What if I don’t get into USC?
By Jamie Wu ‘18
“USC is my dream school and I’ve wanted to go there ever since I was 5.”
I’ve heard this from lots of perspective students and sadly, some of those students don’t get into USC. So what do you do when you’ve put in so much effort in your college applications but it didn’t turn out the way you want? How can you reconcile the fact that you’ve spent countless hours on your common app with the fact that you’ve been rejected from your dream school? I know it’s hard but it’s not the end of the world and I hope these 5 reminders will give you some solace.
1. Breathe and relax
Your worth and identity is not based on whether you get accepted into a certain university. You’ve already proven that you can get straight A’s, write a compelling essay under 650 words and be the president of 8 million different clubs in high school. You know you’re capable of doing all of that and you know you’re smart. So don’t let an admission letter discredit all the hard work that you’ve put in during high school! Take a moment and congratulate yourself for how far you’ve come and breathe.
2. Appeal
Although the chances are very small (40/1000 appeals), you can try to get the admissions office to change their decision. This only works if you can convince them you’ve done something so drastically important from the time you applied to the time you heard back, that you’ve changed and are a good fit for the university. But they are only interested in new and compelling information not included in your original application so don’t expand on anything you’ve already told them. Do a bit of soul-searching and write about something that makes you unique (different qualities like tenacity, strength, maturity) and what you’ve been through that qualifies you to be at USC. Talk about what you can bring to the school and not how much the school can offer you. Check out this College Confidential page. #24 explained really well what new and compelling information means!
You can submit your appeal via the YouSC portal, fax it, or deliver it in person to the admissions office. The exact instructions are located on the back of your rejection letter, but in essence they want a 1 page letter with a cover page. The appeal decisions come out in mid May so make sure you accept admission to other colleges before you appeal.
3. Transfer
If you don’t make it in right after high school, try transferring! There is a significant number of 2nd and 3rd year transfer students here at USC. And sometimes it makes more sense because you can get your general requirements out of the way and save a lot of $$$ before heading into USC to finish up your degree requirements. And to be honest, the admission rate for transfer students is about 8% higher than freshmen admission. So keep up your grades at community college and apply to USC again! Here are some useful 2017 transfer stats!
Applications ……………………………………………………..8,800
Admission Offers ………………………………………………2,150
Transfer Class Size ……………………………………………1,300
Average College GPA ……………………………………………3.7
Admit Rate …………………………………………………………24%
4. Look at why you wanted to go to USC…and maybe you’ll realize you didn’t want to
Ask yourself why you wanted to come to USC in the first place. Is it because of a certain program? If so, can you find similar programs at other schools? Is it because everyone in your family went there? And if so, is that the right reason to be going to a certain school? Or is it because everyone around you has been holding high expectations for what USC is like? And do you genuinely believe in those expectations? Sometimes, you want to go to a certain university because other people want to go there; not because you wanted to go there. So take a look at your reasoning and hopefully it’ll help you realize maybe you were meant for another school!
5. Know everything happens for a reason
The universe is not against you. In fact, it’s trying to tell you if you didn’t get into a certain university that maybe it’s better to go somewhere else. At the end of the day, there are so many other great universities out there that can fulfill your college experience. You can join greek organizations, engineering societies, acapella groups, dance teams across different colleges in the U.S. Great college experiences are not exclusive to one particular college. So don’t put high expectations for one school! Remind yourself that you can thrive anywhere and don’t let what has passed deter you from experiencing greatness at the other universities you were accepted in! (Fun fact, I applied to 18 schools and only got into 4. And I’m so happy and grateful that I chose USC!) There’s a college out there that fits you. So trust in the process!
I hope this helps :)
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