to a school with a lot of latino children and helping out with the kindergarten classes and I go to project success about 2 times a week. By far my favorite EC, I love those kids so much </p>
<p>Awards and Honors:
-Gold, Silver, Bronze Award (I already said that)
-Presidential Service Award
-National Honors Society, National Art Honors Society, CSF and all that jazz</p>
<p>Work Experience:
-30 hours a week with a preschool program as a student worker (summer)</p>
<p>Essay:
About getting in touch with my Bolivian culture It's a work in progress lol</p>
<p>Extra:
-I am Latina (Bolivia/El Salvador). Parents are immigrants and I'm going to be the first in the family to go to college. I learned to speak English in kindergarten and 1st grade.
-200+ community service hours
-Going to major in Sociology. I want to be a elementary teacher (a lot of ECs centered on kids!)
-USC is my FIRST choice. I wrote a little note in the Optional space saying that and that I hope to be a Trojan next year! :D</p>
<p>Hi Gabs. I think you have a good shot. Your grades look good and I agree, your test scores could be higher. Try to prep (on your own, with a test prep guide if you like) and retake. </p>
<p>Your essay may be awesome, but by reading your post I'd say one area of passion is working with those cool kids. Since your goal is to be a school teacher, have you thought about writing an essay about what it means to work with children who are learning English since you had that same experience some years back? You could weave your Bolivian heritage in as well. Just a thought.</p>
<p>Thanks! My EC essay is on the kids and I could definitely weave in a bit more about my activities with them into my essay. thanks for the suggestion :)</p>
<p>I don't understand why you want to major in Sociology. Why don't you apply to the USC school of Education since you want to teach? Perhaps consider a minor in Sociology or a double major Sociology-Education so that you end up with a teaching credential. I also suggest you either take a lot of practice tests on your own using a test prep book for the SAT/ACT or take a professional test prep class before retaking these tests. I also suggest you might want to find out if USC likes first generation to college children or if it does not make a difference. You might want to investigate the volunteer teaching opportunities near USC and talk about your interest in volunteering to help local children in schools (if this is indeed an interest of yours) to show how you can contribute to the school.</p>
<p>my advice doesn't have to do with your chances, but your app essays...I wrote all mine the summer before applying, went into AP English and ended up rewriting them all. Depends on your class experience, but you may want to refine or edit them with what you learn this year in AP. Just don't send off those essays without letting yourself look at them again a month into your AP English class. =)</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice everyone! :)
I will definitely keep reviewing my essays. Everytime I look at them I change something :)
I am going to do the "pre-teaching" minor that USC offers and I mentioned in my essays about working with the Joint Educational Project and Troy Camp. I will probably look at that more in depth.</p>