<p>Hey guys just wondering how likely is it for a person with strong academics but weak ecs and community service to get admitted or even considered for scholarship?</p>
<p>Close to nothing for a scholarship,
Basically the entire entering class (minus athletes) will have some of the strongest academics in their classes, they’re only going to give scholarships to the ones who stand out in other areas.</p>
<p>As for admissions, it’s really a toss-up but chances are good.</p>
<p>Even when you have “good” academics (above 3.8uw GPA and 2100 SAT) it’s really a toss-up at that point. I’ve seen kids get rejected from USC and accepted to Harvard. Obviously though those are exceptions. </p>
<p>Of course, the paradox is that if you don’t have good academics, you don’t stand as much of a chance. So keep up the good academics and apply to a lot of great schools and you’ll get into some of them. It’s really just a numbers game.</p>
<p>Grabbit nailed it. </p>
<p>Keep in mind that admissions, both undergrad and graduate, is a thoroughly human process. I just saw a documentary on Harvard Business School in which the dean said that the school screwed up when they didn’t admit Warren Buffett… stuff like that. Also keep in mind that you guys are in the middle of a demographic bulge right now with more and more kids applying for the exact same (and in the case of many state schools, even less) number of seats as in previous decades. This is NOT your fault and you shouldn’t take any of that as a judgment on your character at all.</p>
<p>The other thing with USC in particular is to focus on why specifically you want to go to USC rather than, say, Stanford or UCLA or Notre Dame or Harvard or whatever. Make sure in your application that you tell them exactly what it is that turns your crank about USC and what you want out of your potential time there. It’s a mating process on both sides and they want good students who want to be there and will succeed just as much as you want a good school that will help you succeed in life.</p>
<p>Hey guys thx for the comments… Is there anyway that i can make up for my weak ecs? Btw i m an international student.</p>
<p>Depending on the country ECs are not as emphasized in high school. So if you’re applying from a country that is doesn’t have an “EC tradition” then that should be taken into account. That said, anything that can give the Admissions Committee a fuller sense of you as a person will certainly help your chances. Do you participate in a sport, even on the advanced hobby level? Are you a musician? Artist? Won any academic awards? Anything the “rounds out” your personality will help.</p>
<p>I am from Malaysia…I’m not sure whether it is consider as a country that has the “EC tradition”. I have participated in a few math competitions but hardly won anything. Does self learning count as ecs?</p>
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<p>Umm…I don’t think so. You could spin that into your essay but I don’t see it as an activity you could list on your resume.</p>
<p>My ECs were incredibly weak - I had little community service, a few clubs that I did for four years, and I swam for 4 years and played water polo for 2 as well. I applied as a bio major and got a Dean’s scholarship - not the best obviously, but still better than nothing! Just write really good essays and make yourself stand out.</p>
<p>Swimming for your high school team for 4 years and playing water polo for 2 are not ‘incredibly weak’ ECs.</p>
<p>If you were using “self learning” and did say, 4 years of online computer programming courses, or anything else for that matter that took an enormous amount of spare time (job, household responsibilities, et) then admissions would look at that in the same way they look at others EC’s - they want to know: What do you do with your spare time?
If you are from a country where academics takes up the majority of your day including evenings, then admissions is very familiar with your situation as it is. As grabbit mentioned: make what you do a part of your essays - let them see who you are.</p>
<p>Okay, incredibly weak it seemed compared to others who discussed theirs during my application process. In the community service area, I hardly had anything.</p>
<p>I learnt german on my own after i attended almost two years of the A1 level at school… and i also learnt to play guitar on my own… Does that count? And will a good teacher recommendation and good essay make up for my weak ecs?</p>