<p>Thank you all for your responses. I have a few follow up questions for anyone who can answer them.</p>
<p>Primarily, I should be able to get my ACT in the 35-36 range - the 33 was my first test and I have 2-3 more lined up. I am also signed up to take the SAT next test date. But, first question is about the balance between academics and interviews/essays in this scholarship. Does this scholarship, much like Ivy admissions, weight writing skills and interviews as highly/more than perfect academics? Any advice about the USC admission process in this respect would be appreciated since I have a little over a year to prepare. </p>
<p>Second question: I saw a mention of USC favoring certain majors. I am planning to go into medical school to become a neurosurgeon. I was planning on an engineering major with a music minor, however, if it makes a large difference I can be flexible with premed - any advice about this? </p>
<p>And last but not least, I am Cuban. This itself doesn’t help with admissions very much - but if they never ask me to specify then I can call myself Hispanic. Right now I am in an upper middle household (~140) but we recently functioned on a poverty level (around 15) for around four years. Would I have a chance to mention this?</p>
<p>Thanks again,
Julian</p>