Decision: Accepted
Date applied: November 22nd
Date decision postmarked/received:
March 26th
Which school/major at USC: USC’s Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences (Biological Sciences)
Scholarships: N/A
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1470 Composite (730 E/740 M)
ACT (breakdown): N/A (didn’t take)
SAT II (place score in parentheses): Math II (750), Chemistry (680)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.73
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 20%
AP (place score in parentheses): World History (4), Environmental Science (3), Calculus AB (3), Chemistry (2), United States History (2), Seminar (3)
IB (place score in parentheses): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Research, AP Calculus BC, AP English Language, AP United States Government and Politics/ Economics, Drawing and Painting, and AP Biology
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): None
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses):
Varsity Cross Country
Varsity Volleyball
YMAC Club (Vice President)
Math Club (Co-President)
Biology Olympiad (President)
Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Students of the Year Mentor (also raised $15K that went to research for blood cancer patients)
Job/Work Experience:
N/A
Volunteer/Community Service:
Volunteer at Kaiser Permanente, shift leader since August 2019
Summer Activities:
Took Chemistry over the summer between ninth and tenth grade
Took Elementary Statistics at community college between tenth and eleventh grade
COSMOS UC Davis 2019, Stanford CASP 2019
Essays (rating 1-10, details)::
Common App Essay: (9) I wrote about challenges at home, how that affected my performance at school, and how I progressed as a person
The tell me about yourself choice essay (9): I talked about my mom’s mammogram finding her cancer and saving her life. I was inspired by the importance of mammograms and spread the awareness of mammogram check ups in my community.
Why USC (8): Talked about clubs specific to USC that will allow me to improve myself as a person and achieve my dreams
Teacher Recommendations (rating 1-10, details)::
Calculus Teacher (9): I honestly think that my Calculus teacher wrote me in the best light possible. We have an amazing friendship, and she truly understands my aspiration, my weaknesses, and my interests. My grade in her class wasn’t the best but she knew what I was going through and how hard I worked, despite having little time to do so.
APUSH Teacher (7.5): I’m very close with my APUSH teacher. She also understands my aspiration, weaknesses, and interests. Only reason why I’m not as sure about this LOR is because I messed around in her class often, so she might’ve mentioned that in my LOR.
Counselor Rec (rating 1-10, details):
(8) My counselor knows me pretty well. She’s seen me grow as a person from the past few years and knows how passionate I am about the things I advocate for. She normally doesn’t like many people, but she was nice to me so I was definitely on her good side.
Additional Rec (rating 1-10, details):: N/A
Other
Applied for Financial Aid? Yes b/c a lot of money was going to mom’s cancer treatment, and my brother will be attending medical school in fall.
State (if domestic applicant): CA
Country (if international applicant): N/A
School Type: Charter
Ethnicity: Asian (Indian)
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 350,000+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none
Reflection
Strengths: Extracurriculars, Essays
Weaknesses: GPA (sort of), Class rank, SAT, AP Scores
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I have absolutely no idea, maybe my essays helped?
Where else you are applying or have already applied:
Accepted: Creighton (25k per year), Fordham (29k per year), University of the Pacific (24k per year and Honors College), University of Pittsburgh, University of Portland (26k per year), UC Santa Cruz, UC Riverside, UC Berkeley (no idea how LOL), USC (again, no idea how)
Waitlisted: Carnegie Mellon (Priority Waitlist), UC Davis, UC San Diego, UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara, Tulane (deferred and then waitlisted)
Rejected: JHU (ED), Washington University in St. Louis, UCLA
Awaiting: none
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: Honestly, the college process is so rough and emotionally exhausting. There are many times when I began doubting myself. I’d constantly think where I went wrong. I was waitlisted at so many schools that I began to question what I did wrong. I was waitlisted at places I thought I had somewhat of a shot at. It was very disappointing for me. However, March 26th turned my life around. I am just extremely grateful that USC was able to see my potential, motivation and drive, and they chose to accept me.
For future applicants, your SAT and GPA don’t matter as much as you think they do. It’s how you display yourself as a person that matters the most. If you had family issues like me, talk about them! And make sure to explain how you’ve changed as a person. Good luck to you all 
