<p>I'll be a senior in high school and at the top of my list is University of Southern California.
My gpa is a 3.69 weighted and unweighted.
My ACT score is 27
My activities include:
-studied abroad in Spain for 1 month in the summer
-marching band 4 years
-section leader of the front ensemble
-jazz band 3 years (lead piano player)
-variety show 4 years (one year I arranged music for an ensemble to play [Idk if that helps])
-horticulture team 2 years
-sophomore band award: New and upcoming talent
-junior year band award: outstanding junior class musician
-founder and leader of Italian club
-MTAC (Marrow Transplant Awareness of Chicago) publicity team member.
-piano lessons for 12 years</p>
<p>I know for this particular school, my gpa and ACT are on the low side, but I plan on writing an outstanding essay, and I'm hoping the activities also play a large role in the actual decision.
Anyways please chance me for this school it would really be appreciated :D</p>
<p>Your ACT score is below the 25th percentile of accepted students at USC. So from that perspective your chances are very low. Have you (or preferably your band director on your behalf) contacted the USC marching band director? Perhaps that experience would make a difference.</p>
<p>The band doesn’t have a pit, so contacting them about piano wouldn’t mean anything (unless you play another instrument for marching season?)…It’s still a good EC by itself, though. Contacting the music school’s orchestra instead might be helpful.</p>
<p>What do you want to major in at USC?</p>
<p>I’d like to major in business entrepreneurship as well as landscape architecture</p>
<p>From personal knowledge, your ACT is fine - but will depend on your intended major and what other unique things you bring to the table. Most colleges know that some students just don’t test well. So while your score is going to be a factor, it’s not necessarily the most important one. That’s why USC only reports the middle 50%. Because a lot of brilliant students sometimes do well in school and poor on standardized exams. And can sometimes be influenced by who has had test prep courses (or could afford them) and who did not.</p>
<p>Here’s the caveat - even if your grades and scores were perfect a lot of similar students are getting turned away. Just too many applications for too few spots. I do notice that USC looks at the range of experiences a student has. So try. What do you have to lose? </p>
From his posting history, it’s probably no.