What are my chances for either the Presidential or Trustee Scholarship? This is my dream school and I know I could probably gets the Deans if I’m accepted but 1/4 tuition is nothing at a school like this lol
GPA: 3.87 UW (my school doesn’t weight)
SAT: 2100 superscored
SAT II: 700 US Hisory, 660 Spanish
Awards: National Achievement Semifinalist (will found out if i’m a finalist this month, but not too worried because the vast majority of semifinalist become finalists), World History Scholar Award from school, Department of Spanish Honors Award from school
2 EC’s from math teacher and english teacher (hopefully good), 1 from college counselor
Race: African-American male
State: WA
My CommonApp essay is strong according to multiple people. It’s about traveling to Nigeria for my grandparent’s anniversary (i’m american but my parents were born and raised in nigeria) and getting in touch with my roots while experiencing a different country and seeing for myself how the media is often incorrect about its portrayal of third world countries
EC’s: National Honor Society Spanish tutor for 2 years, Track and field athlete for two years, library volunteer for 3 years, Habitat for Humanity volunteer for 2 years, organized a book drive for an elementary school in my patrilineal village in Nigeria, played piano for church’s youth band, participated in Washington Business Week (career oriented program in Washington State), 34 volunteer hours as a student actor with the Active Police Shooter Response Training session of a local police department (this is what I wrote my extracurricular supplement about), member of school’s yearbook staff for one year
Intended major: Economics (Dornsife College of Letters Arts and Sciences)
Intended minor: International Relations (Dornsife College of Letters Arts and Sciences)
I understand that they require an interview but I’ve heard that it’s very competitive to even get invited to interview so i’m asking for a general idea, perhaps even from those who have received the award
This time of year there are a lot of posts from students hoping for a large scholarship from USC, it seems there is an incorrect perception that USC gives them out like candy. This is not true. They are highly selective and subjective. Thousands apply with a 4.0 and better and great test scores, but it is so much more than that. I think it is easier to see who will not get a scholarship than it is to see who will. But just like @madbeans great post (stickied on this forum) about admissions and how broad the selection criteria is making it impossible for posters to predict, the same applies for scholarships. Also, around the time of interviews, people in the running are understandably excited, but a few will post ad nauseam about their scholarship and/or interviews which can be painful for those that don’t get one. So be prepared - give it your all, be hopeful but count on nothing, and then you won’t be devastated if it doesn’t work out.
@viterbi2014 I have taken all honors and AP classes available since freshman year with the exception of AP Chemistry (I took Physic Honors instead, but even that was higher than the standard for my grade). And I’ve gotten 4s and 5s on all the tests I’ve taken, not that the admissions people would know about my scores
@Homie253 the schools would know about your AP scores because 1) you should have reported them on your common app, and 2) most students applying to top colleges (and who have good scores) send an AP score report to the colleges to improve their chances of admission.
@Cameron121 I sent my AP scores along with my SAT scores upon applying but I didn’t really need to because you normally don’t do that until you’re accepted into a school
@SamRam National Achievement is a different program, but still under the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. It is for high scoring black students on the PSAT, just like there is a National Hispanic thing for hispanics. I scored high but not enough for NMF. When asked about my first choice school, I put USC, but I don’t know whether I would still receive that scholarship because it says that it’s for NMFs. People have told me that I won’t, while others have told me that it’s possible to make exceptions like that because ultimately the school will put money where they want to.
Your stats are great for an African American. On that basis alone, and given USC has very few black male students, you’ll get in and USC should give you a scholarship. My advice: don’t hang out exclusively with other URMs, you’ll be more popular for it, be yourself and find friends with common areas of academic interests.
USCs scholarships are insanely competitive. Many high stats students get don’t get it and some lower stats students do. It’s EXTREMELY holistic. It’s impossible to do a chance me for it. You won’t get it by default though because you are a URM.
I agree with @viterbi2014 . My sons stats were similar but he had stronger ECs and he was just glad to be accepted as a Spring admit. I don’t know if they considered him a URM but he does have a profound hearing loss which he talked about in his essay.
