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

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Southern California
1741

**Decision: Accepted **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2310 (760 CR, 770 W, 780 M)
ACT (breakdown): n/a
SAT II: 700 USH, 750 Math II
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.96
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 10%
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Calc AB (5), APUSH (4), WHAP (4)
IB (place score in parenthesis): n/a
Senior Year Course Load: AP Physics 1, AP Spanish Language, AP Government, AP Macroeconomics, AP Calculus BC, Leadership, ERWC (english 4)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Presidential Volunteer Service Award (100 hours community service), Certificate of Merit (completed advanced level, got Branch Honors twice)

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): club secretary, piano (10 years), singing, school spirit (dance), I also listed “older sister/chauffeur/cook” as family responsibilities, was in Yearbook committe for one year, NHS
Job/Work Experience: n/a
Volunteer/Community service: tutoring elementary school students, co-prez of non-profit organization, volunteering for leadership
Summer Activities: took classes at Stanford Summer High School, running non-profit, went on a trip to Europe?
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Personal Statement: (9) super artsy; it was a huge metaphor about how a piano piece I’m playing reflects my life
Add Info: (9) story about what I learned from my dad’s death, explained how it shaped me as a person and made me work harder to be self-sufficient
Outside academic focus: (7) wrote about coding, how I self-studied HTML and CSS, then went to a few hackathons, and how I want to create my own blog
Why USC: (7) wrote about my interests in writing for a USC newspaper, travelling abroad (listed specific program), alumni network, future internships and career goals
Why Annenberg: (7) wrote about my interest in journalism, the specific facilities at USC and study abroad programs and how I would use them

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: (10) favorite teacher ever, had him for 2 years, waived my right to view but I’m sure it was amazing
Teacher Rec #2: (8) English teacher, probably generic but fluffed up cuz she really liked me
Counselor Rec: n/a
Additional Rec: n/a
Interview: n/a

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: yes
Intended Major: Communications
State (if domestic applicant): CA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: public
Ethnicity: Chinese
Gender: F
Income Bracket: not enough for financial aid :confused:
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): many anti-hooks

Reflection

Strengths: essays, SAT score, GPA
Weaknesses: extracurriculars, awards,
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: My essays were very straightforward about how I would use the resources at USC to become a journalist or reporter. I researched the programs and clubs thoroughly so I felt that I would fit in perfectly at USC. In the short takes section I made so many references to USC :stuck_out_tongue:
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: accepted at University of the Pacific, deferred Brown ED

General Comments : Really excited that I got into USC, but pretty disappointed about the scholarships. I got Dean’s, which is better than nothing, but I really don’t think I’ll be able to attend unless I get more financial aid (which I probably won’t). Good luck to everyone who’s still waiting for a decision, and congrats to everyone else who made it in!!

1742

I have been stalking these forums for a while, so it’s nice to know I can finally start doing this!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayCSI7aNjwM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbLhJXWVQ9A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grK2IrVKylY

Decision: Accepted!!!

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1460 (**** chieftain, lower than my PSAT lololol)
ACT (breakdown): 35
SAT II: 800 Chem, 770 Bio M, 760 Math II, 660 Physics (didn’t send)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): IDK, around 3.9?
Weighted GPA: 4.23
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): My school don’t play us.
AP (place score in parenthesis): 4: Euro; 5: Chem, Lang (it’s a miracle), Calc AB, USH
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Calc BC, AP Stats, AP Bio, AP Physics 1, AP Lit, Creative Writing/Lit Mag, Health II (I honestly don’t want to learn about The Sex twice tho)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): USNCO National Finalist, NMSF

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
—Water Filtration Project, Navajo Nation (one man show)
—University of Utah Bench2Bedside Medical Entrepreneurship Contest (team leader; first high school team EVER!!!)
—Varsity and Club Soccer (2A tho so I’m crap)
—Literary Magazine (staff and writer)
Job/Work Experience: summer work at synthetic bio/bioengineering lab up at the U of U
Volunteer/Community service: videoing pastor at church nearly every Sunday of the year, unpaid
Summer Activities: travel bruh, I didn’t do much, to the chagrin of my immigrant parents; see Job/Work Experience
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
—Common App (11/10): Talked about my undying love for Rand McNally road maps
—Supplements (9/10): I’d say my stand out one was my Browser History essay (on Wikipedia)
—Short Answers (forest fire/10): As you can tell, I’m hella proud of these; my hashtag was #swagademia (which is defined as “the quest to become the world’s most stylish modern reincarnation of the Renaissance man.” Sounds stuck up, I know. But it’s me, and that’s all that matters.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
—Teacher Rec—USH Teacher (9.5/10): Didn’t see it. Based on the one she wrote for me when I applied for City of Hope, it must have been straight fire, and she is like a second mom to me.
—Teacher Rec #2—Chem Teacher (8/10): Same as USH but a little less fire the first time, a little more bland. She is also a good friend and gave me resources and tutoring for USNCO.
—Counselor Rec (9/10): Our school has a low counselor to student ratio so these are gonna be guaranteed gucci. She made sure to include some sentiments from our head of school (AKA the big man who rules over all principals of high school, middle school, and elementary school).

