Escaping the Wisconsin snow, chance me (for merit aid)?

Colleges & Universities University of Southern California
1

<p>Hey, what’s up? I’m not a fan of the chance threads in general, but I just to rejected from Stanford REA and I need some moral support and feedback :cool: I’d mainly like to know a) my chances of getting in, and b) my chances of getting a scholarship. Thanks.</p>

<p>GPA: 3.92 UW

  • My school doesn’t do weighted. I will have taken 8 AP classes by the end of this year, and I just finished Differential Equations at a top 75 liberal arts college with an A-. All my other grades are mostly A’s, with a few A-'s and one B (1st sem. soph.).</p>

<p>**ACT: **35 Composite, 33 English, 35 Math, 34 Reading, 36 Science
**PSAT: **97th percentile, National Merit Commended
APs: Calc BC (5), US History (4), English Lang. (4), World History (4), Statistics (4 - self study), Biology (3). Taking Psychology, English Lit., and Chemistry this year.</p>

<p>Varsity Athletics:

  • Two years of football, got a varsity letter last year.
  • Four years of track
  • One year of Cross Country</p>

<p>Clubs:

  • Marching Band (3 years)
  • Pep Band (3 years)
  • Concert Band (3 years)
  • Math Team (4 years)
  • National Honor Society (2 years)</p>

<p>Work/Volunteer:

  • Worked at a grocery store (cashier, pushing carts, etc)
  • JDRF Juvenile Diabetes Walk, 2 years
  • Oktoberfest, 2 years
  • Football Summer Camp (for 1st-8th grade) last summer
  • VP of Junior Achievement Company that was very successful
  • Assorted NHS activities
  • Volunteer at Local 5K races for charity
  • Special Olympics Volunteer, 2 years</p>

<p>Misc.:

  • I was a competitor at the 2007 Mathcounts National Competition (one of four from my state)
  • 10 years of piano, assorted awards</p>

<p>Other:

  • State (if domestic applicant): Wisconsin
  • School Type: Public, 2000 kids
  • Ethnicity: Asian
  • Gender: Male
  • Income Bracket: $250,000+
  • Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None i don’t think…</p>
2

<p>Anyone? USC is, no doubt, my first choice out of my remaining schools if I can get some kind of merit based aid. I’m just feeling really nervous and would love to get some feedback. Thanks for your time.</p>

3

<p>assuming you submitted everything by the dec 1st deadline you have a very good shot at the presidential or trustee scholarships</p>

4

<p>What is you intended major? We can only make guesses on the board as we do not see your essay or counselor recommendations. </p>

<p>You indicate a strong interest in music. Will you pursue this at SC? </p>

<p>I thought you would enjoy reading the weather forecast since Wisconsin is being hard hit by blizzards.</p>

<pre><code> Los Angeles Zip Code 90089–SC Campus

 Sunday  High  79o   Bright sunshine
             Low    51o

 Monday  High  74o   Bright sunshine
             Low   50o 

 Tuesday  High  70o   Bright sunshine
              Low   48o

</code></pre>

5

<p>Haha, thanks, that makes me feel all warm inside. There’s about 5-6 inches of snow waiting for me to shovel on the driveway :smiley: I can only imagine a place where “48 degrees” would be a low temperature in the middle of december.</p>

<p>I’m pursuing an economics/math major at USC, while taking pre-med reqs. Yeah I know it’s a weird combination, and although I know I want to be a doctor (a surgeon to be exact), should anything come up that would prevent me from finishing up my career path, I want a degree I can get a good job for. Besides, I love investing currently (even with small money) and although I don’t plan on doing it full time, I think it’s something I could make a living off of and be happy long term.</p>

<p>I don’t think I’m gonna pursue music officially, but I’ll definitely play on my free time. If I can get a hold of a Piano, it would be awesome, but otherwise I’d be just as happy bringing my guitar along with me. I do music to help me unwind and relax, and I’m afraid that if I put grades and deadlines into it, the part that drew me to it would get lost.</p>

