<p>Hey guys, I am worried about my chances of being accepted into Marshall as a transfer. I have 7 w's (due to a crisis in the beginning of my cc career), but have since then picked it up and gotten straight A's. Currently I have a 3.8 GPA with phenomenal EC's. I am worried about my schedule though as it has not been extremely tough other than taking 3 quantitative classes in the summer and getting all A's. If you guys could chance me I would greatly appreciate it.</p>
<p>2008 Fall:
Intro to Business- B (I took one class because I was considered out of state and it was expensive!)</p>
<p>2009 Spring:
BUS AC-W
Speech;- B
POLSC- W
PHILO- W
HUMAN- A</p>
<p>2009 Summer:
Psych- A
Film- B
ADJUS- B</p>
<p>2009 Fall:
MUSIC LIT.- W
BUSAC- W
BUS LAW- A</p>
<p>2010 Spring:
Bus. Accounting- A
Astronomy- A
Anthropology- W</p>
<p>2010 Summer:
Early Childhood Education- A
History- A</p>
<p>2010 Fall:
Humanities- W
Accounting II- A</p>
<p>2011 Spring:
Political Science- A
Algebra (transferrable)- A
English- A</p>
<p>2011 Summer-
Pre- Calc- A
Bus. Stats- A
Micro-Economics- A</p>
<p>I am currently taking 20 units(and plan on getting all As)
Spanish-
2 English classes
Calculus
History
Economics</p>
<p>Struggles:</p>
<p>Girlfriend got pregnant and had to coordinate the adoption/deal with emotional attachment.</p>
<p>EC's (all while in CC)-
President Of Business Club
Student Government
Managed/did financial auditing on a Political Campaign
2.5 years work experience FT in retail (while going to school)
Owned a computer repair company (managed 6 employees)
Currently Interning (1 year)at a firm in which we deal with a large number of fortune 500 companies. I have assisted in handling various Financial reports/capital structure of the company.</p>
<p>I think part of the reason you haven’t gotten any responses is because more of us are familiar with Freshman applications than transfer. That said I’ll give your situation a shot.</p>
<p>First of all let’s concentrate of the good news. In 2010-2011 you had a 4.0 with two withdrawals in Anthropology and Humanities. While "W"s are never great at least they weren’t in Core Business classes.</p>
<p>Now let’s look at the flip-side. 2009 was a disaster filled with 6 "W"s and a set of completed classes that seemed to be all over the board. It was really 2010 when there started to be some logic to your schedule and consistent performance in the classroom. Well, what’s done is done. The question is what have you learned from the experience?</p>
<p>At someplace like USC where admissions are getting increasingly competitive it’s going to be more and more about what you offer to the school than just showing you’re capable of doing the work. Your GPA says you can handle the academics. I assume that you have SATs or ACTs to back that up as well. If I were reviewing your file my over-riding question would be: Why should I believe this person has turned the corner?</p>
<p>As painful as it might be, you need to embrace the personal issues that derailed 2009. Somewhere in your application essays you need to write about the event and how it has affected and changed your life. What have you learned about responsibility? How have you matured as a person? How has this changed your outlook on life and the decisions you make? How have you used these events to make yourself and others better? I think you’re academically qualified, now you need to show how your maturity will help and grow the USC community if you get the chance to be part of it. </p>
<p>I don’t know the transfer process. You need to find out the name of the regional rep or the transfer rep and introduce yourself via email. If you’re in California I think it would be wise to visit campus and meet with the transfer/regional rep and begin a conversation. Approach your current professors and have them write recommendations - especially if they can talk to your personal growth and maturity. See if any of them would be willing to be an advocate for you, contacting people they might know within Marshall. This can’t be heavy-handed; it needs to be along the lines of “I know this young man. He’s dealt with some difficult issues by facing them head-on and I think he deserves an opportunity to keep growing and being challenged.”</p>
<p>I don’t know if any of this will work, but I think a strategy built around embracing and successfully dealing with your self-inflicted wounds could present a compelling story to USC.</p>
<p>Thanks vinceh!!! I appreciate the response. I have gone to a number of tours on the USC campus and will be attending the transfer fair this September. I plan on really describing my circumstances in vivid detail throughout my essay as it is the reason I have had a “circumstantial” schedule. Through my on going phone calls with the Rep. it seems that they are not really interested in meeting/ hearing my story as they are very short with me over the phone. As far as EC’s, do you think that will get me in?</p>
<p>ECs are important to the extent that they can show commitment and maturity or can be brought up in an essay or recommendation. For me ECs are like whipped cream on a hot fudge sundae, a nice finishing note to the dessert but it won’t make up for a lousy ice cream.</p>
<p>Very true. Well that is why I picked up 3 HARD classes in the summer and am taking 20 units right now as I want to show USC I can handle a heavy course load… hopefully they will look at that.</p>