USC or UCLA?

[drax12]

<p>

To be noticed in a team sport you have to have the stats, against very strong competition, to pull you through with certain gpas. (Stanford, when my youngest was going through applications had a 3.6 minimum for example.) You must be a strong part of a travelling team. But having a coach call you or return your call doesn’t get you into a university unless you are a superstar. It is called a notation on your application. The applicant MIGHT be a walk on. Will it help? Sure, if the AdCom is on the fence about you. But it absolutely won’t get you in if that possibility of a walk on is your strongest point.

</p>

<p>I’ve heard of third-team hs league players who’ve walked onto UCLA’s water polo teams. True, they were excellent students, probably at least nearly admissible on their own merits, and they weren’t even preferred walkons (which would require a modicum of talent, I agree), but they made the team frosh year. That extra push by the coach makes a very large difference because he knew about them through contact. And teams usually like a lot of players for practice purposes, so they didn’t have to be particularly good but good practice bodies. Baseball, might be a bit different because there aren’t a lot of practice fields to have numerous competitons, practices.</p>

<p>

The CC option is a good one if you must be in Los Angeles because, for instance you want to be an actor. But unless the OP has his heart set on Los Angeles, this is not a “college experience” for an out of stater. I imagine, since our CCs are commuter schools, it might be a lonely experience as there are no dorms to fall back on, the kids have friends from high school and most kids just go to class and go home or to a job.

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<p>Certainly it would depend on his motivation in attending unversity in LA. But there are a lot of foreign and a moderate amount of out-of-state students at Santa Monica College because they know that this cc sends numerous students to UCLA (and USC). These students are apartment dwellers who live near the SMC campus.</p>

[ellebud]

<p>Drax: Read what I wrote. The kids that you wrote about were admitted ON THEIR OWN MERITS to UCLA. Their admission was NOT predicated on their athletics. To get into a university based on your ecs you have to bring special abilities, not a squeak in academically. Yes, in minor sports (and occasionally in major sports) there are successful walkons. But, as I keep saying, EVERY high school has (for example) a football team. There is a star or two in EVERY high school. There are thousands of high schools in the United States, that has a star or two and several excellent players on that team. What are the odds that all of these players will play in college? Less than 1%…It’s a nice experience, it’s character building, but it isn’t taking you into the majors.</p>

<p>And yes, there are kids who live around SMC, but its not the college experience. Cal States offer more (with lower gpas required.)</p>

<p>In any case to the OP: You can always try but do research first as to minimum gpas/scores etc.</p>

[drax12]

<p>My reading comprehension is fine, but thanks for your concern.</p>

<p>I would invite you to re-read your own messages.</p>

<p>

’… must be part of a championship team’ for team sports.

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<p>not true…</p>

<p>

You must be a strong part of a travelling team.

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<p>For college? Not true… For hs? Those who wouldn’t travel would be jv, so I guess that’s true.</p>

<p>

But having a coach call you or return your call doesn’t get you into a university unless you are a superstar.

</p>

<p>Here’s what I said:</p>

<p>

That extra push by the coach makes a very large difference because he knew about them through contact.

</p>

<p>‘That extra push,’ helped them gain admission to UCLA. Without it, they might well not have been accepted. UCLA has quirky admissions, which at times sees valedictory types rejected, and leapfrogged by lower-ranked students. This isn’t always the case and the rule, generally, but it does happen. There are no guarantees for admission especially for, say, the too angular a student with just grades/scores and water polo on his/her app. These players attributed their admittance to that extra push by the coach, even if they weren’t all that great in their sport.</p>

<p>Some of your other stuff is so nonsensical, I can’t even approach addressing them.</p>

<p>Wrt SMC, it’s what you make of it. There are plenty of student groups with which to become involved, so I wouldn’t discount the experience there (besides CSU’s being commuter campuses themselves). I should have addressed this earlier, to have tried to prevent your dogged determinedness in firing back. Maybe by finishing and addressing all, you might not have. ; )</p>

<p>And I don’t mean ‘nonsensical’ in an angry tone. I just didn’t know how to address some of your stuff, like the fb analogy, etc.</p>