I have a pretty hefty list of colleges I’m interested in, but right now, my top two are USC and OSU. These are obviously very different schools; they’re 2,000 miles apart… I’m not sure what I want to major in. At all. I’m interested in journalism, English in general, history, and biology. I don’t have a strong enough interest to choose one over the other based on major. My chances at OSU are higher, as an in-state student with a 34 ACT and 3.9 uw. Should I stick to OSU? I really want to get out of Ohio, but I understand that it may not be financially realistic… Are there any other colleges you would recommend?
With those stats, you will be able to get good automatic merit at a variety of schools. The following thread has a list of auto merit awards for those with a 33 ACT.
Also, you will be competitive for admissions to a variety of schools include Ivy’s, and you should get into USC. That said, OSU is an excellent in-state safety.
Honestly, they are not as different as you might think. USC has one of the largest enrollments of any private college. 44,000 total students (19,000 undergraduates). That’s bigger than most state flagships - as big as UCLA or Michigan or Wisconsin. Sports are a huge part of campus life, and some say it over all feels more like a state flagship experience (a very good one, mind you) than it feels like a smaller private college.
Are finances an issue for you - are your parents comfortable with paying private tuition?
With a 34 ACT and a 3.9, you have a chance at a lot of schools. How did you pick USC?
@ThankYouforHelp Finances could be an issue. The school I end up going to will depend a lot on financial aid and scholarships I receive, whether they be from a private donor or a school. I got my 34 last month on the December ACT and before that, I had a 31 so I wasn’t looking at a lot of OOS schools. I just recently started looking OOS, even though I’d really prefer to go out of Ohio. I was looking at both universities in warm climates (maybe not the best reason to choose a school…) and schools with scholarships. I noticed USC because it’s in a warm climate, it has a beautiful campus, and is a larger school, which I like. I also noticed they give out 200 half tuition scholarships, and you could get one by being a National Merit Scholar. I took the PSAT this past fall and scored very well and am qualified to become a semifinalist. I know that’s not exactly a strong enough basis to go on until I know if I’m going to qualify to be a finalist or not because of the finances. I am open to looking at really any schools though.
You have some great scores and it sounds like you want a big athletic/spirit school. Just to keep things real, USC cost of attendance that is 69,711 and a half tuition is worth 25,650 leaving about 44,000, and this is current year prices. But they also have bigger scholarships (though not as many) that you could hope for. USC is holistic and I can name three kids I personally know with those stats exactly like yours (4.0uw/4.6ish and 10 AP kind of kids, plenty of leadership) that did not get in last year, and even had legacy and NMF. Never assume you will get in USC and apply broadly which it sounds like you will. How about Duke, Notre Dame or the Ivy’s as mentioned
IMO recommending Duke, ND and the Ivies as a “backup” in case the OP doesn’t get into USC isn’t helpful. How about some less competitive warm weather schools like UF or UCF. There’s also Oklahoma U, TAMU (you get in-state rates if you get a scholarship above a certain level there).
OP, check the Net Price Calculator on each schools web site to see what your likely aid offer will be. As mentioned in post #4, don’t look at how much you’ll get but how much is left over to pay.
Arizona State grants full tuition scholarships to NMFs. Their Honors College, Barrett, is fantastic. My D has visited both USC and ASU and says the campuses feel similar.
“Never assume you will get in USC and apply broadly which it sounds like you will. How about Duke, Notre Dame or the Ivy’s as mentioned”
second the comment on recommending Duke and Ivy League schools as options in case someone doesn’t get into USC.
my colleague’s kid got into their film school last spring with Cs on her transcript and a 29 ACT.
it’s not that hard to get into, and 3.9 with a 34 stands a damn good chance.
USC applies holistic admission and yield protects by denying high stat kids who show no interest. If they are like other schools in the 20 to 40 ranking, they are trying to build a national appeal and the school is likely easier to get into if you are applying from Ohio than from the Los Angeles area.
@MiddleburyDad2 and @“Erin’s Dad” Never ever said Duke or Ivy’s as a backup to USC, I’m not that silly. Geez. He never asked for easy or cheap schools to get into, he asked for other schools to apply to, and it seems he is going for large schools with spirit and to get out of Ohio. I was just referring to earlier comment which told poster, “You should get into USC.” With 16.5% admit rate, not true. That is like saying "you should get into “Cornell or UCB or insert other hard school to get into” here.
"With 16.5% admit rate, not true. That is like saying “you should get into “Cornell or UCB or insert other hard school to get into” here.”
