<p>I was wondering what the minimum GPA you saw someone get into USC with?
I am asian, go to a very competitive southern california public school (dog eat dog, no joke) and have a 3.61UW and 4.0W GPA. Yeah, gasps all around for that horrible gpa. But senior year I got straight A's (with the exception of Calculus) and I am hoping USC admissions takes notice. My SAT is 2230, and I have 4 SAT2s all above 750. My extra curic is great great great.</p>
<p>So.... has anyone with my kind of "low" GPA (for an Asian, and as a College Confidential user) gotten into USC? Any Asians (just so I have more of an accurate idea)?</p>
<p>Your GPA is below the average of uw3.8 (last year's) and your SAT is quite above the average and you've got great SAT2s. Be sure to send in your midyear grades which will have an effect.
I know a friend of my D's who got in with a 3.65 and with around a 2080 SAT (can't remember exact but under 2100), Asian, 8 APs, competitive public.</p>
<p>goodatlife, I think you look pretty good here. Stay calm. :) Your SATs are all very good (for USC, for this high flying crowd on cc, for anywhere!) and in addition, your GPA will be considered in context with the rigor of your HS (USC keeps track of which schools are, indeed, truly rigorous and which may be grade-inflated). Since you go to a "very competitive" school, this will be in your favor.</p>
<p>For many students, one of the great things about USC is they offer so many substantial merit scholarships. For others, who jdon't get that early admit and invitation to interview for Trustee or Pres, for whatever reason (and who can say what those intangibles end up being), it can hurt a lot to see others getting such good news while they remain in limbo. That's where sites this this one can be more pain than gain, imho. Before cc, I doubt most students knew what date the first wave of acceptances were sent, or what that even meant. Sigh. So just try to hang in there. I think you will do just fine.</p>
<p>madbean, how do they tell if a school is "grade-inflated"? My school has tons of smart people, at least 50 out of 300 with above a 4.0, and the highest gpa is like 4.7, but the classes are very rigorous. We just have a lot of intelligent people at my school. Will USC think that my school is grade-inflated because of this?</p>
<p>There is no minimun gpa. Yes, SC likes high SAT scores. But, especially in the arts, if you show them something special (and I am not commenting on your gpa or other stats, that is for the adcom) you have a chance no matter what your gpa. (And I mean something really special, not...I hung my pictures in the garage for a private art show type of thing). Admissions people are not stupid. They know all their high schools and how competitive (or not) the individual schools are. So, they will take your school into their decision.</p>
<p>SKR- as long as others have applied to USC from your school, USC knows your high school. USC actually REALLY knows those high schools with profiles like yours. They have made it very clear that they will evaluate your GPA in relation to the strength of your personal class schedule and to your school's profile. </p>
<p>(sorry madbean, maybe you can put it in other words to reassure SKR!)</p>
<p>The high schools submit a school profile each year, which lists how many As, Bs, etc are given in courses, how many NMFs, and other detailed statistics. Truly rigorous schools will give a true range of grades, not topheavy with As, and the breakdown will show a real spread like-- 15%: A, 20%: A-, 20%: B+, 20%: B, 15: B- and on down. Inflated schools may show 50% or more in the A and A- range. USC and all selective universities also know when a lot of kids from a particular school get A's in many APs, but often score 2-3s on the AP exam, while at other high schools kids are lucky to get a B or B+ in APs, but many score 5s. In the first example, over the course of many years of observation, adcoms may suspect grade inflation at that school, or that the level of AP instruction isn't the same there as it is at schools with lower grades given, but higher AP scores. They also know the "culture" of certain schools, where a neighborhood may be filled with college-educated parents and highly motivated students and they would expect a higher percentage of those students to do well. That said, great universities go out of their way to look for achieving students from less-advantaged schools and will sometimes admit students with slightly lower SATs, etc, if they believe that student will succeed in college but just hasn't had the benefit of a college-prep type of high school program.</p>
<p>In the end, they can only look at numbers on paper and try to figure out the kids who got lower grades due to being busy with sports and clubs and work commitments, or those who had illness or other family issues, or had slight learning disabilities that just interfered with stellar grades but were avid students, or what. It is really important to write a very strong essay to help the adcoms put your "numbers" into perspective and understand who you really are.</p>
<p>cc4 and madbean...thanks for the input. I have been worried about this too as at my high school, we have many A/A- students but AP scores in the 5's. We also have kids that are accepted every year with my stats (same as above but NOT top 10%). This year due to numbers, I have been really worried so this was really helpfu....I now have a little hope!</p>
<p>I echo all the posters here. USC and most top colleges do know the profiles of most highly competitive high schools. In fact, from what I read, they even note in their files certain AP teachers that are known to be hard.</p>
<p>There is a nice parent on the USC forum here who usually posts to recommend worried students go to their gc and ask to look at their school's scattergram for USC. This is really helpful if your school has had lots of kids apply to USC so there is more data. You can see where the GPA cutoff seems to be. There are always outliers of course. But if your school shows a lot of kids accepted with UW GPAs of 3.6 and above, you should pay attention to that number. There is no way to guarantee what this year's numbers will look like, but it can help to have a realistic assessment of your chances.</p>
<p>Thats exactly what I have been going on, but my gc said we had record numbers apply this year. I really relied on Naviance for guidance this year. Hope it plays out.</p>
<p>so I filled out the online mid year report thing... do I need to send them an official report card thing still? the mid year form by mail? I'm a little confused.</p>
<p>I'm just saying you sound absurd saying 4.0 weighted is bad.
If you don't get accepted that simply is not going to be why.
Plenty of my 2012 classmates had below 4.0s and were accepted. Even some sub-3.5s.</p>
<p>Naviance is a helpful tool, but not a guarantee to predict acceptance. When USC appeared on the scattergram at our high school, the accepted GPA for the year prior to when my son applied, was lower than last year. Last year had a high GPA because there were so many applicants. I suggest that you just put in your applications and wait and see where you are accepted. The waiting period is very difficult but par for the course.</p>
<p>Thanks mdcissp, I know...my gc is very aware of the trends that certain colleges have as well and told me that USC is on a rapid upward trend...so just have to wait and see.</p>
<p>why is everyone on this website so insane?
everything everyone says is exaggerated.
many of the people i know who have been accepted to usc last year had a 3.8 weighted and like 3.3-3.4 uw and sat scores near 1800</p>
<p>i mean they didnt get those huge scholarships...but they still got accepted. i would be happy with just an acceptance</p>