Hi!
I have a few questions regarding USC. I am currently a junior from Michigan. My unweighted GPA is a 3.92, and weighted is a 4.06. My school only weights AP classes, and I know USC recalculates grades to weight honors classes. My USC GPA is about a 4.33. My highest ACT currently is a 28. Since I would be out of state, I am really hoping I would be able to get a scholarship. Right now, it looks like I could possibly get the Flinn Scholarship, but I would ideally like to get my ACT up to get in-state tuition. Also, I am interested in studying business. What are my chances of getting into the business school? What about specifically into the international business program, and the honors college? What about the captstone program? I don’t really know how all of these work, but I have become really interested in the university! Please let me know what you know.
As a side note, I have 200+ hours of service (will be more than 300 by the time I apply)
Varsity tennis and golf
Student congress (KLAA Representative, School improvements committee chair)
unified sports for 2 years (helped disabled kids play sports)
Key club
National Honors Society
I am touring USC on March 31, and I can’t wait!
Also, what do you think my chances of getting into the University overall are?
Thanks!!
IB is a really competitive program, so the only way to get into it your freshman year is either through cohort program or auto-admit from Honors College. You could also go through competitive admissions after your first year at USC.
For Honors, the 2015 interquartile ranges were 1390-1470 (SAT CR-M) 31-34 (ACT) 1440-1510 (estimated new SAT), and 4.65 (Weighted GPA). I think the biggest part, however, was the essays. My stats were well below middle 50 (29 ACT 1320 SAT and 4.4 Weighted GPA) but my essays were what really made my application. I went through so many revisions and had a college advisor to read over my essays, so I made sure that my essays were the best quality possible. I also think that my recs were really good (haven’t seen them but those teachers really liked me).
For Capstone, I don’t know the exact process, but from my many friends that go to USC, if you’re competitive for Honors College, then you’ll likely be invited for Capstone. Ranges for Capstone are lower than Honors. There’s no separate application for Capstone and you’ll be notified around March. Also, I’ve heard of people doing both Honors and Capstone if they enter USC a Capstone Scholar and apply for Honors during their freshman year (I’m not 100% sure though).
I’d definitely try to talk to some Honors and Capstone representatives to get more information if I were you. Also, I hope your tour of USC is great! I’ve lived in Columbia all of my life, so it gets boring at times for me. However, there are plenty of cool places to visit and great places to eat here.
*btw I’m in-state, so you’re experience may be different.