Yes… to echo @dyingsenior18 , it may come down to ECs and/or Essays… unless there is another unique hook or personal circumstance that sets you (or any applicant) apart (URM, QuestBridge, under-represented geographical area, unique ability/background, etc.)
You can never really tell how the application process will go with any college deemed to be elite… or with basically any college that accepts less than 30% of its total applicants or is ranked in the top 25-30 nationwide.
My older daughter applied to 17 schools in 2014 and wrongly assumed, based on her stats, that she would likely get in to at least 8 or 9 of them. In the end, 12 passed on her. Luckily, USC was one of the five that admitted her. My younger daughter was therefore extremely nervous to see the results when she applied last year. She was immensely surprised when she got into 8 out of the 15, including Princeton. That Princeton admission likely came down to 3 things in her case… applying for a major that few seek there, her ECs and her Essays. But it is so hard to predict these things. My two daughters’ GPAs, Ranks, and test scores were nearly identical. So it was the ECs and Essays that likely aided my younger daughter – who benefited from applying second. How does someone get into Princeton, USC, Rice and Emory, for example, but also get denied at UVa, Northwestern, Duke and Vanderbilt? As stated above, you cannot really tell what any individual school is seeking in any given year. I recall in 2014 a few posts here on CC of applicants complaining that they had got into schools like Harvard, Stanford, MIT and Yale, while also getting rejected by USC and UVa.
But USC routinely turns away thousands of applicants with stellar stats in order to admit those with lesser stats who also bring something interesting to the mix. It may come down to how many are applying for your first and second choice majors and whether admissions within an individual school pulls for you or not. USC is now a reach for even those with the stellar stats. But just keep in mind that their ultimate goal is to establish a well-rounded freshman class… so maybe if there are elements of your personal journey/story that serve to add in an ingredient to the freshman class that would be otherwise lacking or in need, there could be that chance at admission.
Good Luck & Fight On!