I called Dornsife just now and they said they will mail decisions tomorrow (1/20/2017)
Of course @jmek15, anytime! Always glad to see someone jump in with any info since questions are repeated many many times! Thanks.
dont be so worried about this guys, these are just for merit scholarships, these aren’t even the real decisions. not getting a merit scholarship doesn’t mean you’re not in!
Does anyone know how much usc weights senior year grades in the decision?
@TreeLights hopefully a great deal… as my daughter is taking a tough course load and just got her report card today reflecting the news she wants to share…
most schools weigh senior year the least significant… because its only one marking period
I’m assuming for USC that taking a rigorous course load senior year is almost a prerequisite for admissions. Doing poorly can probably kill your application, but what about doing well?
Would someone who got an A in algebra and a B- in AP calculus senior year fair better than someone who earned the reverse? I have to hope they matter just a little, because I did really ee
i dont think 1 b- will kill you (especially for usc, you dont have to be a straight A student to get in.) that being said, because its in AP calculus which is a harder class than a regular course, the b- is not going to affect the outcome of your result
@allima just to clarify; I’m not asking because I got a B- this year, I got my worst grades as a sophomore. I had a 4.0 this semester. I’m hoping someone knows if they’ll care about that more or less than they care about one year of poor grades earlier.
Logically, it feels like they shouldn’t care about a B- in Algebra when a student earns an A in a much more advanced (but related class). And of a student began to earn lower grades senior year that would be an indication that they don’t understand the material anymore, and would seem worse.
Most schools do care less about senior year though.
These are the #s for last year…
https://about.usc.edu/files/2016/10/Freshman-Profile-2016.pdf
Getting good grades senior year won’t hurt, but it won’t help much either. If you did not get in, it would be mostly because of non-academic factors, such as, ECs, essays, rec letters …
When do results come out and how much will applying as an IB dipcan/applying to a unique major help me?
Also how much will a USC professor’s letter of rec help me? I got a letter of rec from the proffesor of the major I will be studying.
@TimeUpJunior I’m not sure if you were addressing me so, like if you weren’t just ignore this. my subjective stuff is all great. I’m not saying that there isn’t a chance it won’t be what they’re looking for, because there definitely is, but I have a 3.55 (now? I think) cumulative gpa with a 3.98 or something as an upperclassmen and one year with a 3.0, so my biggest concern is making the ‘we’ll look at you’ mark for academics. I have an ~ ‘‘extenuating’’ ’ ~ circumstance (lol, please, no one try to get into a debate with me about this). Some colleges won’t overlook anything no matter what, and some will. I’m in a better position overall if they care about my senior grades though.
If they release them tomorrow, does that mean they mail them out tomorrow? Or we receive them in the mail? Or it is on the portal?
@hhjjlala are you for sure tomorrow for Dornsife?
@ZBlue17 They put them in the mail tomorrow. They mail them priority mail, so, depending on where you live, you will get it Saturday, Monday or Tuesday. You can check the Postal Service’s website for delivery times from USC’s zip code. They won’t update the portal until late Monday night.
@TreeLights Not going to debate on your circumstance, hope you can do a great job explaining your situations. Colleges do give students that chance.
Your 3.55 GPA falls in the bottom 25%. Yes, you could get in with great subjective stuff. What is SAT or ACT score?
@TimeUpJunior my sat scores are pretty darn close to being on their 75th %ile line. 1520 with a 770 math and 750 English. The new curve is more generous than the old one, so I think that my math is just below their 75th and my English is just on it.
Private colleges tend to be more willing to consider stuff that caused a major change in acedemic performance, so I’m hopeful, but hope isn’t going to get them to look at my application. The senior and junior grades might do that.
For those that don’t go back and read the thread’s previous posts, here it is one more time in the event things are mailed out tomorrow - we’ll see…
Scholarship Selection
Over 30,000 students apply in time to be considered for merit scholarships. Approximately 1,200 students are invited to proceed to the next phase of consideration for the top awards: the Mork Family, Stamps Leadership, Trustee, and Presidential scholarships. About 100 are given Dean’s (1/4) and do not interview for bigger one.
Please know the 28,000+ will not get news in January and will have to wait until March with the other 20,000+ students that applied after December 1st. Big numbers. So don’t be discouraged, but it is a long haul for most.
Scholarship boxes (white box last year) were sent Friday and started arriving the next day (Saturday) in SoCal. Reached northeast and FLA on Monday, with some trickling later. Most done by Tuesday. So maybe they will be sent tomorrow. It would be brutal if it wasn’t until the 27th, but it could be. Let’s hope for tomorrow.
The scholarship packages were sent in white boxes last year.
It is sent United States Postal Service - the mailman. It is not UPS. IT CANNOT BE TRACKED through MyUSPS or anything like that. Don’t waste your time.
It includes an acceptance letter and tells you what major you got into and which scholarship. Some will also include invitations to interview for a higher level scholarship with brochures like “Explore USC/Trustee’s Finalist”
If you DO NOT get scholarship info but did get the JANUARY white box/acceptance package, in the past it has always meant that yes, you are accepted, and with the Dean’s which is 1/4 tuition.
You will not interview for higher scholarship if there isn’t an invite to do so included in your package.
Your you.usc.edu portal updates after midnight on Monday night/Tuesday morning about 4 days after packages are sent between 1-4am. Portal update would be 24th or 31st depending on when pkgs sent.
Good luck all and Fight On!