<p>from what I know, 15 of every 16 semi-finalists go on to become finalists, which shouldn't be too hard... but on the papers, i noticed that it says a student needs to have consistently high grades throughout high school. my numbers are not very high.... though i received a 225 on my psat, i've only managed a 2120 on my SATs. my unweighted gpa is about 3.7, and I have received c grades in some of my classes (not freshman year too)...will this make me ineligible for not fulfilling the consistent high grades requirement? I am worried.... can I expect to become a finalist?</p>
<p>my essay was decent in my opinion as its author...but on my application, the ec's listed were crunched and looked a bit messy...i don't have nice handwriting and the sucky pen i was using on the last minute additions didn't help...kept dying on me...not to mention a previous pen which seeped through a large portion...gosh as i filled out that application everything seemed to go wrong...i'm very worried...-_- </p>
<p>i'm just a regular student, with modest grades/awards/ec's, would that be enough? nothing state/national awards type of recognition anywhere or anything that make me stand out really... </p>
<p>so...can anyone with similar stats who either was awarded/rejected as a finalist in previous years, please help me understand where i stand? presently, i really would like to go to USC, where i don't really expect to get merit aid from otherwise ...am i hoping for too much? with my record, i'm not sure if i can even get in to USC...</p>