That’s incredible that almost 39,000 students got their applications in by Dec 1. Very impressive that the USC Admissions Department and counselors were able to get that many applications read and sorted in less than two months. That’s a lot of hard work. Hats off to them!
I was quite fortunate enough to be named a Finalist for the Presidential Scholarship. 1470 SAT and low 4.1 weighted GPA, 3.8 unweighted. Stats were solid in relation to USC, but I’m sure my extracurriculars and essays were what got me in and named a finalist. Showed real passion in my specific field in my essays, interview, and extensive extracurriculars, with over 400 service hours logged in regards to Political Activism, founder and president of a Young Democrats club at my school, etc.
Bottom Line, I think meeting the stats gets you through the door, but passion and dedication in your essays and extracurriculars are what they are really looking for.
@awill109, you are spot on about the bottom line and congrats on being named a Presidential finalist! First, your standardized scores are very strong. Unfortunately in this overly competitive environment that we live in, there is a false and unfortunate judgement sometimes from students or parents who have kids with the proverbial 35 ACT or 1550 plus SAT. You’re doing just fine with a 1470. It’s a great score! Same to you @appleapple123123 regarding your “only 4.07 GPA”. That is an impressive GPA that you worked hard to achieve!
Not all have a “better than you” attitude, but you see it or hear it a little too frequently. “My kid got such and such score and didn’t get in at xyz but should have”… or "that’s great you got in (with a puzzled look) muttering “so and so did not get in to xyz school”, as if surprised someone with lower rank or scores did. The whole point of a holistic approach is to consider what a student is doing apart from getting good grades and standardized tests. Equally important is how well applicants articulate their identity in essays, what is going on outside the classroom, and more. And, it is important to recognize that some students who do not test particularly well are extremely smart, hard working, and successful.
Some students who faced a little adversity by getting a few Bs from a hard teacher, competitive class, or even an unfair grading system, probably built character through taking a few hard knocks in life. While it’s nice to achieve as high a score as possible, grade or overall GPA, it is far from defining who a student is or her/his potential for success. There are plenty of highest scoring students who got into top Ivy League schools and ended up being quite average academically, or not particularly “successful” after college.
Not to take anything away from achieving very high standard scores and GPA in high school. Many who do will be successful. Ultimately it will be up to the student what he/she makes of the opportunities after high school.
@Nomorelurker Thank you very much for the kind words, you made some well thought out points there, specifically in regard to the holistic approach schools take.
Otherwise, is there a USC Class of 2022 Facebook group? Was recently admitted and having trouble finding an official one, thank you very much!
@awill109 I agree. I was recently admitted and am up for the Presidential Scholarship. I would love to join an official USC Class of 2022 Facebook Group.
@awill109 , you are most welcome. As far as FB, I would think there might be a USC Group. This might sound a little contrarian, but I would add some words of advice. For those who were nominated for interviews for Presidential or Trustee scholarships, keep in mind that you are interviewing and have not yet confirmed those awards.
I personally would not recommend over sharing with others who may be lurking on a thread or group, and potentially competing with you for an award. I also suggest not posting too much personal detail about your activities, at least not until you have finished your interview and have confirmed winning that award.
I understand that others may be curious to know your activities or ACT score, but you do not have to answer every question that is asked of you. Later, down the road, if it might be helpful to post something for others, you can decide how much detail you wish to reveal. There is a balance of helping others but at the same time being careful to protect some aspects of privacy.
Are there any USC alumni around who could give tips on how to address the interview phase of this process?
@awill109 @jshep29 There is always a facebook group, but it is up to someone to start it. It seems to really start rolling when March decisions come out. It will certainly post on the Class of 2022 thread when it is up.
My students went to USC with merit and I don’t see the competitive bend to the merit awards the same way @Nomorelurker does. You will get an award or not get an award based on what you have already done and how you present it. You can’t change your ACT score or activities, so it doesn’t matter what anyone else knows about it. Go ahead and start being part of the Trojan Family, everyone wanting to be a Trojan is encouraging of other Trojans. There are plenty of stduents that will share tips with how to do a good interview.
You will find USC very collaborative once you get there as well. Kids know they have made it when they walk in the door, the insecurity of high school is gone and people get out of college what they want.
Also, if you are new here, as in any forum, posters not directly involved with a school are posting based other posts, their research, sometimes with bias, and may have different views than those that have experience with it. Find the people that know the school from experience. You can always click on a user name to see previous posts and their history - telling you where they have been or haven’t been, whether a parent or student or browser.
