<p>I was just wondering if any NMF's have been rejected from USC thus far, or have not heard back yet. I live in Texas and haven't received anything in the mail yet but my GPA is a bit on the low side.</p>
<p>UW GPA: 3.53
W GPA: 5.12 / 6.0
SAT1: 2320</p>
<p>Has anyone heard of USC rejecting a National Merit Finalist? I'm thinking they might because they have to give a half tuition scholarship...</p>
<p>Please reply!</p>
<p>USC actively recruits NMF with their 1/2 tuition scholarship. They do not “have” to give 1/2 tuition to NMF, they CHOOSE to give 1/2 tuition to NMF because they want them to attend. The number of NMF who enter with the Fall class has a direct impact on the rankings, and USC has worked to rise in those rankings. If they did not want to give 1/2 tuition scholarships to NMF, they would stop offering that particular scholarship.</p>
<p>You appear to be a wonderfully capable student but, as you say, your GPA is a bit on the low side for a very selective university like USC. If you do not receive good news, it will not be because you are NMF. In fact, being NMF would be something that would make USC take a much more favorable look at your GPA.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>I have shockingly similar stats to you (3.52, 2300) and am a National Merit Finalist. I haven’t been rejected yet, but I am actively anticipating receiving the small envelope today or tomorrow. I don’t think we are being rejected BECAUSE we are NMF’s, but I do think that it probably doesn’t help us as much as we (or at least I) may have thought. I can see being on an admissions committee and being a little wary of giving boatloads of money to a kid who you think might slack off…</p>
<p>yeah, I really regret not applying myself in my first two years of high school. Good luck to us both LameUsername! What area are you from btw? and what school did you apply to? Status Progression?</p>
<p>I applied CLAS Psychology</p>
<p>Fall Grades–>Forwarded 3/24—>reviewed on saturday—>acted upon sunday</p>
<p>Same situation here - 2350, weaker GPA, and waiting for a letter.</p>
<p>
If it is current public USC policy to give 1/2 tuition to all finalists, there’s no way they’re going to admit a finalist and not give them the scholarship. A minority of finalists might not be up to the standard of most applicants that receive 1/2 tuition. In that case, some applicants who might ordinarily be admissible could be rejected becuase they are not a good value. I have no way of knowing if USC makes decisions in this way but it would be rational.</p>
<p>And how does NMF help USC in the rankings?</p>
<p>Have you heard of any other NMF applicants who have already received rejections?</p>
<p>It’s really only worrisome becuase I applied back in November (assume you did too if you expect to get a scholarship). You’d think they would start at the top of the pile with the people who got semi-deferred back in January/February.</p>
<p>Yeah I applied in November. This is so sad…I really had my heart set on usc…</p>
<p>lockn, what I am saying is if they did not want NMF, they would not offer a NMF scholarship to all NMF admitted. They could simply pick and choose after you applied. USC chooses to offer that scholarship.</p>
<p>First, let me say that you are all well-qualified applicants who would be wonderful additions to any university. I try not to make negative posts, but I do not like to see unfounded, untrue rumors being spread.</p>
<p>The suggestion that applicants are being rejected because they are NMF goes beyond ridiculous. If you look at the freshman profile for last year, <a href=“http://www.usc.edu/admission/undergraduate/private/0910/FreshmanProfile2009.pdf[/url]”>http://www.usc.edu/admission/undergraduate/private/0910/FreshmanProfile2009.pdf</a> you will see that the UNweighted GPA average for the entire applicant pool of 35,753 applicants was 3.5. So in that applicant pool, approximately 17,876 applicants had a GPA above 3.5.</p>
<p>It is far more likely that it was your GPA that had a negative impact on your application.</p>
<p>bump</p>
<p>-sorry but this is really important!-</p>
<p>Has ANYONE heard of NMF getting rejected?</p>
<p>lockn - # of NMF in Fall freshman class is a rankings factor.</p>
<p>My son is a NMF…hasn’t heard yet</p>
<p>Party,</p>
<p>I live in Washington state. I applied to the School of Theater BA, and my status progression was forwarded like…a month and a half ago, being reviewed two or three days ago, and then acted upon yesterday.</p>
<p>You say that you slacked off in your first years of high school. Did you show a lot of improvement? USC really likes to see people who for example get one more A each semester. They want to see a progressive improvement. Junior year is also the most heavily examined? Did you do well that year? Also in any year, did you get less than a B?
I’m not sure about this, but a family friend who is a former admissions officer at USC told us that they hardly ever calculated GPAs and that for the most part, they simply looked at your transcript very carefully looking for improvement, as well as class rigor. Some might say this is too subjective, but I tend to like it because a number doesn’t really say much, it doesn’t tell you the entire story. And they might have very different decisions from when they don’t know what your GPA is to when they do, even if they have examined the transcript.</p>
<p>Also have a son who is a NMF and he is still waiting to hear from USC. However, he does have 2 friends who received their acceptances last week. He also has a weaker GPA.</p>
<p>I got rejected and I am a National Merit Finalist :</p>
<p>I’m really sorry to hear that 
Are you thinking about appealing? Where else are you considering attending? And do you mind posting your status progression/stats? Where do you live and when was the postmark/receive date?</p>
<p>That doesn’t sound like good news for the rest of us either I’m keeping my fingers crossed for everyone who hasn’t heard yet!</p>
<p>4.33 W/3.55 UW
National Merit Finalist
2250 SAT/35 ACT
800 on SATII Math, Chemisty and US history
Vice President of 2 clubs, Plenty of Awards for FBLA and other clubs.
300+ volunteer hours
Interned at Boeing this past summer
Full IB Diploma</p>
<p>and yeah im going to appeal, and the only other in state school i got was uci, i live in socal and it was postmarked the 27th received 29th</p>
<p>Okay wow then I pretty much have no chance! :'(</p>