<p>Basically I turned down going to Cal State Northridge, Cal Poly Pomona, University of the Pacific or Santa Clara University to go to Santa Monica Community College and possibly have a shot at getting into USC after one year. </p>
<p>Keep in mind, I was accepted into the Scholars Program at SMC which is like their honors program and it's known for significantly helping transfer students get into schools like USC and UCLA.</p>
<p>I just finished high school and my cumulative GPA ended up being a 2.85 unweighted (I had 3 AP's). However, I am looking to get a 3.5 or higher while at SMC starting Fall 2007. Obviously, I'll be applying to USC as a trasnfer for possible Fall 2008 admission. </p>
<p>Is there anything that I have to keep in mind that could help me get into USC besides a high GPA? Thanks in advance for your suggestions.</p>
<p>Take classes to fulfill their core requirements (2 writing classes and whatever math they need) and as many classes as you can to fulfill the requirements of your major.</p>
<p>the average gpa of admitted transfer students this year was a ridiculous 3.7. so, if you really want to seal the deal, i would recommend aiming for a 4.0.</p>
<p>what is your intended major? marshall is tough to get into, as is viterbi, but if you do well at smc, you can get into any. i believe that the clas is the easiest to get into, so it kind of depends on what your intended major is.</p>
<p>getting good grades helps (obviously), but i was accepted this year with a 3.45 from gwu, so they're not the "end all be all"</p>
<p>writing a good essay is really helpful as well.</p>
<p>just do your best in school and try to fulfill usc prereqs so it looks like you're making an honest attempt to get into usc</p>
<p>Like I said earlier, my intended major is English. But, I also want to get into the Pre-Law track, whatever that entails. </p>
<p>Yeah, my goal was to get a 3.7 or higher. A 4.0 would be excellent, but I doubt that I can get that. </p>
<p>This is my course list so far that fulfills all the fields of the USC gen requirements: </p>
<p>Summer '07 - General Biology 3 (this class is hard as hell, and I'm good at bio. I'm going to have to really push it for this one to get an A). </p>
<p>This might seem like a silly question, but I know people who have done it before and have gotten accepted. If I have a connection, should I use them to get a letter of rec. or something to help me get into USC? I sort of feel like even if I get a really high GPA they won't accept me since there are many others with 3.8+. It's a complicated issue, but what do you guys think? I also feel like if they see that I'm using a connection even though I have high grades that they'll deny me because I'm being cheap or whatever.</p>
<p>Ok, will do. Obviously I'm focusing on getting a high GPA first and foremost (goal is a 3.7 at least). </p>
<p>I know the two biggest donators to the school so I guess they're pretty influential. </p>
<p>In addition to applying to USC, my first choice, my counselor has recommended that I apply to Pomona College and Loyola Marymount University as backups. Although, after talking to many people, it seems like Pomona College is ridiculously hard to get into comparted to USC and LMU.</p>