I have a question about University of Southern Cali. So I saw some stat somewhere and it said about 50% of people attending USC are from Cali, 18% international, and then the next 4 represented states is not a state I am from. Does this give me an advantage, being from a different state where there aren’t many who apply to USC? When looking at their data, I am right in the middle of their average SAT and GPA scores. Though I don’t have some amazing stats like others applying, is it helpful that I am from an underrepresented state?
No it does not give you an advantage at USC. Their common data set states that “geographical residence” is not considered in admissions.
Check out section C7 http://irusc.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/CDS-2014-15.pdf
In the freshmen class now at SC 43% were from California. It is a diverse class with 1,575 separate high schools represented from all over the world. International students comprise 15% of the freshmen.