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yeah, but not gonna get any LMAO, see below.
Intended Major: Biomedical Engineering (Electrical Engineering option)
State (if domestic applicant): UT (#ButI’mNotAMormon #TheGreatWhiteSea)
Country (if international applicant): 'Merica
School Type: Private ('cause immigrant parents)
Ethnicity: This should cover it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZHwGnGrm_k
Gender: Malé (accent pronounced, please)
Income Bracket: 250K (See, that’s why.)
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Black as the Night, kinda first gen but not really

Reflection

Strengths: ACT, fuego essays and recs
Weaknesses: SAT lower than my PSAT, could have done more crap in my freshman and sophomore years
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I came across as me. I made sure I looked interesting and motivated about the things I pursued despite my relative lack of tangible extracurriculars/leadership.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: ALSO ACCEPTED TO: Stanford, University of Utah (safety)
Also applied to (in order of preference): Duke, Brown (along with PLME), Harvard, WashU (along with USPM), Johns Hopkins, Northwestern (along with ISP), BU, and URochester (along with REMS)

General Comments:
Firstly, provided I become NMF, I got a Presidential Scholarship! Kinda bummed it wasn’t Trustee’s but hey, gotta thank God for what he’s blessed you with.

Secondly, and with all lightheartedness aside, here’s a little beef I have with College Confidential in general: they take s••• like they have to cure cancer and rack up Olympiad medals to be even in the sniffing area of schools like these. I did Chem Olympiad simply because I love chemistry and it was accessible to me, not because of admissions. That’s how I wanted to distinguish myself: appearing actually interested in the things I did and passionate about them too! If you love research like me, don’t rush to complete a project just for admissions; heck, one of my ideas will be going into clinical trials for years after I graduate high school! DO WHAT YOU LOVE, DO IT WELL, DO IT WHOLEHEARTEDLY FOR YOU, AND MAKE SURE YOU’RE PASSIONATE.

Thirdly, I don’t understand how all y’all can apply to more than 11 schools, I was burnt out!!!

Fourthly, good luck to y’all. The Man Above always has his plans. To those who didn’t get in, life goes on, I’m still expecting my fair share of rejection and tears. And to all, keep cool and stay in school, chiefs!!!

1743

@niceokay What dates are available for Explore? My D has it but only for April dates since she’s not in line for the bigger scholarships.

1744

@TripleThreat99 I know that feel, luckily I was able to edit on another thread haha

1745

**Decision: Rejected for scholarships **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown):
ACT (breakdown): 32C 28E 30R 35M 36S
SAT II: 800 Math II 770 Chem
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0):3.73(UW) 4.5(W)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):16/400
AP (place score in parenthesis): Chem(4), Euro(4), APUSH(5), Calc BC(5), Bio(5), Lang(5)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Computer Programming, AP Gov, AP Physics, Computer Drafting, AP Lit, Multivariable Calculus
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Robotics 9-12(Mechanical Leader)
Science Olympiad 9, 11-12(Engineering Leader)
Interact 9-12
Baseball 9-12
Job/Work Experience:
Volunteer/Community service: 400+ hours(variety of stuff)
Summer Activities:
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
I’m not sure how to judge these without being biased, but I would say about two 7’s and two 8’s
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1:9/10
Teacher Rec #2:9/10
Counselor Rec:9/10
Additional Rec:
Interview: This did not go well. It was my first college interview. I am going to leave at that.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: yes
Intended Major: Computer Science and Business Administration
State (if domestic applicant): PA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: public
Ethnicity: white
Gender: male
Income Bracket: 120,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none

Reflection

Strengths: strength of schedule, weighted GPA
Weaknesses: unweighted GPA, test score
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I don’t think I had that something special to make me stand out from my average/below average scores
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected:
Accepted: Penn State
Deferred: Illinois
Rejected: Stanford
Waiting: UCLA, U Washington, U Michigan, U Maryland, Carnegie Mellon, U Mass

General Comments : Congrats to everyone one who was accepted. Hopefully, regular decision will have a better outcome

1746

Does anyone know how many presidential scholarship finalists are actually given the scholarship? How competitive is it once you become a finalist?

