I will add to @WWWard’s post by saying to apply broadly and apply to a couple/few schools you love. No dream school please! It’s too big a risk to invest emotionally in a dream school. With holistic admissions AND low acceptance rates, it is too hard for almost anyone to figure out if they will get into a school like USC. For some schools, it is easy to see that a student will get accepted (or not). This is not one of those schools, for anyone. People with 4.6 and 34 ACTs are turned away because so many apply. Some with lower scores may get in because they are so darn interesting. They want a well rounded class and the criteria may float with each application. USC is not a school where “chance me” works well at all.