Usc? Help Please!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I'll be entering my senior year next week and will be applying for Fall 08' at USC (Southern Cal). I go to a very good High School and it is one of the top public schools in Ohio. I plan on a double major in International Relations/Economics. </p>

<p>GPA: 3.43 unweighted 3.82 weighted Rank :61/404
SAT: 660 CR 690 M 730 W 12 on the essay SAT2: Spanish 670 Math I 680
Classes: I have taken the hardest schedule possible with 10 Honors 2 APs through 11th grade. Senior Year schedule consists of 6 AP's. Will be entering my 5th year of Spanish and will also be doing Chinese 1 next year. </p>

<p>I am an officer for Model UN and Spanish Club (will be entering my 2nd year of holding a position for each) and participate in Youth in Government, School Newspaper. Played JV tennis for 2 years. I am also an avid piano player and have been playing since 3rd grade. Recieved a "I superior" rating all 3 times I participated. Played for the chorus in 9th grade. Yeah it sounds weird but I play the Pokemon Trading Card Game and have been ranked in the top 100 in the world. I have a lot of volunteer work though none of it is really continuous. Its all like a few hours here and a few hours there. Probably between 50-100 hours. I have divorced parents and I know thats common but things haven't always been easy for me. My dad was born in India. </p>

<p>In addition, I have traveled to almost 20 countries and just came back from a 3 week stay in Africa last week.</p>

<p>-Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, Argentina, Uruguay, UK, Spain, Portugal, Germany, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, India, Thailand, Japan, Laos, Myanmar, Senegal</p>

<p>I attended LeadAmerica2006 for Global Business and Entrepreneurship at Bentley College. I also worked at Panera Bread in the Summer of 2006. </p>

<p>I will have very good recommendations and I am extremely confident in my ability to write a very good essay. </p>

<p>Any help would be appreciated!</p>

<p>Also, I am looking into these colleges as well. </p>

<p>University of Chicago, Claremont McKenna, NYU, UPENN, OSU so if you have any assistance with those it would be appreciated. Thanks!</p>

2

<p>You're putting Pokemon on your college application?</p>

<p>It sounds like you're well off if you're able to travel to so many different countries.</p>

<p>University of Chicago: REJECT
Claremont McKenna: REJECT
NYU: Maybe
UPENN: REJECT
OSU: In</p>

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<p>Never said I'd put it on. Just thought I would mention it since its kinda unique. You never answered the question about USC.</p>

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<p>USC: Unlikely/ REJECT</p>

<p>You have a low GPA.</p>

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<p>Yeah I know its low and thats pretty much what I'm worried about. It does have a significant upward trend though and I'm hoping if I can get straight A's the first semester of my senior year, it might put me in a little better position.</p>

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<p>lol, i thought that the leadamerica thing was a scam, so i tossed it in the bin</p>

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<p>UPenn/Claremont McKenna/U Chicago-Reach
NYU/USC (unfortunately)-Slight/Reach
OSU-Match</p>

<p>I would say the most you can do now is build up that SAT so that you can look somewhat more appealing to NYU and USC. Your GPA might be really low, but you still have a good shot at getting into your schools if you can bring your SAT to mid 2100s and write a good essay w/ good Letters of Rec.</p>

<p>Offtopic: Gaffe is it really necessary to write out "REJECT" like that?</p>

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<p>lol I was wondering the same thing about the "REJECT" </p>

<p>but yeah LeadAmerica is actually a really good expierience</p>

<p>I plan on re-taking the SAT and also on taking the ACT</p>

<p>Would it be better to submit lets say a 32-33 on the ACT rather than my 2080 SAT?</p>

9

<p>what field are you aiming for?
My friend that goes to USC says that the Med program takes anyone because of it's low attendance rate</p>

<p>Im not sure about the GPA because my friend used the "international" scale cause be is...well...an international student</p>

<p>anyway he got 2100's on his SAT ...good luck</p>

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<p>thanks</p>

<p>but yeah I'm aiming for International Relations/Economics</p>

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<p>can anyone rank from toughest to easiest schools to get into at USC?</p>

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<p>They CLAIM that its the same for all but I find this hard to believe. I think Marshall Business School is the most difficult to get into and I'm guessing the general LSA is probably the easiest. Not too sure though. Its probably one of those things thats impossible to rank.</p>

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<p>gaffe is an A##</p>

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<p>lol i noticed</p>

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<p>theres a med program that takes anyone?</p>

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<p>the music school is the hardest to get into. But that really doesn't matter since you're applying for intl. relations/econ. Just stick with what you love. You seem to write very well, and that is what these schools care about the most, I have been told.</p>

<p>Best of luck to you.</p>

17

<p>Thanks a lot. </p>

<p>Yeah, I'm kind of hoping that I can try to cover up my GPA with a really good essay. </p>

<p>And also, GPA is just one factor. I mean, GPA varies so much from school to school. For instance, our A is 92%-100% whereas I know most schools' A's begin at 90. GPA is not always a legitimate gauge and I hope/I think these schools realize that. Thanks for the advice. Keep it coming.</p>

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<p>Okay, I have found out that I will basically have stellar recommendations from my teachers and counselor. I have written a stellar essay (stellar to myself and friends/teachers that have read it). My essay is about skydiving so that seems to be pretty unique. I am also going for a second visit to USC for an interview and fall open house ( I live in Ohio so this should show a lot of commitment and interest). I am also in the process of starting a chapter of Junior States of America at my school.</p>

<p>Any updates on my chances?</p>

<p>My Top 5 Schools: (chances on these would be appreciated as well)
1. USC
2. USC (south carolina)
3. Claremont McKenna
4. Wake Forest
5. Pitzer College</p>

<p>Any comments would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!</p>

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<p>Although people never want the GPA to be "the gauge", it just is.</p>

<p>GPA is almost always the first thing that schools look at.</p>

<p>However, USC does take a rather holistic approach, and your EC's seem great, but not excellent.</p>

<p>I'd say a slight reach for USC, and reach for UPenn and University of Chicago.</p>

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<p>Yeah I'm not even considering Penn/UChi anymore</p>

<p>anyone know how much emphasis USC puts on essay/reccomendations?</p>