***USC Class of 2021 Discussion/Results Thread***

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Southern California
1241

**Decision: Accepted SCA **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown):N/A
ACT (breakdown): 33 (36 E, 36 R, 30 S, 29 M, 28 W)
SAT II: N/A
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9
Weighted GPA: 4.51
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A but definitely top 10%
AP (place score in parenthesis): Calc AB (5), APUSH (5), Lang (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP gov, AP comp. politics, AP calc BC, enviro sci, honors humanities program (school specific), journalism
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Spanish Exam (?) and National Merit Commendation

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):

  • 4 years of acting in school productions
  • 4 years of assistant directing middle school productions (my school is 6th-12th)
  • managing/news and features editor at school paper
  • VP and founding member of school’s MUN club (me and two other girls singlehandedly got this off the ground at our school)
  • year-round job on weekends at my Jewish community center (4 years of that and now I’m one of 2 bosses for the teen work program)
  • 3 years as a tutor for a literacy organization with a chapter at my old title 1 elementary school
  • did a year round internship/ambassador program with a big local theater company last year
  • interned at a New York casting agency this summer
  • founding member of local High School Democrats chapter (12th grade only)
  • online media internship
    Job/Work Experience: see above
    Volunteer/Community service: see above
    Summer Activities: WashU Summer Scholar (2015), internships, camps, idk haha
    Essays (rating 1-10, details): I’m a strong writer but my personal statement was very unique to me and I could see how some wouldn’t like it. My USC essays and SCA supplement especially was pretty great though.
    Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): My counselor loves me (I’m her favorite student) and I think my teacher recs were pretty good (I hope).

Other:
Applied for Financial Aid?: yes
Intended Major: cinema/media studies @ SCA and American studies @ Dornsife
State (if domestic applicant): CA
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: small, private all-girls (secular)
Ethnicity: white (Jewish)
Gender: F
Income Bracket: it’s complicated
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none hahaha

Reflections:
Strengths: GPA? strong humanities achievements?
Weaknesses: no SAT II scores, no hooks
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I think I’m a pretty strong all-around applicant
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: rejected from Northwestern (ED), accepted to UMich EA

General Comments (if any): I’m a presidential scholarship finalist! I live in LA though, so idk how I feel about staying so close to home tbh. Still excited though! Is there a FB group?

1242

It has been a few pages, so speculation is portals will update late tonight - admissions said 26th and in the past they update between midnight and 1am PST. You should all be in bed and check it in the morning - cause they could change it up and update later in the day. Don’t want you guys losing sleep over an incorrect guess, cause it is just a guess. Portals will likely update like this for those getting scholarships:

Admission
Admission Decision
Enrollment Commitment Deposit
Withdraw Your Application
Submit Documents

Financial Aid
Apply for Financial Aid
Financial Aid Summary & Tasks (FAST) page

On-Campus Admitted Student Programs
Explore USC
Preview USC
Admitted Student Day
Campus tours

Off-Campus Admitted Student Programs

Apply for Housing

For those not getting scholarship there will be an update message with link to letter saying you are still being considered for acceptance in March but no soup for you.

1243

ahh guys I’m freaking out. I’m in NYC and still haven’t gotten a package!! I’m not expecting a scholarship with my stats, but does this mean I definitely didn’t receive one?

Also does anyone know when in March the RD decisions are released?

1244

@CADREAMIN I got my package and I am being considered for the presidential scholarship can I still be considered for any other scholarships?

1245

One dumb question out of pure lack of knowledge…

We live in Southern CA and haven’t got anything yet. Does it mean that son hasn’t got in?

I don’t exactly know how it works… If he received a white envelope, would it mean an accept or accept with or w/o scholarship? Will he still get an envelop if he is denied an acceptance? Sorry about the silly question.

Any info will be greatly appreciated.

1246

Same question ^ from so cal as well…

1247

Any clue if all letters have been sent out already? Is all hope lost and now it’s just a long wait until April?

1248

@NayaTheVA Got my white box today… Best of luck to you!

1249

My understanding is that if no box has been received by the next day or so, students are still under consideration for admission - decisions to be released by April. If not NMF, I am unsure about any merit based scholarship possibilities (seems less likely). Others on the thread likely can be more helpful.

1250

**Decision: Accepted **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1540 (770 RW, 770 M, full score essay)
ACT (breakdown): none
SAT II: 760 Math II, 790 Bio M
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 10%
AP (place score in parenthesis): Bio (4), Euro (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): none
Course Load: AP Chemistry, AP US History, Spanish Honors, Literature Honors, AP Calculus BC, TA for teacher
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Three major state-level science fair awards, several major regional fair awards, state champion in multiple events for Science Olympiad, USABO Semifinalist 2015

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Research, tutoring students in afterschool program, tutoring students in a biology club, violin, Science Olympiad (Middle School Team Mentor, Team Captain)
Job/Work Experience: Internship in summer between 9th and 10th grades
Volunteer/Community service: aforementioned tutoring
Summer Activities: aforementioned internship after 9th grade, nothing after 10th grade
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Common App: 9/10. I thought it was good and my counselor loved it, but my mom didn’t like it lol. It was about my research and how i came to be interested in the topic
USC Essays: They were ok…I kind of slapped them together at the last minute though haha. I mostly talked about how much I liked USC’s interdisciplinary focus (I’m more a jack-of-all-trades master of none person) and how unique their programs (like Thematic options) were. 6/10.

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: Research mentor and former teacher. Never looked, but she really likes me and it should have been good 9/10
Teacher Rec #2: Sophomore lit teacher. She liked me as well, but not as much as the other teacher. She’s a great writer though. 8/10.
Counselor Rec: I honestly don’t know… but I’ll say 7/10.
Additional Rec: none
Interview: none

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Biological Sciences at Dornsife
State (if domestic applicant): Somewhere in the west – I won’t say state because I’m easily identifiable that way
Country (if international applicant): US
School Type: Large competitive public hs
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: >100k, my dad (only earner) is currently unemployed though and has been for the past year
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none

Reflection

Strengths: Grades, SAT score I suppose, essays, research interest
Weaknesses: Few leadership positions (only 2, and in the same activity), I didn’t do much “active” volunteer work besides tutoring
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I really don’t know…I was so surprised that I was accepted, let alone that I was considered for a full tuition scholarship! I suppose my long-time interest in research (explained in common app essay) was what got me in. I guess this goes to show that quality over quantity is what counts when it comes to ECs.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: none

General Comments :
I’m a high school junior who applied through USC’s Resident Honors Program. I have been invited to interview for a full-tuition scholarship.

1251

To clear up the confusion, those who don’t get a white box with the scholarship invitation/acceptance will receive a letter in the mail stating that USC is still considering their application.

Congrats to all those who received/will receive acceptances, both future and past! :smiley:

1252

Wait so if we didn’t get anything that means the letter saying we’re still being considered is on its way?

1253

I have been anxious all week. I did not get anything, and I am devastated.

1254

Still no word here … from Seattle. Has anyone heard from Washington state?

1255

same here… @brachiosaurus

1256

Does anyone know what time the portals are being updated on the East Coast tonight?

1257

guys im 1000% sure the merit scholarships were based on what u chose as ur fav snack on the supplemental part of the application just saying!!!

1258

@abanana21 according to what others have said about past years, the portal usually opens between 12-1AM in California which would be 3-4AM EST.

1259

Does anyone know if all the boxes were shipped by UPS or US Postal Service?

1260

@methlabrador i believe usps