WTTCHMN said:
OCtoSV said:
Thanks for the feedback everyone. The unweighted gpa today is 3.2, by end of junior year could be 3.5. 3 semesters of foreign language offered through a local CC with a B which should help for weighted, along with several APs that are/will be As/Bs. So Weighted may get into the 3.8 range by end of high school. Legacy at the large private research university in LA not named Caltech, which actually outside of the Ivies is the only school where legacy matters. UC definitely seems to be a reach, though the top Bay area high schools generally get a lot more slots than LA/OC schools simply because there are more of them in the top 50. We work with a private college counseling service that has been very valuable and will hopefully really help come application/essay time as they use algorithms based on the thousands of students that have gone through their program to target the applications.
Looking forward to PSAT/NM notifications today!
USC might offer Spring semester enrollment if you have been a generous alum.
I disagree with your assertion about legacy. It matters at most private schools, not just the Ivies and USC.
I also echo momopi's recommendation about attending a JC first.
JC works for sure, but it's a compromised college experience and eliminates high end on campus job recruiting the first 2 years. USC loves transfers - they redline admissions by zip code to minimize financial aid requests.
The USC/Ivy data point is anecdotal but i have seen it mentioned several times in various articles, especially after the Varsity Blues scandal broke. If you saw from the recent lawsuit Harvard admits legacies at a 6x rate. Does Northwestern or Chicago? Don't know. I can only hope USC does.