OT: Anyone's kid or loved one get into SC for fall 2018?

A bit of a vent: I was surprised to find out today my kid got a rejection letter. I would have thought a 4.5 GPA, 4 year varsity athlete, drum captain for her high school band, with two parents who are alums, would have had a good shot, especially as a female going into engineering. She's pretty devastated as unfortunately I brainwashed her to love the school and her dream was to march in The Spirit of Troy. Part of me is OK with it as she's been accepted into a higher ranked school out of state, but it makes me wonder what kind of water you need to walk on to get into the school these days. Thank God she applied to a lot so schools, so she has a ton of great options and frankly she's probably going to be the impetus to be blowing out of California in the next decade.

End rant.

 

I'm sorry for the disappointment. Your story is all-too common these days and sometimes, it doesn't seem to make sense. I know plenty of kids with comparable measurables who got rejected but others whose numbers appeared "average" who got in.

FWIW, for the incoming fall class, the 2 most local-represented high schools were Corona Del Mar and Palos Verdes.

I don't think there is a magic formula and frankly, the cost of attendance makes it a less appealing place IMO.

 

Another “so much for the Trojan family” example. That’s ok, there’s probably some rich kid from China who couldn’t care a crap about USC who will be taking your daughter’s place.

 

Honestly, as much as I love the school, I would have encouraged her to go elsewhere. She got into University of Texas, a higher ranked engineering program, and even paying out of state is about 20K a year cheaper than SC. I just felt like ranting, as the last time this topic came up a couple of weeks ago, there seemed to be a bit of a sentiment similar to how I feel, which says something, because this is a crazy self selected group that you would think would blindly support the school.

 

16% per their posted numbers, wonder how that breaks down into STEM?

 

Think the 20% SCions of freshman class went down to 16%. Viterbi enrolles much more females than other national ranked engineering schools. It's a crap shoot for an alum's kid to get accepted in the fall class. My old dorm buddy & I made the same mistake brainwashing his daughter into thinking SC was her dream school. She ended up going to a school with a nice scholarship. The staff at the OC SC store told me their kids entered in Spring class. The type of engineering a student indicates they want to major makes a difference. At least back in 2003 the dean called me & said they wanted to fill some spots more than others. Lucky my son filled that need & SC awarded him him a huge scholie. The bragging the school does regarding 1st generation college admits & low income families ( Pell grants ) tells the emphasis the admissions office has. Of course more alum's kids are applying & SC has limits on SCions admits. BOT told me the push for overseas kids was to help fund scholies for US students. Your kid will do just fine.

 

My kid was rejected as well with similar academic and other achievements. She is accepted to UCLA, CAL and Brown and don't understand the logic behind it. USC was her first choice due to my influence and pretty disappointed.

 

Part of it is just to say See, we rejected kids who went to Ivy League schools. USC, for all it's preening and posing, will never be at the same level.

I love SC -- well, mostly SC football -- but, come on ...

 

From what I've seen USC admits a lot of great kids in the Spring semester so they don't have to include their SAT scores in the published rankings. It sure seems wrong to not admit a double SCion who can be admitted to those other schools whose process is just as or more competitive. I know it is a subjective process. The ship has probably sailed since she has a great option, but worth appealing??

 

My nephew was in same boat last year. Engineering. Great student, good athlete. University of Rochester instead.
Do not understand how we do not take smart American kids for the Engineering school.

Fight On!

 

Brainwashed our kids as well, and 2 out of 3 really, really, really wanted to attend. Neither got in. Oldest (daughter) was told "Take this curriculum at Saddleback JC, get a 3.5 or better and, nudge nudge, wink wink, you will have a very good chance of being accepted as a sophomore." She had a below 4.0 in HS and a not outstanding SAT/ACT/Whatever tests they made her take. But she took the 10 JC classes they suggested and got a better than 3.5 and, although she may have been the very last person notified in mid-August, she got in.

Got her B.S. and M.S. in Occupational Therapy, married a UC grad who ended up with an SC MBA and they are now in the process of indoctrinating their 3 kids. So yes, there are alternatives if you really really want it.

Our son is a Sun Devil and hopes to get his SC MBA someday. He's still a Trojan at heart unless we are playing ASU, in which case he wears a Trojan hat and Devil t-shirt and wins either way.

Youngest daughter wanted to go anywhere but SC!