1747

@teddyh

Last year’s #s…

Fall 2016 Entering First-Year Class
New students 3,068
USC Mork Family Scholars (full tuition + stipend) 9
Stamps Leadership Scholars (full tuition + stipend) 3
USC Trustee Scholars (full tuition) 117
USC Presidential Scholars (half tuition) 370
USC Dean’s Scholars (quarter tuition) 99
Recipients of other USC merit scholarships 44
National Merit Scholars 229

More were likely possible, but roughly 66% of the 1200 possible enrolled elsewhere…

1748

@WWWard Yeah I saw that. But how many were finalists? I’m just looking to find the percentage of finalists that were given the scholarship

1749

@teddyh It is hard to determine when most of the finalists chose to enroll at other universities. Of the 1200 admitted with scholarship offerings or invitations this week, only an estimated 408 will eventually enroll at USC in the Fall.

1750

thanks @WWWard

1751

@teddyh I am interested in the same question: how many of finalists got the scholarship? It is additional expenses to go for the interview (she will need to fly in). I am not sure if even presidential will be enough to choose USC (we don’t know yet the other possibilities). I thought that if accepted she will get presidential automatically as NMF (we don’t know the status, but I don’t see any obstructions to getting the status). Do you know anybody who was a finalist, but didn’t receive any scholarship?

1752

@Dolemite i see now that it is just an exporeusc date, not for the scholarship

1753

I thought I read somewhere that roughly 60% of those interviewing for each of the major awards end up securing such… with some getting downsized, some getting upsized… but everyone at least getting 1/4. I am sure that someone with more experience may address this too or confirm… but that is what I recall being stated before.

I suggest looking through this thread on the topic…

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-southern-california/1597366-tips-insights-observations-and-scoop-on-uscs-top-merit-scholarships.html#latest

1754

[asize=4][acolor=#008000]Decision: Accepted [/color][/size]

Trustee Finalist

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1440 SS (720 R/W + 720 M)
ACT (breakdown): did not send
SAT II: 750 USH
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.96
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 6
AP (place score in parenthesis): World (5), Lang (5), APUSH (5), APES (4), Lit, US Gov, Macro, AB Cal, Psych
Senior Year Course Load: AP Lit, AP US Gov, AP Macro, AP Cal AB, AP Psych, video production II, journalism 3
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Columbia Scholastic Press Association Gold Crown for 2016 yearbook, Florida Scholastic Press Association Silver Medal for 2016 yearbook

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): yearbook (Editor-in-Chief – 11, 12), NHS (President – 12), Environmental Club (co-founder & VP – 12), local teen leadership organization (12), local teen volunteer non-profit (council member – 12), Creative Writing Club (founder & President – 10), yearbook (writer – 10)
Job/Work Experience: worked at PacSun for a bit lol
Volunteer/Community service: 150+ hrs
Summer Activities: The University of Florida College of Journalism and Communication Summer Institute (2016), The Washington Journalism and Media Conference at George Mason University (2015)
Essays (rating 1-10, details): common app = 9, why USC = 7, why Annenberg = 7, essential to knowing you = 9
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): guidance counselor (did not read)

Teacher Rec #1: yearbook advisor – 9 (did not read, so I’m assuming because she’s had me as a student for 3 years and we’re pretty close)
Teacher Rec #2: junior AP Lang teacher – 7
Counselor Rec: did not read
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: N/A (but I did get to meet my counselor at an off-campus event, and I was the only one there from his region)

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: yes
Intended Major: Communication
State (if domestic applicant): FL
School Type: public magnet
Ethnicity: white
Gender: F
Income Bracket: ~100k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none

Reflection

Strengths: ECs, GPA, essays, APs
Weaknesses: SAT scores
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Two things: my essays and actually meeting my admissions counselor. I expressed so much genuine interest and love for the school, and I think him seeing my personality and passion in person helped such emotions come through even more so in my essays. Driving 6 hours up to Atlanta to go to the off-campus session was VERY worth it because I was the only FL kid at that GA session, so my FL AO and I got to have a pretty lengthy, but casual, conversation :slight_smile:

General Comments: You don’t have to have a 36 on the ACT to get a full tuition scholarship! I repeat: YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE PERFECT! I am proof of this because I am a normal human being! USC truly lives up to its name as far as being a “holistic” admissions process. Fight on!!

