Full Careers - Is USC a good university?

Is USC a good university?

I am deciding if I want to pursue a career in dentistry. I search online and it said that USC offer a major in dentistry. But--the tuition for USC is about 35,000 and thats a lot and plus I don't know if my parents can afford it even if I do have support of financial aid. I saw that to get in USC is an average GPA of 3.71 and I only have a 3.41 GPA now. I am a junior now in high school. Do I still have a possibility of getting in USC? I also will do more community service, join clubs, and sports between this year and next year. Ok, well give me some advice! Thanks everyone :) My ACT score is 19 but I know that it isn't a good score. That's why I am going to retake in June. My ACT score is 19 but I know that it isn't a good score. That's why I am going to retake in June. My ACT score is 19 but I know that it isn't a good score. That's why I am going to retake in June.

Public Comments

Neither USC nor anyone else has a "major" in dentistry. Dental school is a professional school, which means that it is a graduate program for AFTER you finish college, not something you study in college itself. USC is an excellent school, but what may make things more difficult is that they also currently have an outstanding football team. You may ask, what does that have to do with my ability to go there to be a dentist? The answer is that because of football, USC has gotten a lot of attention, and many students who would not otherwise have thought of applying to USC have decided to apply there. That means that the school can be much more selective, and it becomes harder to get in. So right now, I would say that your chances of getting into USC are not great, even with more extracurricular activities and community service (and you haven't told us about your SAT scores). However, if you do well in college, you could still potentially go there for dental school later on, if you still wanted to do that.
USC is a good school, but doesnt compare to UCLA or Stanford. Only advice i have is to raise your GPA. as with the money part, good luck. okay. maybe one w/ a lower gpa may get in w/ special circumstances.. rich parents or some other reason not involving money. when you think about college admissions and or any other thing in the so called real world think of this: COMPETITION. one has just got to be better.
I can't believe that other answer! If the AVERAGE GPA is 3.71, that means 50% of the student body who got accepted HAD LOWER THAN A 3.71!!! There's been this moronic interpretation of the statistics that you don't meet the average then you won't get in. That is just idiotic, an people advising you of that are doing you a HUGE disservice! You'd have to know what the standard deviation is to make that determination , and the fact is acceptance is based on SATs, extracurriculars, LORs, essays, and any other multiple things they ask you, not just GPA. There are all sorts of fools here who answer questions out of their cakehole w/o the SLIGHTEST idea about what they're talking about. There isn't a person on Earth who could tell you your chance are good or not based on the info you've provided, except to say they are zero if you don't apply. Get involved in things that interest you, boost the GPA if you can and study for the SATs, and you should have an EXCELLENT chance of getting in! Good luck.
Er 3.41 is really low. USC is okay, it's not that great but it's not that bad either. Since it's not that great, you might have a chance of getting in even with a 3.41. However a 3.41 is pretty horrendous if you want me to be honest. Most of the people I know who got into good universities had at least 3.9 in high school, as high school (even with tons of AP/IB classes) is really easy and pretty much a joke compared to university. UCLA, Stanford, UC Berkeley, Cal-tech are all much better though. Those are the 4 best in California.
USC is a good school, but since it is so expensive you might want to consider attending somewhere else. You can't major in dentistry at the undergraduate level; USC's school of dentistry is for graduate students only. You need to complete your undergraduate degree first and it doesn't necessarily need to be at USC. The good thing about undergrad is you can major in anything you want as long as you fulfill the prerequisites needed for the specific graduate program you're interested in. Usually the prereqs. you need to take will closely follow the pre-med path. Most people in your position will choose to major in a science such as chemistry or biology (or something closely related) since these majors will require a lot of the same classes needed to get into a med program. I would try to raise my GPA if I were you since USC has become more competitive lately (and yes, a lot of this does have to do with their football team and the recognition it has brought the school). USC is private which means they won't focus on your GPA alone. Extracurricular activities, AP classes, and community service will play a role in your admission as well. Private universities can be a bit more random with their admissions process. When it comes down to it, they can really admit anyone they deem "worthy" regardless of stats so you might be able to swing a decision in your favor.
Yeah, its a good school. You should apply to every scholarship you qualify for.