please chance me!

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Southern California
1

<p>copying and pasting this fromj what I just said on the UCLA board</p>

<p>I'm nearing the end of my junior year. Although Berkeley was originally my first choice, I've found a number of other universities I believe I'd like such as Hawaii Pacific University, University of Southern Cal, UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara, and UCLA. </p>

<p>Caucasian female OOS</p>

<p>SAT: 640 Math, 680 Reading, 670 Writing= 1990 <em>considering retaking, input would be appreciated</em></p>

<p>Weighted GPA is around 4.4 so far, unweighted is 3.75</p>

<p>As many AP classes as I can</p>

<p>9th grade: Straight As, all requisites for freshman with Honors classes</p>

<p>10th grade:
Chemistry: A/B
English 10H: B/A
Micro/Macro Econ 2AP: B/A
European History AP: B/B
Algebra 2H: B/B
French 3: A/A
Weight Training/Computer App.: A/A</p>

<p>11th grade
Physics H: B/A
Precalculus: A/A
English 11AP: A/A
Anatomy: A/A
Bio 2AP: B/A
US History AP: B/A
French 4: A/A</p>

<p>12th:
Physics 2AP
Drama
Community Service/Sociology 1
French 5AP (finally hits the accredited level)
Calc BC AP
English 12AP
US Goverment AP</p>

<p>My ECs are OKAY in my opinion. NHS, Girl Scouts since 1st grade, including Counselor-In-Training last summer and actual counselor this whole summer. I'm in my school's Gay Straight Alliance, have decent volunteer at a thirft store and animal shelter even though I started them only this year, ACLU (dunno if that counts), and a few other little things</p>

<p>My essays should be pretty good. I've been told I'm an excellent writer, though I believe I'm mediocre. Also, I'm preparing for the SAT IIs in june and 3 AP tests in May</p>

<p>I know CC standards are generally high, but if anyone could judge me as well as they know how, I'd appreciate it</p>

2

<p>SAT is a little low for USC, everything else looks strong. Quick tip though, calling USC "Southern Cal" is somewhat frowned upon, though I'm sure you didn't do that on purpose. :)</p>

3

<p>great, thanks! I can change my SAT, but I was worried about the GPA, possibly since I'm used to measuring it by the stupid UC GPA, which makes it like 3.9. And thanks for the tip so I don't sound like a moron if I go ;-)</p>

4

<p>maybe I'm a complete jerk for bumping this but I'm curious if anyone else has input...</p>

5

<p>Since most of the decisions came out last week, you have a lot of stats to compare with yours- check out the top threads right now. You never know for sure, of course, but everything looks good, esp. if you can bring up your SAT. Pull out some killer essays and you will have a good chance.</p>

6

<p>You are looking good!....Try to bump up the SAT's (Kaplan, Princeton review course maybe)...get some kind of hook with your EC's...try to tie them to your major...why you want the major you want..make sure your essay works around that same subject...write it...rewrite it...and then just to be sure rewrite it again......show some passion and make sure whatever college is reading your essay somehow the get the idea that their particular college is perfect for you.....good luck....you've got a great shot!</p>

7

<p>the major thing freaks me out... I'm completely undecided</p>

8

<p>i'm sorry.. after all those 2100+ SAT I's, 3.7 unweighted kids with 6+ AP's got rejected yesterday, I really can't chance you for USC anymore...</p>

<p>I don't know what the school wants.</p>

<p>I understand you're worried but please try to understand that 30% of this whole college admission thing is a crapchute.. try ur best to not have your heart set on USC like I did!</p>

9

<p>I understand since I saw that disturbing thread too. It is weird, which is why I decided not to set my heart only on cal. My mom disagrees with me and she bet me 2000 dollars that I'll get into all 6 colleges I apply to.</p>

10

<p>You probably do not have siblings who have applied to school recently if your mom made a bet like that. Do the best you can , raise those SAT scores and pick some safe schools that you REALLY like. In these times, many kids are ending up in the so-called safety school. Most important, enjoy high school. If nothing else, these statistics should show you there is no guarantee that if you are the "perfect" student you will get in where you deserve.</p>

