what should i do to get ready??

Colleges & Universities A-Z University of Southern California
1

<p>im only a sophomore(yes i know a little young) but i really really want to attend usc. its my dream school and im prepared to do anything i have to to make sure i get in. ive read many post on this site and so many people seemed very much qualified and got REJECTED, while others didn't seem so much qualified and got accepted. i know usc looks at many different things on the applications besides grades but i had a really bad freshman year and i was wondering if this seems pretty good for my junior year</p>

<p>ap gov
geometry
art of the essay honors
gender roles(l.a)
American studies 2(maybe honors but i would have to override)
ind.study for child growth and development
forensics/astronomy
EC's
i work at day care school 3 days a week for about 3 hrs after school but im going to do more hours in the summer
i work at an inner city school once a week for about 2hrs(doing arts and crafts)
varsity cheerleading(co-captain)
doing 30hrs of community service this summer</p>

<p><strong>just to throw this out there my freshman year i did really bad, my grades were low and i had only 1EC. the summer before my sophomore year i did all these things and i plan on doing it again the summer before my junior year</strong></p>

2

<p>Don't worry too much about your freshman year. So long as there is a notable increase in grade trend, you should be fine. I'm not gonna be like the guru for getting into USC, cause I just got rejected and still haven't quite figured out why, but make sure to study for your SATs (yes, you can study for it, despite what most might say- I had a 300+ increase from the first and second time I took it) and make sure to take the most intense classes for your junior and senior year. They'll pay most attention to Junior year and fall senior year. Diversify your extracurriculars, but still make them somewhat related to what you want to study. Make sure in your application, you allow yourself to shine through in every aspect, most importantly in your essay. Just stick to it, and don't worry too much about it. It's good that you're starting early, trying to prepare. I wish I had, but I lived out of the country for my first two years and that really hurt me, cause I couldn't take all the classes I should have. You'll do fine, just don't let it stress you out too much in the meantime. Enjoy your time in highschool, you'll never get those years again. Don't we know that, stressed0ut?</p>

3

<p>develop GREAT relationships with teachers AND your guidance counselor and anyone else who will be helpful for teacher rec's etc</p>

<p>try to find some USC alumni to make friends with too lol</p>

4

<p>Make sure your SAT scores are decent, but spend a LOT of effort on your essays, and make sure your relationships with your teachers/other rec letter writers are good. I was on the panel during Explore USC scholarship interviews, and trust me, USC looks at the WHOLE package, even in terms of scholarships. I interviewed people who were up for trustee whose SAT scores were sometimes in the 600's, while I personally know of people whose SAT scores were in the 2200's and they weren't even up for scholarships. There was a lot of emphasis placed on essays and EC's. It's too early to worry about your application essays already, but it's never too early to cultivate good relationships with teachers, so just work on that :)</p>

<p>Oh, and if it makes you feel better, my freshman year was definitely not phenomenal, and I didn't even have any EC's that year, and I did just fine in the admissions process. Good luck!</p>

5

<p>I like your ECs, actually. They aren't extraordinarily amazing, but they seem to speak a lot about what you are interested in. Are you considering pursuing a career in child care or teaching young children? I have to question how valid the effect of increasing the diversity of extracurricular activities is on college admission. My ECs were largely unilateral and I got into the majority of the schools which I applied to(and with scholarships from everywhere with the exception of the ivies and some of the super-selective schools). If you find yourself sitting around with lots of free time then, by all means, you should take up a few more ECs that you will enjoy, key phrase being "that you will enjoy". If you feel like you're already taking on the most that you can realistically handle without suffering from insomnia or a drop in grades or physical/mental illness of some sort, forget it, you're fine =). As Peter Chemery, an associate admissions director at the University of Chicago, said, "This image of 'well-rounded' suburban students with long lists of extracurriculars is an utter fiction created by the college-admissions industry." Do what you love. It's as simple as that.</p>

<p>Like the previous poster said, don't worry too much about freshman year. The adcom is composed of human beings and they understand that high school is part of growing up, and they don't necessarily expect you to be the perfect student going into it. They want to see what kind of student they will be receiving when you enroll, not what kind of student you were coming out of 8th grade.</p>

<p>So, now that I've given you some praise I suppose I should actually throw some advice out there. =P</p>

