After a year of twists and turns in the application process, I finally got admitted to the Computer Science program at the University of Southern California

Date：2022-04-20   Author：admin

Student Zhang

Undergraduate institution: Leeds College, Southwest Jiaotong University

Undergraduate major: Computer Science and Technology

Standardized test scores: 3.75/4.0, TOEFL 98, no GRE

Admitted university: University of Southern California

Admitted Major: Computer Science (Game Development Direction)

1. Selection of professional direction

When it comes to the educational standards of computer science, the United States is undoubtedly strong. American universities are also the academic halls that many CS students aspire to. Besides, influenced by the overall environment of my current institution, I am also more inclined to pursue further studies in the United States.

On the other hand, considering the high employment pressure and work intensity in China, studying in the United States offers the opportunity to work abroad, with more attractive salary and a more friendly working environment, which is more conducive to my personal development.

My undergraduate major was CS and I'm also interested in programming. I enjoy writing some small programs by myself in my spare time. Therefore, I still choose to pursue a postgraduate degree in CS.

Besides, during my undergraduate years, I was exposed to and tried many specialized directions of CS. I found that I lacked enthusiasm for scientific research and preferred to write some program software with practical functions. Besides, I enjoy playing games in my spare time and have a certain understanding of the gaming industry. When I was self-studying programming in my freshman and sophomore years, I started with game programming. Therefore, when I found a postgraduate program in the direction of game development, I resolutely chose it as my first option.

2. Selection of study abroad agencies

I still remember that when Yisi Boluo came to our school for promotion, I took this opportunity to learn about some information of overseas study agencies. Many of my classmates and senior students have chosen Yisi Boluo and have given it good reviews. At the same time, we also compared several institutions. After communicating with our parents, we unanimously agreed that the teachers of Yisi Boluo are professional, responsible and sincere. Therefore, we finally chose Yisi Boluo as our study abroad application agency.

My consultant teacher is Ms. Niu. She has been in the industry for many years and is very experienced. In the early stage, she helped me collect a large amount of information about schools and professional directions, providing me with many choices. During the summer vacation at the end of my junior year, when I was planning not to apply for the research direction but instead to apply for software engineering or game development, my teacher also gave me great support and patiently provided me with advice.

When I signed up for Yisi Boluo in 2019, my activity background was completely blank. Teacher Zhu, the planning teacher, gave me a lot of help and guidance along the way. The teacher will plan a detailed study plan for me - such as preparing for TOEFL and GRE, the requirements for GPA, how to make good use of winter and summer vacations, and the promotion of summer research projects, etc... Besides, when it comes to trivial matters in study and life or when I feel extremely anxious, I am also willing to confide and communicate with my teacher.

When it came to the application stage, the essay section was guided by Mr. Zhang, a Chinese-American teacher. Mr. Zhang graduated from a prestigious American university with a background in CS. Both his professional expertise and the match between him and me were extremely high. Teacher Zhang's control over the creation of documents is extremely precise and almost flawless. There is no room for revision, and most of them are finalized in one go.

3. A tortuous application journey

Looking back on my entire application process, it was actually not that smooth.

When applying for the senior year, the academic pressure at school was quite high. Moreover, I didn't handle the pressure well when facing it, which led to a relatively low efficiency in preparing for the TOEFL and GRE. I began to waver over whether to continue applying to the United States and whether to take a gap program. This indecisive mindset also led to negligence in the application process.

However, Teacher Niu was very patient and responsible. She always respected my ideas and recommended many schools and programs in the UK and the US that were suitable for me. Under the guidance of Teacher Niu, we agreed to only apply to the target universities (such as the University of Southern California, New York University, the University of Utah - Game Development, etc.) for one year, and then reapply to the matching universities after passing the GRE for two years.

Due to the large number of applicants for the 2021fall intake, the competition was particularly fierce. The universities I applied to were either rejected or placed on the waitlist. I myself had also made preparations for a gap year and started to fully focus on preparing for the GRE and internships. However, the teachers at Yisi Boluo never gave up and continued to fight for me. On November 12, 2021, I finally received an admission from my Dream School, the University of Southern California.