11

<p>Your SAT scores are decent for the schools you're applying to, but I'd highly advise retaking them if you think you can do better. Your GPA is respectable, especially in light of the number of honors and AP classes you have taken. Your EC's are generic and don't tell all that much about your interests since they cover so many different things, but at least they show involvement. Don't cut yourself short in this department: anything you have done should be mentioned, and you should focus on what kind of impact you have had on the club/organization and also what impact the club/organization has had on you and your academic and extracurricular pursuits.</p>

<p>I would take your mom up on her $2000 bet. I don't want to sound like a jerk, but there's really nothing in your application that makes you a surefire standout, and college admissions are getting tougher every year.</p>

<p>Make sure your essays are amazing and show your passions and interest in the school. Also, make sure that you get recommendations from at least 2 teachers who know you well and want to write you a good recommendation to help your chances.</p>

<p>All-in-all, I'd say you're a "fit" for USC. Pulling your SAT scores up to 2100 or better would definitely help in making you stand out a bit more, but I think your chances are fairly decent. </p>

<p>Sorry if I sound like a jerk, but you asked for opinions. I know it's nice to hear everyone say you've got a great chance, and that's the beautiful thing about this forum: it's so supporting, but I just thought I'd keep it real. College admission can be a fickle mistress.</p>

12

<p>oh yeah, I know! I'm pretty much counting on 2k when all my college acceptance/rejections come. My mom says she doesn't see why any school would reject me and that I shouldn't even be worrying at all, but I know she's in for a major surprise. hell, I'll be glad to get into one of my top 3 (Berkeley, UCLA, and USC). It used to be the UCSD and UCSB were my safties, but now their acceptance rates are going down too. So I guess Hawaii Pacific is my only true safety</p>

<p>Thanks for being real, I appreciate it a lot! I find CC pretty discouraging most of the time but granted this board is a million times less brutal than the cal board where people with a 4.4 UC GPA, many deeply involved ecs, a 2250 SAT, are told they're a reach (true thread)</p>

<p>I'm thinking my hook will be either being a counselor this summer, if anything really cool happens, or my brother's autism. I'm a little worried about recs since I haven't formed GREAT relations with any one teacher. Most of them have liked me, but nothing out of the ordinary. I'm definitely retaking the SATs, not because, like a lot of people here, I think anything less than a 2200 is despicable, but because I think I could do better</p>

13

<p>Haha. I remember my parents thought the same thing.</p>

<p>"What are you talking about? You're worrying about nothing, you're going to get into all 3 of the ivies you applied to and Stanford and MIT."</p>

<p>2 rejects, 1 wait-list, and 2 acceptances later, they weren't so confident. I still don't understand how admissions at those schools work, but I'm glad to be done with them. All that's left now is to choose between USC and UChicago and then I can relax the rest of my senior year.</p>

<p>Granted that I don't know much about the UC system, but anyone with those stats would likely be a "fit-slight reach" at worst, and that's only because I know that the UC system prefers high test scores and GPAs to people who are actually qualified in terms of ECs and personal characteristics. I find that unfortunate, to be honest, which is why I chose not to apply to any of the UC's... or state schools in general with the exception of UIUC, which was my safety. USC has a much more holistic approach to admission, which is why I think that you'd be closer to a "fit" rather than a "fit-reach" assuming you can make yourself stand out a bit on your application and possibly get your test scores up.</p>

<p>It should also be noted that being called a "fit" for any of the schools of USC's caliber does not mean you're guaranteed to get in. It means you're going to have to put effort into your application so that they see the kind of hard working individual you are, and let your character permeate throughout the entire application.</p>

14

<p>congrats on your acceptances! That's pretty good</p>

<p>The thing I love about UCs is I know the essay questions "How I've taken advantage of my academic opportunities", though, is one I'm pretty clueless on. The most annoying thing is the way the calculate GPA. If I had taken study hall in place of Euro History AP last year, and taken 2 non-credit classes (like lab assistant) in place of AP classes I scored a B in first semester of this year, it would be significantly higher!</p>