While I wouldn’t say USC is easy to get into, that 16.5% admit rate has some context behind it. There are some experts who lurke on CC who really understand SC’s admissions practices with transfers and spring admits who can comment better than I can.
I will just say that, when my 3 kids went through it, both our private college counselors and our school’s GC and IB coordinators would counsel that an asterisk next to USC’s admission rate was warranted.
Easy? No. But a 3.9 kid with any amount of rigor coupled with a 34 ACT score can more or less count on USC based on my experience. Same kid cannot count on Duke or any Ivy League school with those numbers.
Didn’t mean to ding you. It’s just that 99.9% of the time that someone says something like “Never assume you will get into USC and apply broadly,” they follow it with schools that are EASIER to get into, not harder. That’s typically the implication as well.
No harm done.
Well my 4.6 nephew with 34 ACT didn’t get into CS at USC and he had plenty of EC’s and leadership. There is a forum of legacy kids with those scores not getting in, but getting into Ivy’s and other top schools. People love to hate on how prominent USC has become (I think it’s an east/west coast bias usually), they are doing amazing things there. A 29 ACT kid may get into the film school because that is based on things well beyond aptitude on a test, but you will find many 4.0 kids with 32+ ACTs not accepted into STEM, just like any other school that is hard to get into. I have a friend from NJ that just can’t say that Stanford is a good school compared to the Ivy’s. I keep telling him it’s not 1977 and Travolta ain’t clubbing it anymore, but he can’t move on.
I’d have to think the kid had a great film portfolio that outweighed a problem with grades and scores.
“Well my 4.6 nephew with 34 ACT didn’t get into CS at USC and he had plenty of EC’s and leadership.”
Sorry to hear that. CS is very competitive at most schools. I’ve learned on this forum from people like @ucbalumnus, who know the area of CS very well, that admission to UW’s CS department right out high school is keenly, keenly competitive, while admission to UW generally is not that competitive. I don’t think CS is a good proxy for admission to the university in general.
“There is a forum of legacy kids with those scores not getting in, but getting into Ivy’s and other top schools.”
Doubtful as applied to the Ivies. You may be relying on general chit chat here, but I’m confident you are incorrect on this point. Any college counselor will tell you that a kid getting into an Ivy League School - any of them - and failing to get into USC is going to be the big exception to the rule. The Ivies are a different animal altogether.
“People love to hate on how prominent USC has become (I think it’s an east/west coast bias usually), they are doing amazing things there.”
Really? Which people? I don’t see it, and I have lived on the West coast for a long time. They are doing amazing things at a lot of schools. That adds a little color but not much else.
"A 29 ACT kid may get into the film school because that is based on things well beyond aptitude on a test, but you will find many 4.0 kids with 32+ ACTs not accepted into STEM, just like any other school that is hard to get into.
Maybe, though you are talking about USC’s most venerable school; moreover, it’s never been my impression that being a great artist alone will get you in. In any event, THIS kid scored a 34. On the ACT, the difference between a 32 and a 34 is big. Also, see my comment above about using the hardest majors as a red herring.
“I have a friend from NJ that just can’t say that Stanford is a good school compared to the Ivy’s. I keep telling him it’s not 1977 and Travolta ain’t clubbing it anymore, but he can’t move on.”
Your friend sounds like an idiot. Maybe get smarter friends. Some of the most uninformed and stupid people I know are aware that Stanford is a good school compared to any group. Take my advice: it usually does not pay in life to rely too heavily on the exception to the rule.
Bottom line: of my three kids, two applied and were admitted. Of those two, both had high GPAs in full IB, one had I think a 31 and the other a 33 or 34, and both were rejected at my alma mater, Stanford, and only one (the 33/34 kid) got into my law school alma mater, Penn.
“I’d have to think the kid had a great film portfolio that outweighed a problem with grades and scores.”
I’m sure it was good. But it’s not all she’s about. She’s also a ski racer with a learning disability. Maybe they took that into consideration. She took the ACT like 5 times to get to that 29 too.
Or maybe USC isn’t quite as hard to get into as they’d like their rep. to suggest. There are others on this forum, as I said, who can better speak to some of the things SC does to manage their stats. Some of the same stuff you hear about from, for example, Northeastern.
^ and then there’s the whole thing @Zinhead references, which is also a very real phenomenon according to my contacts in high ed admissions. I know it’s a really big deal at Tufts, hence naming the syndrome after them. 