I have always had a love for writing and over the past year I’ve discovered a passion for screenplay writing. Like everyone else who has any interest in film studies, I’d give my left foot to go to USC.
My concern is that my GPA and SAT. At the end of my junior year, my GPA is 3.66. Next year I expect it to rise above 3.7. I am happy with my GPA, but for USC I fear that it’ll be too average. I am even more concerned with my 1200 because it is about as average as SAT scores can get. I am wondering about whether or not I should retake my SAT.
I have consistently taken challenging classes, have a crazy amount of volunteer hours, have worked part-time to help my family, have a really good list of extracurriculars, and I am confident that my writing skills and portfolio would impress. I even am taking a screenwriting course at my community college this summer (which I am doing quite well in). Despite all of this, I fear that I’ll get passed over due to my average GPA and test scores. Should I retake my SAT?
In terms of getting “Chanced” for USC, it is virtually impossible for others to predict what may or may not occur in your specific case. With an admit rate now below 13% and falling, and with 4K+ applicants with 4.0 unweighted GPAs and test scores in the 99th percentile among those not gaining admission, your success will instead likely depend on too many potential factors for anyone to correctly evaluate… making predicting admission nearly impossible.
Instead… it will likely come down to a composite and holistic analysis of your stats coupled with writing ability / essays, ECs, potential leadership roles, potential other unique qualifiers (URM, First Gen, geography, demographics, etc.), your Why USC? explanation/reasoning, etc.
I suggest possibly reading an excellent thread on the topic from the beginning…
Moreover, it may be best to just read through the following very helpful insider’s guide to USC admissions…
https://tfm.usc.edu/a-guide-to-uscs-college-admissions-process/
Gaining admission to the School of Cinematic Arts is even more challenging. The admit rate for SCA is more likely in the 2-6% range. But, as it is a creative program, your submissions and writing samples could potentially say them a bit. They have some leeway in terms of who they can lobby for. Generally speaking, most admits do have unweighted GPAs at 3.7 or higher and with SAT scores at 1350 or higher, so I would urge you to try and raise your test score especially. Exceptions with lower scores/stats do of course get in, but there needs to be a compelling reason for such… i.e. URM, FirstGen, athlete, performer, creative talent, etc.
Good Luck…
I was recently accepted into SCA for Film and TV Production and I will be attending this fall. I had very similar stats to you (slightly lower unweighted GPA) so I believe that I definitely got in because of my essays and film submission. I would advise you to take the SAT or ACT again but definitely do not be discouraged if you are not happy with your score. You should focus more on your SCA application because that is your biggest strength. Also, don’t be too scared of USC’s low acceptance rate because they do accept a good amount of spring admits, since they don’t do waitlists. I, myself, was accepted as a spring admit but got moved up to the fall later on. While I may be giving you hope, I do acknowledge that my situation is rare and I am very very lucky. There are other factors that play into admissions such as race and I’m a minority. So work hard on your essays and portfolio because they are your best bet but also don’t be discouraged by the statistics. In fact, an SCA faculty member actually told me that essays are the most important part of an application. Good luck!