1755

@Nata11 you are right if an NMF applicant gets accepted, he/she will get Presidential scholarship. My son’s, who is an NMSF, email stated this. He has to wait for admittance decision end of Mar.

1756

**Decision: Accepted **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2350 (770 M, 780 CR, 800 W)
ACT (breakdown): 34 (36 E, 35 M, 32 R, 31 S)
SAT II: 800 Math II, 770 US History
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.93 or 4.0 if USC doesn’t look at Freshman year
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
AP (place score in parenthesis): (5) Human Geo, (5) US History, (5) Macroecon, (5) Microecon, (5) Calc AB, (5) Lang & Comp, (4) Physics 1, (4) Physics 2, (4) Latin
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: Honors Adv Math, Honors Philosophy, Honors Digital Imaging, AP Gov, Honors Adv Band, AP Physics C, Ancient Greek 499 at Univ of Illinois @ Chicago
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit, some smallish state stuff for Classics and Scholastic Bowl, some city-wide stuff for running.

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Job/Work Experience: 2 years at local running store; 2nd youngest hire ever, sales leader.
Volunteer/Community service: 338 hrs. Directed a basketball drive soliciting balls from local colleges for Salv Army Chicago; biggest donor to their city-wide gymnasium. Other stuff with NHS, Student Council.
Summer Activities: nothing worthwhile mentioned in my app. mostly just worked at my running store, got out of town a couple times.
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 10 for CA essay. Fantastic essay about my journey with the Classics. Maybe best thing I have ever written. 10 for experience essay. Tied breaking 5 min mile in track with Greek philosophy. 9 for Why Major essay. Last paragraph felt like a list at points, but overall read well. Talked about wanting to use a business major to learn skills for working in aviation industry while using Classical principles to learn ethics and combine both to make good choices. Also talked about USC’s great position (I can do Classics at Getty Villa, aviation intern at LAX).
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: Physics teacher loved me, probably 10 there. We were quite close for 2 years.
Teacher Rec #2: Greek prof 8-10. His first time writing an undergrad rec letter. Really likes me, but probably discussed my Classics ability more than my character.
Counselor Rec: Strong. She knows me well, we joke often. 10? or as good as a counselor rec can be.
Additional Rec: I don’t think I submitted one.
Interview: Hasn’t happened yet. Trustee finalist though, so I think I’ll head out there at the end of February and give it a shot.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Not yet
Intended Major: Business
State (if domestic applicant): IL
Country (if international applicant): America
School Type: Public selective enrollment
Ethnicity: white
Gender: M
Income Bracket: 135,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): nope

Reflection

Strengths: Really strong Classics student. 9 years of Latin and 2 years of Greek under my belt. Strong Classics students are pretty rare nowadays due to a higher ed focus on living languages, but Classics are still huge in academia.
Weaknesses: Couple typos in my Why major? essay, but I emailed back and corrected them. No major awards, no demonstrated interest, etc.
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I had a unique spike and great essays. I put a ton of time into most of them (save Why Major, which came pretty easily).
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Accepted to Stanford, UMN, U of I. Withdrew Georgetown (they wanted to interview and I knew that I would pick Stanford over them). Waiting on LA and Berkeley.

General Comments: The application was not terribly hard. Don’t overstress yourself - if you’ve stayed on top of your game for high school, getting in here shouldn’t be much of a crapshoot. Still, take the application seriously and write well. In general, I think that only listening to a couple editors + bad advice screws many applicants over. Don’t play yourself - send your essays to several people and test the waters, find who is a good editor and who isn’t. Only then should you narrow down your editing pool. Also, you sometimes have to throw everything away and start from scratch. If it is necessary, just do it. Digging your heels in won’t do you any favors later on.

1757

Wait I’m so confused! Can someone explain what is going on? I thought decisions don’t come out till RD? Is this just scholarships? Because I see people saying “deferred”. @WWWard

1758

@WWWard I sent my USC application before Dec 1st for the QuestBridge National match. If I don’t see an update in the portal does that mean I’m just going straight to RD? Can someone explain lol

1759

@atl989 the people who are being considered for scholarships were sent acceptance letters. Everyone else is still regular decision.

1760

For the people who have been accepted have y’all been able to do your housing applications? Mine is not working.