I have been attending community college for four years now and due to unforseen family circumstances and troubles, earned an extremely low GPA. I have competed all my GE classes as well as classes needed for my specific major. I currently have completed a little over 90 units, and have a 2.75 GPA. I was admitted to Chapman University to receive my BA in psychology. My dream school has ALWAYS been USC. And it kills me to think how I never applied to USC simply out of the fear of rejection. But due to my low GPA i am unsure if I will even get in. Is it realistic for me to just go to Chapman, and graduate in two years, or should I wait it out another year, try my hardest to increase my GPA and shoot for USC?
Ultimately my goal is to attend the Occupational Therapy masters program at USC, and I feel as if I attend USC for undergrad, it would be easier for me to get into their OT program.
So do I stay another year and risk the fact that I may not get into USC, or just go directly to Chapman so I can graduate with my bachelors and be on my way to OT school? I feel very lost and unsure of what to do.
USC’s admit rate for transfer is 27%. The chance of moving your GPA very much with you already having 90 hours is not great at all. Resolve to do well at Chapman and perhaps look you’ll have a chance at USC for your Master’s level.
Go to Chapman. I promise that USC doesn’t want to fill their graduate programs only with students who did their undergrad there. They want diversity. Still, it’s not a good idea to fixate on this one school as your goal. Keep researching OT schools and preparation recommendations and requirements and have more than one school on your list for grad school. OT isn’t med school, but it’s competitive enough that you need to have multiple chances for admissions.
I’d go to Chapman as the odds of a successful transfer into USC with your GPA is quite slim. Work hard to improve your GPA and study hard for the GREs so you will have a shot to get into a grad program for OT – as noted above the allied medical fields programs are quite competitive.
I agree with the previous posters.
My sister attended USC’s undergrad and grad programs at USC. She was a very competitive applicant.
The coursework was extremely tough but if she hadn’t had the correct undergrad preparation, I don’t think she would have performed as well as she did.
Go to the school that will help prepare you for your career.
I also agree with the others. I went to USC for grad school, and have never seen any evidence that people who went there for undergrad are given preference for grad school admission.