USC Transfer Questions & Chances

Transfer Students
1

<p>Hello! This is my first post here but I’ve been an active reader for some time. I have a few questions about the University of Southern California’s transfer process.</p>

<li><p>I have applied to the Marshall school as my first choice. If denied for my first and second choice, am I considered as an undecided major? I know that for freshmen, USC first decides if they will be accepted to CLAS, then the individual school after.</p></li>
<li><p>It seems like most transfer information for USC is geared toward the many transfer students who are applying from California community colleges (average GPA, transfer credits, etc.).
However, I am currently in my first year at NYU, and have applied to USC for Fall 08. How does my application compare to those of community college students? I will provide my “stats”</p>

<p>First-Choice Major:
Business Administration, B.S.
Second-Choice Major:
Economics, B.A.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>NYU Fall 2007:
Writing I: A
Algebra & Calculus: B
Advanced Spanish Grammar & Composition: A-
Intro to Sports Mgmt & Leisure Studies: A
Overall GPA: 3.653</p>

<p>Spring 2008:
Writing II
Economics Principles I (Macro)
Economics Principles II (Micro)
Calculus I</p>

<p>High School:
GPA: 3.89 (unweighted)
SAT Math: 690
SAT Reading: 710
SAT Writing: 760
SAT II Math (Level II): 710
SAT II Spanish: 780</p>

<p>ACT Composite: 32
AP Scores: Pyschology (5), Human Geography (5), Environmental Science (4), Statistics (4), Spanish Language (4)</p>

<p>If I’ve left anything important out, just ask.</p>

<p>Thank you for your help!!</p>

<p>-Phil</p>

2

<p>Anyone have any answers ?</p>

3

<p>Marshall will reject u based on the school ur coming from and the amount of credits u completed. A 3.653 on just 12 credits in 3 introductory courses and one advanced spanish course is not impressive.</p>

<p>But again... your high school records might get u in...</p>

<p>keep ur fingers crossed...</p>

4

<p>I thought NYU Stern was ranked higher than USC Marshall.</p>

<p>Why would Marshall reject Umpakati based on that?</p>

5

<p>"Marshall will reject u based on the school ur coming from"</p>

<p>I doubt that. In fact, USC might even consider the fact that NYU is a much more competitive school than say, a CCC or average State school, and is therefore harder to get straight As at. </p>

<p>However, make sure you have a compelling reason for transferring, because if you don't, they might say, "well, he's already at a great school and can graduate from there," whereas CC students NEED to transfer elsewhere and students from lower-tier schools are probably transferring because they don't feel challenged enough. </p>

<p>You don't have enough units at NYU for them to consider you solely on your college record, so your high school stats will matter much more. If you don't get in this year, try again next fall when you have more credits and have proven yourself to be an excellent student.</p>

6

<p>True. Despite that clearly NYU is more difficult than any community college the fact is that it is much more difficult to transfer not only from a four-year, but also as an out of state student. If you are rejected from your first choice major, USC considers admission to your 2nd choice. If that doesn't go too well either you are rejected from USC. There are certain pitfalls at applying to two majors under the same difficult professional school, clearly. Considering that... best of luck!
It would help a lot for you to ask for articulation histories. Call into admissions and a counselor assigned your state should have them available for those students whom have transferred from NYU to USC and what courses they have taken that transfer.</p>

7

<p>I'm not sure how much of a disadvantage transferring from out-of-state will have on the OP. As USC is a private university, I don't think they put much weight on residency. According to page 4 of the transfer brochure <a href="http://www.usc.edu/admission/undergraduate/private/docs/admission/TransferringBook_2007_2008_v6.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.usc.edu/admission/undergraduate/private/docs/admission/TransferringBook_2007_2008_v6.pdf&lt;/a>, it looks like the OP has a better chance at transferring than me, a CSU student. 17% of transfers came from out-of-state colleges, and 12% from CSU/UCs in the last five years. 63% from CCCs! If we go by this logic, it looks like you're a shoo-in, Woman of Troy. </p>

<p>Someone posted this very useful link in one of the USC transfer threads not too long ago: <a href="https://camel.usc.edu/articagrmt/artic_hist_range.aspx%5B/url%5D"&gt;https://camel.usc.edu/articagrmt/artic_hist_range.aspx&lt;/a>
It has articulation histories with schools that are not CCCs, and NYU is there, so you can see what transfers instead of calling. I wish I had known about it 2 years ago - I called before the start of every semester to ask what courses from my school would fulfill GE requirements! These articulation histories are not official though - so there is no guarantee they will transfer over but they are highly likely to. When I compared the courses they told me would transfer over the phone to the courses on that site, they were dead-on accurate.</p>

8

<p>A lot of NYU students transfer to USC. I say you have a shot. Probably spring admit.</p>

9

<p>did you apply already? I wasn't sure by the tone or your post. if not, then you'll have to wait till next year. </p>

<p>also, I'm a bit concerned about ECs. do you have any?</p>

10

<p>wait... just re-read. you applied. anyhow, I would be concerned about ECs maybe. but i'm sure you'll be fine.</p>

