Admission Chances

[neilbijlaney]

Hey guys so I'm a little bit confused here and would love your opinion.

My subjects are :
 

(HL)
English

Biology

Economics

 

(SL)

Psychology

Hindi

Math

EE - Psychology 

 

I scored a total of 33 in my junior year (maintained my score both semesters) and scored a 1740 in my SATs 

 

I am giving my SATs in october again and i hope to jump to atleast a 2000 + if not a 2100

I have a number of questions :
1) Do early decision applications accept the october SAT scores ?

2) What are my chances of getting into my dream college ? (University of Southern California)

3) I want to pursue computer science as a major, Is it possible to do so with the subject choices that I have taken ?

4) Can senior year bring a large change to my grades so far ? 

Thanks for your insight. I really need help  

 

[IBidiot]

I'm not sure when Early Decision Apps. are due, but if you look on the school's website, it should let you know. Keep in mind that SAT scores come out about 2 ish weeks after you take them, so if you decide to send them to a certain school, add 14 days to the SAT date that you're gonna take; see if that makes it within the deadline requirement.

 

Hey USC! I've thought about going there! I really want to go to UCLA though:) Based on your scores, it wouldn't be unheard of for you to get in, but you better have some awesome ECs and grade point average. However, if you were to make it to the 2000 range, even the low 2000s, you'd have a much better chance.

 

When it comes to US admission, subject choices don't matter as much. Of course, if you have the appropriate subject choices for your intended major, that may show some dedication and interest, but it's not required. US schools like to see that you've branched out and taken a variety of courses. If anything, you could write an interesting personal statement about why you want to pursue Economics instead of other subjects like Bio and whatnot.

 

Ah ha! YES! Senior year is a good chance to show that you've improved. However, you ca really only use your first semester senior year grades to show that you've improved if the Application deadline is after your first semester ends. Use senior year wisely! Oh! Just make sure you explain why your grades may have dropped before. ECs maybe? Who knows.. the admission council will want to know though, so include that in an essay.

[neilbijlaney]

My grade point average so far is around a 3.5 and i do believe I have a good extra curricular background. I've performed in two music concerts in my school, Treasurer of the CAS council, Press head for an event and have also participated in my school's swim meet twice. These are just a few to mention. My grades haven't dropped they've been constant throughout my junior year because i managed to get a 33 in both the semesters (excluding TOK and EE because that can't be counted so thats a 33/42). Thanks for the feedback  

[by.andrew]

1) October SATs should be enough for most EA deadlines. If I'm not mistaken, you can submit SATs after the EA deadline passes as well because most schools take a while in order to review the college apps. 

 

2) USC seems to be a reach. I think the majority of the accepted students will have GPAs of 3.8~3.9. Yeah, your SATs are a bit on the lower side as well. Bring them up by October.

 

Your marks during Senior year will be quite insignificant in terms of admissions. Right now, I think you should be applying to some other schools that have laxer admissions and hope for the best.

[neilbijlaney]

But i still wanna try for USC, If i manage to push my SAT score to a 2150 + by october do you think i'll manage to get through ? 

[by.andrew]

But i still wanna try for USC, If i manage to push my SAT score to a 2150 + by october do you think i'll manage to get through ? 

 

By all means, go for it because there are a lot of other factors that influence the admissions committee. But USC is quite competitive and with a 3.5 GPA, you'll have to pray a bit and perhaps aim for less competitive schools as well.