The Myth: all of those other application doesn’t matter if I have a high gpa and test score.

The Verdict: Nope.

‘It’s all about the numbers’ seems to be something I unfortunately hear a serious bit when folks explore college admission. I am made by it unfortunate because that is wholly false when discussing the admission procedure at USC. Students, counselors and parents have a tendency to get very anxious about GPAs and test scores.

GPAs and test scores are important, but they aren’t the just deciding element in a student’s admission decision. Students signing up to USC will never be automatically admitted nor denied based solely on GPA and test scores.

We are to know pupil the most effective we possibly can through the admission process. GPAs and test ratings help us figure out how well you are doing academically, but we would also like to access know you beyond that. We should discover about how you invest your own time outside of this class. We are interested in learning your character and the life experiences you may have had up until this point. We wish to learn why you are considering going to university at USC. We should study on your teachers or counselors their perspective on who you really are as a learning student and human being. We can not get all that information from just a GPA and a test score.

For this reason we do not have a cutoff for GPAs and test scores. We desire to make sure you have the educational preparation to be successful at USC, but that can be determined in lots of ways. We review your transcript although we calculate your GPA. What type of classes could be the learning student taking? Is the student challenging herself in the context of what can be obtained at her school? So how exactly does this connect with her standard testing? There isn’t A gpa that is magic and score combination to determine all this.

Admission to USC is competitive. They are many, many qualified students who are applying to USC. We do not have spots for all of them within our incoming class. We utilize qualitative components such as for instance activity summaries, essays, and letters of recommendations to make distinctions among our many candidates that are excellent.

If we wanted, we could just take the greatest GPAs and test scores and admit those students. If we did that, we would admit a different class than the one we simply enrolled. I also would n’t have job must be computer could do that. Our admission procedure is a human one, and we are trying to bring a well-rounded course to USC. We aim to do this using your application that is entire to as much as we can about you.

A high GPA and test rating isn’t golden admission to admission at USC. We go beyond the numbers, and now we hope you do too in the job.

Hello from the other side….

Interviews…another part of the college application shmoop cheap essay writing service process. We’re currently concluding our on-campus interviews through the end of November (Thanksgiving excluded.) You might also see us performing interviews in towns in your area throughout the United States. At this point along the way, it’s possible you’ve already gone through a few college interviews, and I’m yes at the end you left with either feelings of success, disappointment, excitement or a variety of other adjectives that could describe the uncertainty that is a meeting. Hopefully I can give you a insight that is little that which we are thinking during those 30 minutes.

Our interviews generally last around 25 minutes so we as admission counselors, invest afternoons, from 1:30 pm until 4:30 pm, interviewing around five students. So, exactly what’s actually going through our minds when we sit down across the table from you? Well, that largely varies according to you…

Are you visibly nervous? Perspiring? About to break down in tears? Then i am most likely hoping that I can get you to calm down if the answer is yes. I’ll generally start with questions that have actually clear cut answers: Tell me just what classes you might be taking this semester…What book are you reading in English right now? Students don’t have to consider these questions, they curently have the answers. Ideally, it will help the person settle down, and we could have a conversation that is relaxed. If this been there as well, don’t worry, you are not the only one. Most of the time students feel safe pretty quickly when they realize the true nature of this interview. The main ideas I attempt to extract from students are the following: 1) performs this person know why these are typically applying to USC? Can there be something specific they’ve seen here that is attractive to them? 2) Can this student think critically? Can they answer a question that requires though or may possibly not have an answer that is obvious? 3) Are they confident in their abilities and are they sure they could succeed at USC? College is difficult and we want individuals who want to be right here.

The majority that is vast of interviews go smoothly with very few bumps within the road. There are of course moments when I repeat myself because we can’t remember if I’ve asked a relevant question during this interview, or the one prior to it. Therefore in advance, please forgive me if I ask you the same question twice. My goal during an interview is to get a conversation that is solid so it feel less like an interview, and more like one person looking to get to understand another. So just come with a mind that is open greet us with excitement (hopefully genuine), and everything will get smoothly.