11

<p>Here's what I listed for my ECs:</p>

<p>Activities:
Key Club International (2003-2007) - Vice President, 2006-07;
Spanish Honor Society (2004-2007) - President, 2006-07;
Green Group (2005-2007);
Grace Place Tutoring (2003-2006)
Light The Night walk for leukemia and lymphoma (2006) - Team Captain</p>

<p>Honors and Awards:
AP International Diploma; AP Scholar with Distinction; National Merit Scholarship Commended Student; Top 25 Century Dinner (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007); Student of the Week (2005, 2006, 2007); Barron Collier High School Academic Excellence Award (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007); Barron Collier High School Honor Roll; Key Club International UNICEF Hero Award; Eagle University Dare to Soar Award; William S. Gentry Student Award; Northside Naples Kiwanis Student Award</p>

<p>Summer programs, conferences, etc.:
-International Studies Abroad “Spanish Language and Culture” – University of Salamanca in Salamanca, Spain (Summer 2006);
NETC “Ancient Civilizations” - two-week educational tour of Italy and Greece (Summer 2006);
-Key Club International Convention in Orlando, FL (2006)
-NETC “Summer in Spain” - two-week educational tour of Spain (Summer 2005);
-Eagle University – Leadership and Success Seminar in Dallas, Texas (May 2005);
Other Overseas Travel Experience: Yerevan, Armenia (Summer 2005); Aveiro, Portugal (Summer 2005); London, United Kingdom (Summer 2003, 2004); Paris, France (Summer 2004); San José, Costa Rica (Spring 2003)</p>

<p>I also listed my work experience.</p>

<p>Also, Economics (my second choice major) is not a part of the Marshall school at USC... it's under their Arts & Sciences school. As for reasons for transferring, I really wrote on what excited me about USC. I think I perhaps should have focused more on how much different (and better!) it would be vs. my current situation.</p>

<p>Yes, I already applied. I also took a look at the articulation histories. Everything I have taken will transfer (with the exception of Intro to Sports Mgmt). I shouldn't have a problem getting solid grades this semester.</p>

<p>One question: If I'm asked for Spring grades (and I'm assuming I will be), does that essentially rule me out of Fall admission? I would be okay with Spring admission, just curious. :|</p>

12

<p>Your EC's are not surprising provided that you come from NYU.</p>

13

<p>Thanks for the "plug", mapletree--I was the one that posted the articulation history website.</p>

<p>Umpakati, since you wish to transfer to Marshall, you need to take the pre-requisities for Marshall and you need to take USC's general education requirements. Your background and experience is fine--and you have the time to finish many of the prerequisites for Marshall during the sophomore year, but they may reject you since in your first semester you:</p>

<p>(1) have completed zero courses (out of your four) that apply as either a pre-requisite or a USC general education course (the algebra and calculus course will not count, but the second semester Calculus course will--and they may give you credit for Writing I, since it has to be taken before Writing II--which meets the USC requirement--but the other two courses don't meet any USC requirements for Marshall or for the school</p>

<p>(2) Since you took zero courses that are USC reqs, they may want to base your grades on more courses (maybe they will, maybe they won't --I can't really say), </p>

<p>(3) are an out-of-state student. What mapletree's argument above fails to consider is that people applying to USC from out-of-state, 4-year schools do not have to be out-of-state students. Like my own son, they could be people who couldn't get into USC originally--and went to the best 4-year business programs they could find out-of-state (like Indiana for my son) and now have the grades to try and transfer to USC. (Other than UC Berkeley and USC, none of the other undergraduate business schools in California are rated among the top 40 by USNW or Business Week.) USC is a private university, so they don't have to give preference to in-state students, but historically, they do. I'm thinking this partly has to do with the fact that they know all in-state students qualify for Cal Grants (which lessens USC financial aid problems somewhat), but I think it is also a historic thing that has carried over from year to year. Note that they do admit internationals in high numbers--but they give zero financial aid to internationals--which strengthens my argument above related to Cal Grants; and</p>

<p>(4) Apparently you never applied to USC for admission as a college freshman.</p>

<p>To summarize:
You do have strong numbers and ECs and might be a good candidate for USC. Fortunately, you are currently taking a lot of the Marshall pre-requisites in the current Spring semester, but I have to wonder whether they will admit you when you never applied to the school originally, are already at a great business school, and have only taken 4 courses so far--none of which meets the pre-requirements of USC and Marshall.</p>

<p>I'm guessing they will ask for your grades from the Spring Semester before making a decision one way or the other. This means that if I were you I would not expect a decision by April 1st, but rather in mid-May or even early June.</p>

14

<p>Thanks for the informative answer, Calcruzer.</p>

<p>It's important to note that I am an NYU student but unfortunately NOT in Stern.
The reason I chose Econ as my 2nd choice major was that I figured I'd have a better shot at still getting in to their CLAS should I be rejected from Marshall.</p>

15

<p>hey im transferring from NY state too!..but from Skidmore College
I have spoken to some profs at USC and apparently they give less preference to people that they have rejected the first time round ><
hmm I have a similar college GPA to you but I'm going to apply as an undecided major to be safe..</p>

<p>anyways good luck!</p>

16

<p>Awesome! I would have liked to apply as undecided 2nd choice but I didn't know if that was possible</p>