Hi! I’m a junior applying for the USC RHP this year. I would really appreciate any input on my chances of admission. Thank you!
Side Note: RHP typically admits 20-40 students out of 75-150 applicants according to the USC Dornsife Admissions Office.
Here are my stats:
Objective:
PSAT: 201 in Sophomore year; Junior year PSAT score is as of yet unknown.
SAT: I’m taking it on November 7th, but I’m expecting a score from 2100-2200 based on my average practice exam scores. Hopefully, I will be able to score higher.
GPA: ~3.7-3.8 UW/~4.45-4.5 W (I haven’t calculated it recently, but it should be in that range)
Rank: Unknown. The counselors don’t release rank until the end of the semester, but I’m predicting that I’ll be in the top 10%-20%. My school is relatively competitive compared to the majority of schools in my area.
AP (Scores): AP Chinese: 5; AP Psych: 4; AP World History: 3 (I’m not planning on submitting this score)
High School Credits Prior to Freshman Year: Concepts of Engineering, Art 1, Chinese 1, Chinese 2, Speech, Algebra 1
Freshman Year Courses: PreAP World Geography, PreAP English 1, PreAP Chinese 3, PreAP Geometry, PreAP Biology, Dance 1
Sophomore Year Courses: AP World History, PreAP English 2, AP Chinese 4, Dance Team, PreAP Algebra 2, PreAP Chemistry, AP Psychology
Junior Year Courses: PreAP Pre-Calculus, AP Statistics, AP Computer Science, AP Physics 1, AP US History, AP English Language
**PreAP classes are, essentially, the equivalent of Honors classes from what I can tell. AP classes aren’t available to students at my school until Sophomore year.
Subjective:
Extracurriculars:
Out-of-School Dance (1st-Now)
Student Council (9)
Dance Team (9-10)
Park Cities Presbyterian Church Internship (summer before 10th Grade)
Data Research Analyst (sort-of job from my sister who was a professor at SMU - 10)
Mu Alpha Theta/Math Honor Society (10)
Future Business Leaders of America (9-Now)
- School Freshman Ambassador in 9th
- School Historian in 10th
- School Reporter in 11th
- Texas Area 5 Reporter-Historian in 10th and 11th
National Chinese Honor Society (9-Now) - President (10-Now)
Chinese Club (Founder and President)
National Honor Society (Now)
Volunteer/Community service: 200+ hours
Awards:
FBLA
- 1st at Districts in Digital Video Production
- 2nd at State in Chapter Scrapbook
- 4th at Nationals in E-Business
- Future Business Achievement Award
CATS (Cougars Achieving Through Service) Volunteer Award - 9th and 10th Grade
Major I’m Applying To: International Relations (Global Business) in the Dornsife College with an emphasis in business
State: Texas
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: ~$200,000
Hooks:
- My EC’s are fairly strong and I feel like they provide support for my planned major.
- Good course load (weighted GPA not very high because of poor planning on my part for course selection and the occasional B)
- In my free response on the application, I’ve expressed my interest in pursuing an “international education” in concordance to USC’s status as an international university.
Possible Setbacks:
- My GPA and SAT scores may not be considered very “competitive” in consideration to the many other academically gifted students who are applying to RHP.
- My counselor’s recommendation will most likely be fairly generic (I could be wrong; I’ve met with her several times and she’s expressed her interest in writing an amazing recommendation letter) since students at my school never really interact with the counselors until Senior year.
Please let me know if you have any questions!