<p>Hello,</p>
<p>I am currently a freshman and physiology and neuroscience major at UCSD, looking to transfer to USC. Here is a little snippet of why:</p>
<p>When I chose University of California at San Diego, I thought I had found a university perfectly tailored to my desired course of study. Coming from a small, independent high school that emphasized a well-rounded college preparatory curriculum, I was excited to attend a large research-centric university where I could fully develop my interest in the sciences. I believed I would be content with setting aside my appreciation for the broader liberal arts to pursue a neuroscience major. I thought that UCSD’s stellar reputation in the sciences would assure me the same dynamic teaching and intellectually stimulating classroom environments that I’d found in high school. I also assumed that UCSD’s decentralized six-college structure would reduce the bureaucratic friction that characterizes most large institutions. Unfortunately, my assumptions quickly proved to be false. </p>
<p>During my first quarter I jumped into UCSD with both feet. I planned out a 5-year course of study toward a master’s degree, actively participated in the Biological Sciences Student Association mentor-mentee program, and pledged Sigma Chi fraternity. But it quickly became clear that I’d naively set my academic expectations too high. I encountered brutal competition for required science classes, yet received little support from UCSD’s army of administrators or from professors. I also found the typical lecture format to be narrow in scope, cursory in depth and detail, and lacking the student-teacher interaction that creates meaningful discourse and promotes mastery. Meeting frequently with my professors during office hours I recognize their passion for their subject matter, but the majority are researchers first and teachers second.</p>
<p>I’ve also realized my shortsightedness in dismissing my appreciation for the liberal arts. Surprisingly, I found my freshman GE course -- described as “a multidisciplinary, issues-oriented, writing-intensive three-quarter social science and humanities sequence” -- to set a low bar for what constitutes multidisciplinary study, critical thinking and effective writing. This quarter I added an upper level political science course to see whether an advanced humanities class might offer a better experience. So far it hasn’t, but I have kept it as a fifth class because I enjoy the course reading and writing requirements. </p>
<p>Against this backdrop of UCSD experiences, I made three visits to USC and witnessed a dramatically different approach to the ‘large university experience’. On my first trip, during an October game weekend, it took me only a few hours to understand what it means to be part of the Trojan family. Everyone was completely covered in Cardinal and Gold; students were perched on Traveler, dipping their feet in the fountains and kicking the light post for good luck. The almost rabid sense of community spirit and sheer happiness was contagious, and incomparable to UCSD or any school I had previously experienced. </p>
<p>I started to investigate USC online, and was surprised when my research revealed an academic culture that offers strength in the sciences yet is also geared toward an interdisciplinary liberal arts education. Sitting in on IR101 during my second visit to USC, I was immediately impressed by the breadth and depth of content and the active participation that Professor Starr fostered, even in a 150-student GE class. Such energetic discourse and emphasis on learning is something that I experience only during office hours at UCSD, yet I now understand it to be the norm at USC. Fulfilling my GE requirements with classes like Professor Starr’s -- that emphasize interdisciplinary subject content and actively develop critical thinking and communication skills -- would add enormous value to my education, rather than just being another hoop to jump through toward a science degree. I’ve learned a lot about myself in the last five months, and am positive USC offers the perfect environment for me to balance my love for the sciences with my broader interest in humanities.</p>
<p>Here is my HUGE issue... my grades first and second quarter have been abysmal. My college GPA is currently 3.3. I thought I was going to finish out last quarter strong - I had all A's and one B+ going into finals - however they clearly did not go too well. I am still getting to the bottom of my mistakes. In addition, I am making average progress towards my major and have completed the majority of my GE requirements.</p>
<p>I finished out high school with a 3.85 GPA, and a 28 on the ACT. I have two letters of recommendation from professors in high school, and am about to ask my math 10B professor for a recommendation as well. I would love some brutally honest opinions about my chances for admission, Thank you.</p>