@CADREAMIN That’s too bad if that’s the Group Project experience that most kids have. My D attends a high school that has a project-based curriculum and fortunately that hasn’t been her experience. Collaboration was one of her big talking points in her essays and most likely a big reason she was admitted. I’m sure the students in USC will find group projects different than in their high schools with a class of high achieving/high performing students. I’m not sure USC has a seminar or class on Project Management but I’ll predict that in 10 years most selective schools will have a Project Management class or seminar for Freshman like many have Writing seminars now to transition Freshman to college level writing.
@dolemite That’s great it works so well for you D in high school, and it did for mine there as well, kids are more obedient there and under the microscope and have a relationship with their teachers. Not so true in college. The professors don’t see the day in day out work, so many kids don’t carry their weight. Groups are often assigned, so there is no guarantee that you get all high performing kids in your group. In the end it doesn’t matter, the good student is going to take on whatever it is to get their A. Just last summer for one of the upper division CS classes, one of the kids only came to the first day of class and the last day of class, (totally true) he actually had a full time job so had not intention of showing up. So the other three did the entire project without any input from this one, but it was turned in with his name on it. I would guess the prof noticed the kid was never there, but students don’t snitch either, so it is up to the professor to figure it out and I think they have ways of doing so. I asked how he would be graded and mine didn’t know or even care, he just took care of the project and got the A. I think that is the healthy approach. It’s like that realization that occurs when you get your first real job and find out there are a lot of lazy and not so bright people in the world.
FWIW, in my sons’ classes that required team projects (several), there was always a requirement to fill out a sheet on each of the other team members and grade one’s own contribution and also rate others. In this way, many hard-working team members do rank the non-participator lower than the others. Of course the kids never know how the prof uses their input, but it is secret and I suspect affects overall grades.
I go with the kids on this one - group projects at USC (and maybe many schools) are not typically equitable. This has been reviewed and commented on in many places by students. Some benefit, some don’t. Just the way it is, they deal with it. The review sheets would be good, but mine didn’t have those. I don’t think the teacher knew who was who actually, but TA did I suppose.
Decision: Accepted Viterbi, Presidential Finalist
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): (didnt submit)
ACT (breakdown): 33 C (36 Math, 35 Science)
SAT II: Chem 710, Italian 690, Math 2 760
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9
Weighted GPA:4.25
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School doesn’t rank
AP (place score in parenthesis): European History (4), Italian (4), Human Geography (4), English Lang (4), Chem (4), Calc AB (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): not offered
Senior Year Course Load: AP Physics C, AP Calc BC, AP Micro, Sci fi lit, civics, video production, culinary
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):none
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Vice President of two service clubs, member of local youth advisory committee and Mayor’s youth council, School golf team (was a part of all these activities for 2-4 years)
Job/Work Experience:
Volunteer/Community service:
Summer Activities: Did summer research at CSUEB in computational chemistry
Essays (rating 1-10, details): I didn’t like it too much but my friends liked it, maybe a 6-8
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1 (rating 1-10, details): 7, from math teacher I had for calc ab and bc, her letters are pretty generic tbh
Teacher Rec #2 (rating 1-10, details): 9, from APHUG teacher, she LOVEES me
Teacher Rec #3 (rating 1-10, details): 8, from Lang teacher, she loves me too and I always bring her food
Counselor Rec (rating 1-10, details): 6-8? I go to a big school but my counselor knows me well
Additional Rec (if any) (rating 1-10, details): Rec from research mentor, honestly dont know
Interview (if any) (rating 1-10, details): none
Other:
Applied for Financial Aid?: no
Intended Major: Industrial Engineering
State (if domestic applicant): California
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Large decently competitive Public HS in bay area
Ethnicity: Black and white
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 200000+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): talked about being black in Stem, even though im only half
Reflections:
Strengths: Letters of rec, essays, extra curriculars
Weaknesses: GPA?,
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I’m not your sterotypical engineering applicant, and I really made it evident that I embody USC’s values (at least thats what I think I did lmao). I also talked about how I wanted to do research at USC.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted Santa Clara University, UMich
General Comments (if any):
im doing this results thread hella late lmao dont judge me
Does anyone know the dates for accepted student open houses this year at USC? For “regular” students, not merit acceptances.
@CARacing There are several ExploreUSC events and 1 Admitted Student day on campus:
Explore USC April 11
Explore USC April 13
Explore USC April 18
Explore USC April 20
Explore USC April 25
On-Campus Admitted Student Day 2017 April 29
Hey everyone!
Just jumping into the thread, since I joined today. I applied to the BFA Film/TV Production program. I have a Facetime/phone interview with a SCA professor in a couple hours today. Super nervous, but I’m looking forward to it. 
@Wynn22 Congrats. That must be a good sign. Good Luck. So did someone just email or call you then to request one? And fyi… there is an SCA thread too… http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-southern-california/1941825-usc-school-of-cinematic-arts-class-of-2021-discussion-results.html#latest
@WWWard Thank you! The professor contacted us via email and we arranged a time and date.
@Wynn22 You’re welcome.
Would it be helpful to send a letter of continued interest if I did not receive a scholarship? Or is it unnecessary in this situation?
No need to just relax… not much you can do at this point but wait for March to hurry along
impatient
adjective
- not patient; not accepting delay, opposition, pain, etc., with calm or patience.
- indicating lack of patience:
an impatient answer. - restless in desire or expectation; eagerly desirous.
Ugh…
Hey everyone, does anyone know what percentage of people who complete the Trustee scholarship interview actually end up getting the full tuition scholarship? Thanks!
@mufasa1 I cannot speak for the trustee or presidential scholarships individually, but I have heard that about 70% of finalists get the scholarship they interviewed for. Some presidential finalists will be bumped up to trustee and some trustees will be bumped down to presidential. You are more likely than not to get the scholarship. Even with this in mind, be prepared for the interview.
Does anyone know when USC releases decisions? And how do you learn of their decision? Mail, e-mail, portal?
~ March 30th/April 1 @PinkQuetzal9
March 23 was put out there by an insider.
@mufasa1 There are about 450 candidates interviewing for the Trustee scholarship this year and usually 100-110 of them end up attending on it. But keep in mind that a lot of people who receive it decide to go elsewhere.