I am a junior that was recently accepted into the Summer@USC program for Discover Engineering. USC is by far my number 1 choice, and I am wondering what I can do there to increase my chances of getting in. Are there any particular things I should look out for during my time at USC? Also, is there any feedback from people who have gone to this camp and have gotten into the school for undergrad? Below are my stats that I am going into Summer@USC with:
Objective:
SAT: 2120 (CR-660, M-800, W-660 Essay:10)
SAT II: 740 Math II, 710 Physics
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 10% (Not sure exactly how I made it LOL, maybe course rigor?)
AP (12 AP’s total (rigorous):
Chemistry (3)
European History (3)
Calc AB (5)
Physics 1 (3) (LOL)
Spanish Language and Culture (4)
US History (4)
Senior Year Courses:
AP Literature
AP Gov
AP Physics C
AP Computer Science
AP Psychology
AP Calculus BC
Major Awards: None are major, but OCMC 5th place (math competition for my county).
Subjective:
Extracurriculars:
Summer@USC Summer Camp- Discover Engineering Course
Co-Secretary of a club at my school
CSF (3 Years)
Key Club (3 Years)
Taekwondo 3rd Degree Black Belt (13+ Years)
1st Place Cal State Open Taekwondo Tournament
Junior Leadership Team for Taekwondo
Taekwondo Instructor Experience (200 Hours)
Volunteer as Taekwondo Instructor (50 Hours)
Intern at Social Security Office
OC Math Circle Competition-5th Place
Love 2 Read (Library Reading Program)
Teen Advisory Board at Library
AP Scholar With Distinction
600+ Community service hours
You asked 1 question…
“Are there any particular things I should look out for during my time at USC?”
Summer programs are more desired to provide an educational experience or exposure to new areas of learning. You can think how to incorporate the experience into your essay(s). Few provide an opportunity to build a relationship with a professor that can turn into a Letter of Recommendation; but often the Summer Staff are not so senior so won’t carry much LoR weight. Hence, see my first answer. For USC and many other schools, improving your score will not only improve your chances of admission, but also significant merit dollars. (Look up the USC Trustees Scholarship).the bigger scholarship doors usually start to open at 2260 or 34 ACT.
Do not get sucked into thinking it is easy to get scholarships, Trustees or otherwise. One problem with this forum is it makes it sounds like USC easily hands out buckets of money and they do not. That gpa will knock you out of contending for the biggest scholarships. Also many science have AP Calc BC in junior year and multivariable in senior year. 12 APs is pretty common for higher end kids, but still good, just not a stand out. No offense, but would rather you be realistic than count on getting big money. So many kids are misled and then have gigantic disappointment on scholarships and merit aid. There are kids with a 4.6 and 12 APs that don’t even get accepted. So be real and have a backup plan.
If you are majoring in Physics, I would bring up the SAT II score in Physics, since you got a 3 on the AP test too. Not required or totally necessary, but would look good. 600 hours of community service means zip if you can’t back it up with details.
Enjoy the camp, don’t try to suck up, just get what you can from it and it will be great. Going to the camp is not tied to getting admitted, but it doesn’t hurt. Otherwise, everybody would be applying to summer camps at USC, the school needs to make money in the summer too.
@blueskies2day I already know I’m out of the running for the top scholarships, but I thought I would have a decent shot at Deans. I am not sure what major I want to apply to yet, but I will definitely try to get my sat physics up! Thanks for your opinion!
@mathfan21 Ya, that wasn’t targeted at you, I just worry when posters tell kids to check out all the scholarships without the warning. Wasn’t trying to be harsh, just didn’t want you putting all your eggs in a very uncertain and holistic USC basket. The camp will be a nice addition to your app for sure. The black belt is a great achievement that shows long term commitment. Would be good if your activities also reflect your major, maybe your volunteer hours tie to it? Watch a long list of watered down activities, it is nice if there is some kind of theme between some of them that you can tie together in your app. Many can list CSF for example - did you actually do anything with it or just pay the fee and show up to an occasional meeting? So rather than have 20 of those, it is better to have a couple that show commitment or value in some other form to who you are - does that make sense?
@blueskies2day Thanks for the response! That makes sense to me about how I have to show what I contributed to the club, and not just write it. Do you think I have a good chance at the Dean’s Scholarship, or what are the criteria for that?
MathFan21, you should know that any AP scores below 4 or 5 do not earn credits at USC, so they are not likely to be impressive in the competitive pool of applicants. Unfortunately, adcoms at selective universities are concerned about HS’s that offer lots of APs, award A’s to many students (which inflate students’ GPAs) but then appear not rigorous enough to prepare their students to excel in the AP exams. This sometimes translates to adcoms discounting the gpas from those grade-inflated HSs. In this case, your standardized test scores will be a little more important because high scores will show you are at the level of other admittees. This is particularly true since your desired major (Physics) depends on high proficiency in math and other applicants may show a more competitive scores.
And since to a great degree, academic majors/Schools at USC depend on GPA + scores to compare/nominate merit award candidates (arts majors also emphasize talent/honors/auditions), it also takes a really amazing essay to show how you’ve exhibited leadership/ handled hardship or other outside of school accomplishments to be offered a merit award. The Dean’s goes to students with almost exactly the same qualities as those who get to interview for Trustees/Presidential.
Attending the summer program can be useful to see if you do, indeed, love majoring in Physics. You can not count on anyone in the summer program being involved in admissions decisions, but you never know.
@madbean I think my school is known for heavy grade deflation in AP Chemistry and AP Euro, since the teachers are very tough, and I took both of those classes in sophomore year. As far as getting in, I think I can apply as another major if physics doesn’t give me the best probability to get in.
I did the summer at USC program last summer. I did the program in hopes it would increase my chance of being admitted as an undergrad. Unfortunately, I applied as a freshman for fall 2016 and was rejected. I’ll post my stats as a comparison below. The program itself was very fun. Class was interesting and engaging. You will meet lots of people from around the world and make some pretty awesome friends. I would highly recommend the program to anyone looking for a fun summer.
Here are my stats:
ACT: 28 composite score
GPA: 3.6 uw (out of 4.0)
APs: (I didn’t send any of my scores)
English Lit
English Lang (4)
US History (3)
Environmental Science
Psych.(4)
Also, during the program, the USC admissions department holds admission events (Q and A type of thing) and will help you out with any questions and give tips for the application process.
