Decision: Accepted (Spring 2018)
Date applied: 11/27/2016
Date decision postmarked/received: 3/24/2017, in the mail
Which school/major at USC: Annenberg, Journalism
Scholarships: Financial aid letter TBD
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2290 (CR 790, Math 750, Writing 750)
ACT (breakdown): N/A
SAT II (place score in parentheses): Spanish (730), U.S. History (790), Literature (800)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0 (my school doesn’t do weighted GPAs but mine would be like a 4.16)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): I actually have no idea because my high school is huge.
AP (place score in parentheses): English Lang (5), U.S. History (5), English Lit TBD
IB (place score in parentheses): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Comp Gov, AP Lit, calculus, physics, newspaper, advanced video production
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): NMF I guess?
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): 4 years school newspaper (editor-in-chief senior year, editor soph & junior years), 4 years varsity swim team, 1 year broadcast news crew, 1 year water polo team, 2 years food writer at a local food & events website, 3 years freelance writer for website
Job/Work Experience: Swim instructor, newspaper internship
Volunteer/Community Service: summer art camp helper
Summer Activities: My work experience comes from the summers
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 7. They weren’t my most beautiful, but they got the job done.
Teacher Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): 8-10 probably! My teachers knew me decently well and I’m always super engaged in class. 
Counselor Rec (rating 1-10, details): No idea because my school is huge. Being a counselor is a tough job.
Additional Rec (rating 1-10, details): N/A
Interview: N/A
Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yep
State (if domestic applicant): CA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: ~$50,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None
Reflection
Strengths: extracurriculars, I don’t think many Asians are into the whole ~journalism~ thing
Weaknesses: I didn’t take a ton of AP classes, even though my school offers a lot (I was a fan of school/life balance, and doing a varsity sport definitely limited my time)
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I’ve very clearly demonstrated my passion for journalism!
Where else you are applying or have already applied: mostly UCs, accepted at the ones I applied to except… whispers The Other LA School
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: If you get accepted to spring semester, I think there are definitely more pros than cons! I didn’t know what to think at first, but after evaluating it (I get to get a jump on my GE’s at a community college, therefore saving money? Sweet!), I’m actually really excited. And I know I’m so, so lucky to have gotten in at all!