USC. Amazing school. Excellent academics. Fun, big-school spots vibe. Sunshine for days! What’s not to love? For the 20,700 some undergraduates who go there, there’s lots! But you’re going to have to work hard if you want to join the ranks of Trojans who work hard so they can lounge on the beach on the weekends. USC has just a 12% acceptance rate. The SAT acceptance range is 1450-1550 and the ACT range is 32-35, per U.S. News & World Report.

USC is California’s oldest private university. In spite of its size, USC has a 9:1 student/faculty ratio. It’s programs are top-of-the-line. It’s ranked #1 in the nation for Game/Simulation Development and #8 in Business overall, with more specialized rankings across the board within Business. It’s Cinematic Arts program is world-famous, with alumni including Ryan Coogler, Judd Apatow, Ron Howard, and celebrated filmmakers across Hollywood.

If you want to get into USC, your academics, your test scores, and every aspect of your extracurriculars are going to matter. That’s why we encourage our students to take advantage of summer and develop a strategy that’s geared towards getting into a top notch school like USC. 

Looking for a personalized summer strategy? Call us. We love to help students match with their first choice schools.

Define Your Interests

We advise all of our students to hone in on an academic niche throughout all four years of high school. This should be a highly specific academic area that you’re passionate about and your academics, extracurriculars, letters of recommendation and summer plans should align with your niche. Think about it as though you’re building a brand. History is too broad. But Middle Eastern History is better. You want colleges to understand that you’re an expert in a specific area and that, if they accept you, you intend to continue to build that expertise via specific program at their school. The reason you want to go there (as far as they’re concerned) is that their program and faculty offers you an opportunity to continue building upon a highly specialized academic track you started in high school. The secret is, you don’t actually have to pursue it once you get in. If you’re sick of Middle Eastern History and want to try Art, you’re welcome to do that.

Underscore Your Academics

Taking a summer class is a great use of your vacation time. The goal for the summer should be to accomplish something and to show the admissions committee that you worked hard, ideally you worked on expanding upon your academic area of expertise. We recommend taking a course (or multiple courses) at a prestigious university, including USC itself. USC offers a summer program for high school students. Areas of study include Architecture, Business, Engineering & Information Tech, Global Studies, Communications & Journalism, Performing Arts & Music, Pre-Health & Science, Pre-Law, and Writing & Critical Thinking. We recommend taking a course that corresponds to your niche area of focus. This is not only a good way to get to know USC and what it feels like to live on campus, but also to show USC that you’re serious about getting in.

Intern

Interning is another great way to spend your summer. We recommend against getting an internship within a program at a big company. Programs that offer pre-baked internships for big groups of interns usually result in those interns doing menial tasks all summer like getting coffee for higher-ups. The goal with an internship should be to show the admission committee that you spent your somewhere enriching yourself and learning something in your niche area. It’s much better to get an internship with a local business or organization that could actually use your support. Most won’t offer internship programs and that’s fine! Just pick up the phone and find the right point of contact to set something up. Ideally, this organization or company aligns with your area of expertise.  

Get a Job

Tons of students get summer jobs. This is also a great way to spend your summer. You don’t need to spend money on traveling to a community service trip in a foreign country (and actually, you shouldn’t! This just looks spoiled). Admissions counselors are working people, too. They will respect the fact that you worked hard and earned an income during your vacation. You should try to pick a job that fits in with your academic area of expertise. For example, if you’re interested in Business, try to become an assistant manager at a clothing store. Gunning for Accounting, work the cash register. If Education is what you’re ultimately pursuing, work at a day camp or babysit.

Enjoy the Summer

We also want to acknowledge that being a kid and enjoying it is really important. You should apply yourself, but don’t go overboard. You don’t need to be working as hard as you would during the school year. In fact, it’s really important that you take time to recharge for next year. Enjoy hanging with your friends. Get outside. Hang out at the pool. And set your mind to accomplish a handful of achievable tasks toward your college admissions process.

Don’t Go Overboard

That said, we also don’t want you to chill too much. You shouldn’t be staying in bed until noon every day or playing video games for entire days on end. If you’re trying to get into a school like USC, you should be putting in some effort and building a resume over the summer that will enrich you and impress the admissions committee.

College is more competitive than it’s ever been before. If you want to compete at a school like USC, then you need a cohesive and well-planned strategy for your summer vacation. Remember, you should definitely be developing your academic area of expertise by way of at least one summer activity. This can be in the form of a class, an internship, a job, or another activity that demonstrates that you applied yourself this summer.

Need help coming up with a great summer plan? Call us. We’re experts at helping students get into great schools.