My major is computer science, and I have always been inclined towards projects in game development and software. With the help of the teachers at Yisi Boluo, I actually initially received an admission to the Software Engineering direction of the CS program at the University of Southern California. Later, due to the excessive number of applicants, the school asked me if I wanted to transfer to the spring intake. After applying for the spring intake, they suggested that I apply for the summer intake. Then he told me that the school wouldn't offer software engineering this year and asked me to change my direction...

In this way, I successfully switched to the direction of game development that I like. The whole process can be said to be full of twists and turns.

The process of waiting for the official admission was torturous. During those days, I didn't want to do anything. The first thing I did every morning and the second thing in the evening was to check my emails. USC said they would reply within two weeks, but I had to wait for nearly a month. I originally thought I had no chance, but it still gave me a big surprise. Although the process was full of twists and turns, being able to reach the desired direction of the dream school can be regarded as a satisfactory outcome.

I'm really very grateful to all the teachers of Yisi Boluo for their persistence and patience. It is their unremitting efforts that have enabled me to see hope in the difficult situation.

I still want to share my own experiences and lessons to tell everyone: If you plan to study abroad, you must determine your direction as early as possible and plan according to your goals, because I myself have suffered a lot in this regard.

At first, I was planning to study in the UK. Later, after being explained by the institution's teachers and conducting my own research, I found that the US was more suitable for me. So, after studying for IELTS for two months, I signed up for a TOEFL class again, which wasted a lot of time and money in vain.

Besides, if I had prepared earlier, I wouldn't have had to face multiple pressures at the same time in my junior and senior years, which would have affected my application. Therefore, I hope that my younger schoolmates can plan their study abroad destinations and major directions as early as possible, and collect information and prepare materials in a targeted manner.

Thank you again, teachers, for your support and care. I wish all the students of Yisi Boluo a bright future and success in your future applications!

Tutoring Review

Ms.Ou., Academic Director of Explore

For Zhang, what remains deeply engraved in his memory is the "rough yet meticulous" approach during the interview training.

To say "rough", is it because he doesn't even know the lights-out time of his own school, or did I inform him of it after asking his classmates? Of course, due to the time difference, the lights-out time is of vital importance. If the school suddenly turns off the lights during an interview, it would be a very embarrassing situation.

Saying "detailed" means that he pays attention to every reaction and answer of his. He has done A lot of homework in advance, written several large pages of notes, and predicted all kinds of questions from the interviewer. If he asks A, he will answer A; if he asks further, he will answer B; if he asks C, he will answer C, and so on. Besides, he is also deeply passionate about the game development major. He answers every professional question with substance. Moreover, he provided the school with models of the small games he made in his daily life.

When it comes to his admission to the University of Southern California, it was truly full of twists and turns. First, in May 2021, he received the news that he was on the waiting list. However, we didn't give up. After updating his final transcript showing an improvement in his score, we sent him an enthusiastic love letter expressing his love and yearning for the university of Southern California. At the same time, he also updated his new research project.

Finally, after half a year, he received the admission letter for the summer semester of 2022. Just as he happily chose his direction, an unexpected twist occurred. The software engineering direction he had originally chosen was cancelled in the summer, and he could only choose to start classes in the autumn. When choosing a course direction to start in the autumn, things took a sudden turn for the better. He was able to  his favorite game development direction. After everything was selected and submitted, the school sent an email saying that the official admission would be issued within two weeks.

At this point, something unexpected happened again. Two weeks later, he still hadn't received the official admission. After sending two emails to the school, there was no reply either. As his application advisor, my experience came in handy. I suggested that he resubmit his application as a new one in the USC application system, upload screenshots of the school's emails and admission emails at the same time, and clearly mark in the system that the student has been admitted and is now just changing directions. In this way, on December 21st, a week after the application was resubmitted, he received the official admission from the school. At that time, everything was finally on track.