Preview chances?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Southern California
1

<p>I'm a junior right now so anything to do with college is pretty significant to me right now. I was wondering, based on the following, what my probable chance of getting into USC (Marshall/Leventhal) would be. I know that I'm not giving near enough information to get accurate feedback but I would still like to know how much harder I will need to work to get into USC.</p>

<p>Grade: 11
Gender: Male
Ethnicity: Asian
School: Pretty/Very competitive public (sends many to Ivies and other top 25 schools)</p>

<p>UW GPA: Around 3.6
SAT: 2200
Schedule: pretty demanding, 4 AP's taken so far</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:</p>

<p>Teens Reaching Out- VP (Club; rated best club on campus, 9, 10, 11)
Fish Club (10, 11)
Uganda Club (11, may hold a position next year)
FBLA (11, club was founded last year)
Marching Band (9, 10, 11, will probably be section leader next year, hopefully an assistant drum major if we need some)
Piano- Certificate of Merit 7, played since I was 7 years old
Taekwondo- black belt, done since I was about 8</p>

<p>Problems:
I did get 2 C+'s 2nd semester of freshman year in honors classes
My sophomore year schedule was a bit easier than I would have liked
I did terribly on my SAT II World History test which I will retake in May</p>

<p>So basically, I'm worried about my GPA and hope that my SAT score lessens the impact of it and my other problems. I guess my extracurriculars are OK. I know that a lot more factors into admission to college but assuming that my essay and recommendations are fine, I did well on the PSAT, and I do well on my SAT II's, do I have a shot?</p>

2

<p>Your GPA isn’t anything to worry about - it’s not that low, especially since it’s unweighted. I think they take weighted GPA’s into consideration. (I’m not sure how they calculate GPA’s; I’m a senior who’s applying)
Your SAT is good. Do well on the Subject Tests. PSAT doesn’t matter unless you’re a NMF. Only thing is, some of your EC’s look like a “laundry list” so make sure you emphasize your interests in them if you wish to report those. Your band and piano EC’s along with taekwondo looks good since you’ve stuck with them for years. Your other ones look almost insignificant; however, if they are important to you try to get leadership roles and do more activities to show that interest. USC’s application has an “activity summary” that allows you to describe each EC - it’s a great way to show them how involved you are with your clubs. Overall, your chances look pretty good already so don’t stress too much, but don’t slack off the rest of the year OR get senioritis.</p>