- Is there anyway to get recognized for taekwondo, or can it just help me when applying next year? (3rd Degree, Instructor, won tournament, 14 years experience)
- Is there anyway to increase my chances, if my uncle is an engineer there and his daughter attends there currently?
- I got accepted into Discover Engineering for Summer@USC, will attending this help my chances, since I am planning to major in Computational Mathematics/Math/Physics&CS (Which are all in Dornsife)?
- Any other advice from anyone!
- Chance me please!
Objective:
SAT: 2120 (CR-660, M-800, W-660 Essay:10) CR+M (1460)
SAT II: 740 Math II, 710 Physics
UC GPA (Capped at 8 Honors) -4.0
9-11 UW- 3.68
9-11 W- 4.16
10-11 UW GPA- 3.69
10-11 W GPA (Uncapped)- 4.23
UPWARD Trend:
Freshman (8 A’s 4 B’s)
Sophomore (6 A’s 4 B’s 2 C’s)
Junior (13 A’s)
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 Spanish Literature
AP Psychology
AP Statistics
Major Awards: None are major, but OCMC 5th place (math competition for my county).
Extracurriculars:
Summer@USC Summer Camp
CSF (3 Years)
Key Club (3 Years)
Spanish NHS
Technology Director- Spanish Club
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
Technology Director-Spanish Club
Love 2 Read (Library Reading Program)
Teen Advisory Board at Library
AP Scholar With Distinction
600+ Community service hours
@“Georgia Girl” @menloparkmom @madbean @CADREAMIN Sorry to disturb you guys, but I realized that you guys have offered great advice for others, is there anyway you could answer any of my questions please?
if my uncle is an engineer there and his daughter attends there currently?
it would help only slightly
I got accepted into Discover Engineering for Summer@USC, will attending this help my chances,
again it may help
Any other advice from anyone!
STUDY over the summer and take the SAT again- try for above 2300. that will greatly increase your chances.
your AP test results will not be looked upon favorably. especially Physics
find safety schools tom apply to
DROP the AP statistics class- it is a waste of time.
DROP AP spanish- you have already proven that you understand Spanish
Take a class that will be fun for you.
Give yourself a FREE period to Bone up on Physics , do other homework, sleep in nd write college applications instead.
breathe.
Wow, thanks for even including me in that amazing group of posters, I am just trying to keep up with them most of the time. 
Anyway, I too would question AP Statistics as your senior year math when you are looking at those majors. I have a future non-STEM major that may take AP Stats instead of AP Calc, but she is pure liberal arts, not majoring in Computational Math/Math/Physics. Does your school not offer a higher level Calc you haven’t taken, or Differential Equations?
14 years in Taekwondo will be looked at favorably both as a long term commitment and something where you have obviously progressed and advanced.
Avoid watering your application down with too many filler type things and try to put together a cohesive package with things that meant a lot to you include the things you learned a lot from. When you can show/describe activities that influenced you and describe how they shaped you into the person you are (through essays or activity description) that is way more impressive than listing 600 generic community service hours. That makes the reader have questions rather than answers and you don’t want to do that.
Discover Engineering will be good because it may excite you even more about USC and that will be reflected in your app. Uncle and daughter - my guess is everyone is six degrees from someone at USC, so don’t see that doing much.
If I think of anything else, will reply again later - good luck, you will have a great application, but when it comes to USC, always have a B plan. Heck, I would even tell Gandhi the same thing, they can be a bit unpredictable with their holistic review!
@menloparkmom @CADREAMIN First off, thanks for the very helpful responses! So I have taken AP Calc AB, so next year I am planning on taking AP Calc BC and AP Stats(since it’s very easy at my school). I want to have a full 6 classes since my counselor said it is “frowned upon” by colleges. So is that something I should pursue or take another class? Also I am not completely sure if I want to major in math or engineering so I might switch after my first semester at USC, so I am applying as a math major since I have heard it’s easier to get in for.
One more question being, does USC care about class rank? Since they do not publish a common data set I’m not sure.
take 6 classes if you must-- but drop the AP statistics as it makes your application look like you are trying to “impress” admins with meaningless AP classes.
Trust me- they WON’T be impressed that you took AP STAT. They KNOW it to be an easy class.
Take a NON AP class for FUN.
re Class rank- Most top colleges them because 1- 50% of applicants schools dont rank, 2- a lot of “fluff” classes can raise the “rank” of students, and 3- they have their own method of calculating GPA’s.
@menloparkmom “Most colleges what them” I am confused what you meant there, but I should take AP Calculus BC and another class, and you think having 11 vs 12 AP classes won’t make a difference, is this correct? Thanks for your help!
“you think having 11 vs 12 AP classes won’t make a difference, is this correct?”
I KNOW it wont make a difference.
In Fact Stanford, Harvard and 81 other colleges are trying to get the message out that there that the idea of “the students with the most APs win” is a false premise . They want students with AUTHENTIC real interests in the classes they CHOOSE to take.
read this exert from the link below
“We want to be clear that this is not a case of “whoever has the most APs wins.” Instead, we look for thoughtful, eager and highly engaged students”
http://admission.stanford.edu/basics/selection/prepare.html
most top colleges IGNORE INDIVIDUAL class rankings - where students are ranked #1, 2, 3, etc- because 50 % of their applicants come from private schools that DONT rank individual students.
Instead they figure out who is in the top decile, quintile, etc , etc, by recalculating applicants GPA’s .
@menloparkmom So my school says that I am “2 & 748” for the decile rankings, but I according to my counselors I am in the top 12%, so how would that affect me, would it just place me in the top 20%? Also, if my class rank changes after I apply to top 10%, would I be able to change it on my application?
do NOT fixate or even pay attention to your rank! it will accomplish nothing.
Focus on your grades. Focus on taking classes that interest you.