Has anybody been able to book the interview yet? Is there anything on the portal?
@marylousquires Yes, you can book through the you.usc.edu portal. Sign up for Explore USC on one of the dates offered and they’ll confirm in an email and send an itinerary. The interview happens on Day 2 but, at least for the Presidential Scholarship, you won’t find out the exact time until you get there.
@blueskies2day , @awill109 and @jshep29, I agree that collaboration is great thing and also encourage starting to make potential Trojan friends at Explore USC and even before the interview. However, I advise caution with any social media or public forum. It’s kind of like an email that you can’t take back, although this forum allows a time limit to edit a post.
Some are more comfortable than others with putting out their whole history, scores, activities… and while it is true that one cannot change them, I disagree about sharing all without considering the context. Bottom line is go with what is comfortable. It is a competition in the sense that specific departments have a limited number of awards. Just sayin.
Along that same line of thought then, should parents of applicants in this competitive process be suggesting what others should or shouldn’t do? I think that context is important to consider.
@Nomorelurker I’m confused, is this your second time/ DS going through this process at USC?
@wchatar2, I have friends, colleagues, family members, and their kids who attended USC, some quite recently. Been to USC and L.A. many times. S is first of mine to attend college, nephews and nieces attending or attended college recently. How about you?
@blueskies2day, just a forum member with an opinion. Some may agree with some things, others may disagree and that’s ok too.
@Nomorelurker And their experience/ story was that this is somewhat of a zero sum game? Because that is not my understanding of this process. My understanding is that USC has no problem awarding all who have been nominated to their respective awards as long as they feel as if the candidate lives up to their potential “in the flesh”. The idea that 17/ 18 year olds should not share scores, etc on social media strikes me as absurd.
@wchatar2, I did not suggest that “17/18 year olds should not share scores etc on social media”. There is a reason why snapchat is popular among our kids though, because it is not a permanent record. Posts on this forum, by contrast, seem to be a longer lasting footprint. I don’t think it is absurd to think about that before a student decides to post details about themselves. To reiterate from my prior post, students can decide what they are comfortable with.
As far as the awards, I am not an expert as to how many awards are given by USC, nor did I say it is a zero sum game. What I did suggest, and it’s just an opinion, is that there is likely a limited number to be given. I base that only on what I have read from other posts about prior students who were bumped down or up in the past. Also, some have posted that about 2/3 in the past got the award they were interviewing for. Since it’s anecdotal, I have no way of knowing for sure, just like you or others probably do not.
@Nomorelurker How about me what? This is my youngest of two sons. My older son is in college but not at USC, and yes I have a lot of nieces and nephews in college and out. Im not questioning you in any way, I do wonder where statements like “I personally would not recommend over sharing with others who may be lurking on a thread or group, and potentially competing with you for an award. I also suggest not posting too much personal detail about your activities, at least not until you have finished your interview and have confirmed winning that award.” come from. It just seems that views like that come from some sort of direct experience, I am gathering not in this case.
@wchatar2, I think there is sometimes a tendency of oversharing personal or private details on forums, just my opinion. There are both benefits and possible downsides to it. You are free to disagree, although I do not believe it is unwise to exercise caution when posting on social media. Seems like common sense, especially before a competitive interview where hundreds of students are trying to get an award where there is possibly a finite number.
To answer your question about direct experience, I have none in regards to merit awards at USC. I only read here on CC that there might be some limits and that some do not get what they go out to interview for. In the broader context, It is great to be friendly with others but my point was that exercising some restraint on how much detail one shares with peers prior to interviewing might be prudent for some to think about. Again, it’s just one person’s opinion.
@wchatar2, there are a couple scenarios that I am aware of in which the USC merit award may be more or less guaranteed. The first would be, from posts here on CC, if one got a Presidential award with no invite to interview, I believe that there is nothing further to do to secure that award.
Secondly, if one is NMF and is given a Presidential, I have read that as long as one designates USC as #1 by May 1, it is done. Best to confirm. Of course, it may be worthwhile to go for the interview on the chance of being bumped up to Trustee.
If the student is NMF and nominated for Trustee, my understanding is that the student must interview and may be awarded the Trustee based on how the interview went, or could be bumped down. Not sure if one is NMF if one could be bumped down below Presidential. Maybe somebody will chime in on that. In any case, good luck to your son!
Does anyone know what is happening if I got my acceptance letter and package from USC but with no mentions of any scholarship? I applied for WBB and was very fortunate to have been admitted to this program. I got my decision on Jan 23, 2018, but have received no notifications about my merit scholarship status.