<p>The first thing I noticed about your post is that your courses for next year seem to be fairly easy. Now, given that I really know nothing about your school, but if you think you can handle getting an A/B in American Studies 2 honors, I would recommend overriding it. They really like to see that you are taking the most challenging course load available to you. Of course, you have to use your own discretion. I mean, it's good to have to work to get an A, but if you're going to be losing sleep trying to study then it may not be the best move. I really don't know how else to comment on your courses. It looks like the courses at your school are a lot different than mine where we have "English 3" instead of "The art of essays" :-\ Just make sure you're challenging yourself and try to maintain the majority of your classes as "primary classes" i.e. classes in the typically academic areas: science, math, english, history/social science, and foreign language <-- I don't see one in your schedule??? Colleges like to see at least 2 years of this, typically the 2 years before graduation).</p>

<p>Of course, as the previous poster said, make sure that you adequately prepare for the SAT. I personally never did any practice for these tests, but I know people who have and they have had great success in raising their scores, so it is definitely worthwhile, in particular if you aren't a naturally great test taker(if you aren't consistently in the 99th percentile on standardized tests). It may also be worthwhile to take some SAT II's if you think you will do well on them.</p>

<p>The essays are also extremely important, but being a sophomore you really don't have to worry about that right now. </p>

<p>Make sure you get to know some of your teachers next year on a more personal level if at all possible. That way they will be able to write you awesome recommendation letters.</p>

<p>One last piece of advice, and this is the most important of all: challenge yourself academically, push yourself in terms of EC's, but never, ever, let any of this get in the way of simply enjoying yourself. Your ECs should complement your interests and be enjoyable pursuits. If they ever feel bothersome, you should change them! Life should never be about trying to impress someone, it's about learning how to challenge ourselves while having fun doing it. If we lose sight of that, we become miserable. </p>

<p>It's nice that you're thinking about your future, but dang, go out and have some fun!! =)</p>

6

<p>thank you so much! i actually go to a very hard public school in nj(i believe its either the 2nd or 3rd best in the state.) and enigma i really want to be a elementary school teacher which is why im trying to keep my ECs in that area. i took French for 2 years but it hurt my GPA so much that i just decided to stop and take an AP class instead. do you think if i took two AP classes and 1 honors and forget gender roles since i heard colleges don't like that to much seeing as its easy that that'd be better? BTW mainevent ive seen your post on this board and you stats, i really don't see why you weren't accepted. if i were you i would appeal that ****!</p>

7

<p>Yeah... thanks for the encouragement. I did appeal, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I know- they're weird people, those admission officers. I remember reading about a kid on this forum last year who got rejected but got into Harvard, isn't that sort of funny in an ironic way?</p>

8

<p>yea it is. stuff like thats crazy,it makes you think, you can work your ass of in hs get really good grades and sat's but still not get into the college you want. god i really hate thinking about this stuff now :[</p>

9

<p>Like I said, don't worry about it too much. You'll get it... just enjoy your highschool years while it lasts.</p>

10

<p>I think that if you can handle the 2 AP's and 1 honors then it might be a better option for you. Just make sure you're taking the most challenging classes you can handle without making yourself miserable/unhappy. Gender roles does seem to stand out in your course list as, perhaps, a weak point.</p>

<p>As an aside, I experienced my own rejection earlier this year in December when I was rejected from my first choice EA school with no chance of appeal. It sucked, and I felt like everything I had accomplished up to that point had been for nothing, but then I came to my senses and realized that it was just one school and that nothing anybody could ever say could demean my accomplishments. so I sucked it up, finished the rest of my applications, and got into some amazing schools. </p>

<p>I firmly believe that everything that has happened this year: the rejections, the acceptances, the decision making and even the stressing, has made me a stronger person. I also think that, in the end, all of us will end up in the place where we belong. Whether that's USC or Stanford or wherever.</p>

<p>But, hey, I've also been told I'm a foolish idealist, so to each his own. In any event, good luck to you jersey in your quest for admission to USC, and good luck to you, mainevent, in your appeal! Both of you sound like excellent people who will excel at whatever it is that you decide you want to do, and USC would be lucky to have either of you!</p>

<p>In the end, the only advice that really matters is to go out there and enjoy life and stop worrying about all of this stuff. It will work out exactly the way it was meant to work out.</p>