<p>My essay was fairly well thought out in my opinion, I had it reviewed by my AP lit teature and he liked how I put both vivid detail and brought perspective into an ordinary event like a car accident (well I guess it isn’t ordinary…i hope…:)) while drawing insight into my professional goals due to a major family health issue in my childhood. I liked it, if it means anything.</p>

<p>As far as recommendations go, I don’t know about my counselor but I’ve taken one of the most challenging curriculums in my grade, and am the only one who’s balanced it out with athletics. I got another recommendation from my teacher, which she showed me and it was absolutely glowing. So I feel that there won’t be any major snags there.</p>

<p>Thanks everyone for your help, it’s been awesome so far.</p>

6

<p>BigKev, sorry about the Stanford news. But their loss may be USC’s gain!</p>

<p>Your math and science scores and APs are at the very top–which looks good for a possible merit scholarship. These tend to be awarded by major–so you would be most likely judged against the sort of kids that would also have stellar math/science stats. So it’s hard to know. USC does like geographical diversity, so being from the cold will come in handy here.</p>

<p>Best of luck.</p>

7

<p>Honestly, dude. You’re in, with merit scholarship (like you need it <strong>glares at income bracket</strong> -__-). See you next year :)</p>

8

<p>^ Haha, but my parents (don’t blame me, they’re very asian…) don’t feel like paying full price for a private school unless it’s US News Top 10 (don’t get me started about how faulty the rankings are :cool:). I’ve essentially convinced them though if I can get some kind of scholarships to send me to LA.</p>

9

<p>You’ve got a good shot at getting in.</p>

<p>If you decide to come here, join the marching band! It will be the best decision you make as a freshman. It sure was mine.</p>

10

<p>^ Haha, I don’t know if I would be good enough to be a part of the Spirit of Troy. It’s an awesome band, though, I love the uniforms especially. What do you play? Also, do you need to be taking any music classes to be in the band?</p>

11

<p>Don’t cut yourself before you even get here. I play cymbals in the drumline. No music classes necessary, most people in the band are not music majors. There’s a marching band class if you want to get credit for doing it, but most people don’t bother signing up for the class.</p>

12

<p>I might have to consider that then. It’s something I never thought of until now. Thanks man!</p>

<p>Just over a month until scholarships are announced! I’m excited. If I get one, I’m going to USC for sure, I don’t care who else accepts me :D</p>

13

<p>Check out the website: [The</a> University of Southern California Trojan Marching Band](<a href=“http://www.usc.edu/dept/band/]The”>Home - The Spirit of Troy)</p>

14

<p>Kev,
Thornton School of Music has 99 Steinway pianos. Practice rooms this year are in a brand new building with better security for the instruments and is air conditioned. </p>

<pre><code>One fourth of the TMB are engineers. If you think that might take too much time there are all sorts of jazz, rock, and other student music groups. If you enjoy classical music there is an alternative to the Thornton Symphony Orchestra which students join who are not performance majors.

There are so many talented students at SC I am sure you could find a congenial music group.
</code></pre>

15

<p>That’s awesome news. I would love to be able to play piano in college, if only to unwind. Steinway makes awesome pianos too :D</p>

<p>I’m also planning on bringing my guitar with me. I’m a pretty good player considering I taught myself, but I would love to be able to read sheet music. How easy would it be to take lessons at USC?</p>

16

<p>it is very easy to take lessons. simply sign up for the 1 or 2 unit individual guitar lessons. </p>

<p>check the USC SOC website
[MPGU</a> | USC Schedule of Classes](<a href=“http://web-app.usc.edu/soc/20103/mpgu.html]MPGU”>302 Found)
MPGU 153. note that taking this course costs extra ($350 for 1 unit, $700 for 2 units)</p>

17

<p>The music practice rooms are usually packed full with Thornton students who need to practice a lot, so don’t be surprised if you have a hard time getting in to use a piano. Some of the freshman residence halls have a piano in their lounge though.</p>

18

<p>That would be pretty sweet, having a piano in the hall.</p>

<p>What residence halls do you guys think are best at USC?</p>

19

<p>haha you’re in no need to chance (:</p>

20

<p>So my status just changed to:</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Does this mean anything?</p>