Decision: Accepted
**Date applied: 12/1/17 **
**Date decision postmarked/received: 3/26 **
**Which school/major at USC: Dornsife/Biology **
**Scholarships: University **
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1570
ACT (breakdown): Not taken
SAT II (place score in parentheses): Not taken
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.69
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
AP (place score in parentheses): None
IB (place score in parentheses): Not taken
Senior Year Course Load: English classes, Calc BC, Social Science, Art
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): State Scholar
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): University lab assistant, founder and leader of scientific research project for two years, writing a scientific paper to publish, presented research at conference, attended competitive summer programs in science, soccer, a number of clubs, teaching experience with grades 1-8, and peer tutoring.
Job/Work Experience: Tutoring, summer STEM teaching programs.
Volunteer/Community Service: Assisted with teaching programs for local elementary schools, involved a lot of students in collecting data for my research.
Summer Activities: Science oriented trips during summers, lab assistantships.
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common app: 9, showed passion for my intended career in science + I worked on it for quite a while. Supplementals: 8 or 9
Teacher Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):: Probably around 9, we had a great connection in class and through dif. programs.
Counselor Rec (rating 1-10, details):: Know them pretty well, they knew my interests, ~8
Additional Rec (rating 1-10, details):: None
Other
Applied for Financial Aid? Yep
State (if domestic applicant): Indiana
School Type: Public, top 20 in country.
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 40-60k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None
Reflection
Strengths: SAT, ECs, Recs, coursework, interest in major
Weaknesses: GPA
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I worked on my essays to make them represent me and my interests well, having a high SAT didn’t hurt.
Where else you are applying or have already applied: Accepted: USC, Vassar, Northeastern, UIUC, Occidental. Waitlisted: UMich.
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: I can’t say how happy I am to have been accepted to USC. To all those who weren’t accepted this year, I’m sure you’ll do great things wherever you go. I’m sure you have options if you applied here.
Fight on!