Although I believe that any truly good student can find their way in eventually, I share the sentiment here that the university is losing a big part of what has made it special over the generations, and it is a real shame.

 

Right now it’s looking like UT. She’s been admitted to 3 programs ranked higher than USC, all cheaper too. She’s also going to look at both ASU and UA who have thrown a ton of money at her. I wouldn’t advise my kid to pass on those schools for the possibility of getting admitted to USC late, having to be last one to making friends, etc. I wanted to clarify I didn’t expect special treatment because both of her parents went to Keck, I just would think all things equal that would be a factor. I told her it’s SC’s loss. She’ll be fine and we’ll have another team to root for.

 

I wrote a post four years ago about my daughter with similar grades and accomplishments, and how disappointed and angry I felt when she was not accepted at SC. She ended up at Michigan School of business and we are going to her graduation next month. She could not be happier, and that's all that counts. She already has a job with Saks 5th in Manhattan, and looking forward to it.

My son just got his rejection letter. They said they only accepted about 13% this year, with 64,000 applicants. He and I were disappointed again, but he quickly got over it and told me he did not want me to spend close to 300K for a Bachelor degree. He and I have been going to the SC football games since he was 9 years old, and I too was guilty of brainwashing him about someday being a Trojan. He is off to Wisconsin business school, and is very happy after visiting their campus last weekend.

After not renewing my football season tickets and the all the stadium fiasco, I have unfortunately developed some negative feelings towards the school and how they base all their decisions on money. I am, and will always be, a Trojan and a huge SC football fan; but no longer a fan of what the school stands for.

 

Make a request to the school. USC often under enrolls. There’s a good chance she gets in. Lots of my friends did that and were accepted. This was in 2012. Also, GPA is tough to make a base upon because different school's GPA means different things. Someone from a magnet school may have a lower GPA but the school may have higher standards. The SAT is probably the best way to judge where one's application stands as it's the same test for everyone. I bet she’ll be fine wherever she goes though. Fight on!

 

I'm convinced there's no real rhyme or reason to admissions. My dad was a black SC alum from the 50's. He loved SC and was very proud to be an SC alum. Years later, I applied to go to law school. Oddly, SC told me no. Berkeley's much higher ranked law school said yes. Years after that, SC Law put my daughter on the waitlist. Berkeley Law threw money at her to enroll. Finally, I read about an initiative to recruit grandchildren of alums to go to SC undergrad. My son applied. Again, SC said no. Again, Berkeley said yes. He's now a software engineer in Munich. The strange thing is that I honestly believe that my kids' education and my own were made possible because of what SC did for my dad. I just wish SC would've let my kids and me in. Lol. All kidding aside, UT is an outstanding school. And Austin is a great place to be a college kid. Good luck to your daughter!

 

Gould is a completely different story because there are no such thing as spring admits. In addition, the number of seats available for law school is much different than those in undergrad. Unfortunately, I applied for this past fall at Gould and was denied. There's no petitions for law school and they almost solely go off LSAT score. I'm glad both you and your daughter got into Berkeley! It's a great school!

 

My son wanted to attend USC but was rejected. He ended up going to CSU Monterey Bay and graduated in December with a Molecular Biology degree with a minor in Japanese Language & Culture (spent a semester in Japan). He is currently working in a lab to get some work experience and hoping to enroll this fall to continue his education. He would again like to attend USC for their Bio Engineering program but so far, nothing but the run around. Very difficult to get accepted in the CA schools. So far rejected by Stanford and Berkeley. My fingers are crossed that he gets in SOMEWHERE....

 

If its really important, go to Jr College for a year or two and apply again.

 

My neighbor went the JC transfer route & is a die hard Trojan. I know many Trojans who did & saved $$$

 

My daughter just got rejected. 1510 SAT (1600 point scale), 4.3+ GPA, athlete, lots of clubs. Honestly, I thought she was a lock, and we were just waiting on scholarship numbers. Blew my mind when she was rejected.

I've read a bunch of message board posts from students (both rejected and accepted) who applied to 'SC. Some who got in were in the 1200-1300 range on SATs, but they had some minority qualifications that can really help. Some who got rejected had 1570ish SATs (at least, that's what they claimed).

It's weird, but so far my daughter has gotten in to all of the schools she applied for independently, and has been rejected by all of the Common App schools. Makes me wonder if something went wrong on her Common App.