Do I have a shot at a scholarship - or even acceptance?

scarecrow521
Sat, 23 Jan 2010 22:09:33 +0000

Hello all! First, I’d like to begin by apologizing for creating another “chance” thread that serves only to benefit myself, but I have been scouring these boards for weeks upon weeks to find someone with similar stats and I haven’t been too successful.

With the recent status updates (as you can imagine, I was not one of the lucky few to receive such a gift), I have been losing sleep and hyperventilating over the prospect of not receiving a scholarship from USC. So, if anyone has some free time on their hands, I’d really appreciate it someone could look over my credentials:

Gender: Male
Location: Out-of-state (Texas)
Ethnicity: White
Applying to: Marshall - Business Administration

Class Rank: 64/662 (extremely competitive public school - this is probably the weakest part of the app but it has probably gone up during the first semester of senior year)
GPA UW: 3.85
GPA W: Unsure, but I take a great deal of AP and Honors courses

SAT: 2170 (750 CR, 680 M, 740 W)
ACT: 34 (definitely pleased with this)
SAT Subject: 770 US History, 700 Literature, 660 Math I
AP: World History (4), U.S. History (4), English Language and Composition (4), taking 4 more exams at the end of the year

Essay: Wrote about an amateur film project I did for fun for the “Visions and Voices” prompt. I thought it was well-written and witty, but then again, everyone thinks their essay is great. I also included a heartwarming love letter to USC in my third short answer.

Recommendations: My counselor wrote one as well as my sophomore English teacher, who I have kept in contact with since leaving her class. Apparently, she made me out to be a saint, which I suppose is good news.

I also interviewed with a professor from Marshall back in November and I think it went pretty well. We had a great discussion about my interest in the entertainment industry, and apparently the interview can only help!

Extracurriculars: 4 years with the band program, including leadership positions and honor band awards; staff writer on the school newspaper for 2 years; Young Democrats club; played on the Freshman Baseball team; a good deal of community service including participation in the school musical and coaching a youth baseball team.

Other activities: Participation in community rock band; hobbyist filmmaker

I admit that my extracurriculars could have been beefed up a little more, but I do feel that they are superior to the average USC applicant. I stuck with something I loved in high school (music), but was able to explore other avenues at the same time (journalism, sports, etc). Regardless, here are a few questions I have:


Do I have a chance at a scholarship from USC? As we all know, USC is an extremely expensive school and I’d prefer not to leave with thousands of dollars in debt accumulated. It is my first-choice school but I may have to look elsewhere if I am forced to attend purely on my family’s dime.
Just to make sure, I DO have a good shot at being accepted, right? I realize that my stats won’t make anyone’s head explode, but I am well within the averages of the 2009 Freshman Profile.
Although I may not be interviewed for the Trustee or the Presidential, will the quarter-tuition scholarship recipients be notified soon, along with acceptance? As you can probably tell, I’m an extremely impatient individual who would prefer to know whether he got into his dream school in February as opposed to late April!


Seriously, thanks so much in advance to anyone who chooses to respond. I know that these threads clog up the boards, but I just couldn’t resist after prowling this forum for so long. I really do appreciate the community that has been established here. You guys have already answered many of my questions about USC without even knowing I existed!

Oh, and good luck to everyone applying this year. I know you’re all freaking out as much as I am right about now (well, maybe not this much), but at least we’ll all come out of this in one piece, and hopefully at a great school!