First year student from CT aiming for USC [96 GPA, 35 ACT; philosophy, economics, politics, math]

Chance Me / Match Me
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US citizen, White, female, Jewish, Connecticut, Public school for first 2 years of HS and private for last 2 years, first generation American(mom is Israeli, dad is Ukrainian)

Intended major is philosophy, economics, and politics. second choice is economics and third is mathematics, all in the college of arts and sciences

Unweighted GPA is 96/100 but it’s a really weird scale (96 is not a 3.84, it’s around a 4.0 I think)
Our school doesn’t do weighted GPAs or class rank
35 ACT not super-scored

Sophomore year I took AP US Gov (A-)(3) and AP Bio (4)(B+) as well as honors pre calc(B+) and honors Spanish 4 (B+)
Junior year I transferred to private and as a result had to retake math at accelerated pre calc (A) and standard Spanish 4 (A+), I also was advised not to take AP classes to smooth the transition, which is mentioned in the app; unusual electives may include entrepreneurship (A) and American film and Beyond (A+)
Senior year I am taking APUSH (B+ first quarter), AP Calc AB (A first Q) and AP painting (A first Q) I am taking economics elective also (A+ first Q)

National Merit semifinalist, high honors all 4 years of HS

  • JV/Varsity sport- Volleyball team member, setter, during school year only, practice 2hrs/day and games 2/week, 10+hrs/wk and 14wk/year
    -Club sport- Volleyball Co-captain, team member, independent volleyball club, won 2 club championships and minis, during school and break, 5hr/wk and 20wk/yr
    -Work(paid)- math tutor in algebra and geometry for 8th graders, home math tutoring for struggling students in advanced classes, during school year, 4hr/wk, 25wk/yr
    -family responsibilities- babysit for 2 little sisters (5 and 7) while parents are at work, school year only, 15 hr/week, 20 wk/yr
    -art- painting and art exploration- worked in studio late after school + weekends, exploring use of acrylic and watercolor on canvas, year round, 20hr/wk, 40wk/yr
    -community service (volunteer)- charity art auction organizer for Hernia Repair for the Underserved, coordinator for auction within the conference, phone calls, mail outs, emails, admin assistance, and event planning/coordination, all 4 yrs of HS during school year only 8hr/wk, 4 wk/yr (event is a couple days only but includes outside work on it)

My common app essay is very strong, the Why USC supplement is pretty good and the third one was good also; for other schools my supplements are all very strong and had many rounds of editing/tuning
I have very strong LORs from my english, math, and art teachers as well as my advisor.
strongest will probably be english and art
circumstances- switching schools from pub to private was hard transition, the reason I had to retake Spanish and math and why I didn’t take AP classes junior year

Budget is N/A

Schools/personal predictions?

Reaches- USC (EA), NYU(rd), Kelley at Indiana (EA) (Kelley specifically, the undergrad college is a likely imo), Tulane (EA- deferred, chances of RD)

Safeties- UConn (RD), CU boulder (EA)

Likely- Santa Clara Leavey school of business (accepted EA), Indiana u, not Kelley (EA)

Matches- U-Wisconsin business school (EA), Villanova business school-could maybe be reach? (EA), Lehigh IBE program, but will defer to regular school if rejected from that (RD)

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I suggest you change your username and remove any very specific info from your post.

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Does this mean that your parents will pay list price at any school?

If not, then you need to get a budget from your parents, and you and your parents need to check the net price calculators on the web sites of the colleges on your list.

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@Mwfan1921 wouldnt this student be an auto admit to Kelley at Indiana?

If you have already been accepted to SCU and it’s affordable, it’s not a likely…it’s a safety…you are already in.

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I am not sure how Kelley handles/converts GPAs on a 100 scale, probably worth OP asking their AO.

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yes, my family is pretty wealthy so cost is not an important factor

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Thanks, done!

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IU is safe. But that leaves much of your interest off ?

USC is possible. Being from CT will help. Tulane is tough - I assume they want you to ED.

SCU is a likely but if you’re Jewish will you be comfortable as a Jesuit school ? Different people seem to have different answers. My kids wouldn’t - just based on imagery on campus etc. others like the inclusive environment. Same comment with Nova - tiny Jewish population. Not a school for the Jewish student in my opinion.

Your list is fine. You’ll have options. Will you double major at the b schools ?

Good luck.

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Our daughter is a Santa Clara University graduate. She is not Catholic. I was raised Jewish and our kid got the benefits of learning about both Judaism and Christian faiths.

She says…SCU is very ecumenical. She knew kids of all faiths and no faith at all. No one really cared. One of her very best friends was Jewish and had no issues at all.

Yes, there is a religion course requirement…three courses. But there are well over 100 courses from which to choose. My kid took a Women in Religion course that she said was one of the best courses she took. She also took two ethics courses which satisfied this requirement.

If you are a person who will feel uncomfortable seeing a Christmas tree, or seeing a cross on campus, this might not be the place for you.

But if you are open minded, like the Jesuits are, you will find yourself very welcome on this campus.

I will add, my kid worked in undergrad admissions, and knew the Jesuits in higher administration as well as the ones teaching courses, and residing in the dorms. She said they were amongst the most intuitive and intelligent, and welcoming people she ever met.

Clearly, a Jesuit college isn’t right for everyone, but a person practicing a different faith than Catholicism will be welcome.

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Fully agree. While not SCU, I am graduate of both Fordham and Georgetown and an atheist. Yes, lots of priests, lots of crucifixes, lots of classmates whose social event of the week was mass :wink: But nevertheless I never felt the slightest bit unwelcome and loved my experiences at both of these Jesuit universities. I do understand those who wouldn’t…Just saying there is generally a place for everyone despite the Catholic tradition.

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I was planning to do the IBE program at lehigh, but if I don’t get in I will double major. I was considering double majoring at USC, since I applied to the regular school instead of the college of business to increase my admissions chance, but I’m not sure. I would double at wisconsin and villanova. Do you think I have a decent or okay chance of getting into USC? Or is it a stretch with very unlikely chances? It’s my top school and I’m under the impression that there is a very slim chance of my acceptance. Thanks!

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You look like a competitive applicant, but the reality is that with a 12% acceptance rate, everyone’s chances are pretty slim. You have as good a chance as any unhooked applicant, but that chance is unfortunately relatively low.

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Since you have been in both public and private high schools and money is not an issue, do you prefer private colleges? IU-Kelley,Wisconsin are solid business schools but the enrollment in these b-school is in the thousands and the experience will be different compared to small private schools like USC/SCU.

Is there a preference on being in the city versus rural area? I see schools in cities and Lehigh in rural PA. This is again something you can decide. If you prefer cities you can add a UMiami or Fordham to the list.

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I think you have a chance - but it’s a competitive university. But I think you have a chance any and everywhere and being from CT. will help.

The other thing that may help is CT - although their CDS says it doesn’t but usually schools like geographic diversity.

I think without an ED at USC evens the playing field a bit.

So I’m not going to say your odds are great because I wouldn’t say that to anyone - but you’re certainly very capable and worthy of getting in (in my opinion).

Good luck.

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Lehigh is not rural. It’s in the Lehigh valley which consists of Allentown Bethlehem and Eaton which is the 3rd largest metropolitan area in PA.

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Thanks. I stand corrected. Maybe should have said suburban.

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