Acceptance Rates 2009

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Southern California
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<p>USC plans to adjust acceptance rate in wake of economic downturn
Admissions officials say the acceptance rate will be approximately 23 or 24 percent</p>

<p>Admissions officials say the acceptance rate will be approximately 23 or 24 percent — up from 22 percent last year.
General uncertainty about how the economy and state budget cuts could affect fall enrollment has caused USC to take steps to ensure that a steady number of students continues to attend; however, admissions officials say this will not affect admissions standards or the university’s ranking.</p>

<p>USC received 35,600 applicants this year, which is about 200 fewer — or less than 1 percent — than last year, said Timothy Brunold, director of Undergraduate Admissions. Still, this is one of the highest application volumes the university has seen.</p>

<p>“This year there is a great deal of uncertainty,” Brunold said. “When we decide how many students to offer admission to, we’re trying to make predictions about how many students will be attending.”</p>

<p>USC is raising its acceptance rate by one or two percentage points this year, although according to Brunold, acceptance rates tend to fluctuate annually.</p>

<p>In 2007 and 2006 USC’s acceptance rate was 25 percent. In 2005 and 2004 the acceptance rate was higher at 27 percent. Last year USC’s acceptance rate was 22 percent and this year it will increase to 23 or 24 percent.</p>

<p>Freshman decisions will be completed and mailed by April 1, and the actual number will be finalized then.</p>

<p>According to Brunold, USC is increasing its acceptance rate slightly as an adjustment to ensure that attendance remains steady, even if more families decline acceptance because of their economic situation or other factors.</p>

<p>“We are trying to be thoughtful about what the economic hardship will mean for us this year,” Brunold said.</p>

<p>USC admissions faculty work off an enrollment model, which outlines the capacity of the university, including classroom space, faculty-to-student ratio, housing space and lab space.</p>

<p>“We’re not interested in growing the student body … we’re actually interested in shrinking it some,” Brunold said. “We don’t have a great tolerance for under or over enrolling.”</p>

<p>Although some students might be worried that an increasing acceptance rate will mean a decrease in admission standards, Brunold said this is not the case.</p>

<p>“When you look at the quality of our incoming freshman class, the end result of all the metrics that one might measure a class on will be higher than last year,” Brunold said.</p>

<p>The average SAT scores of all of incoming freshman applicants was about 25 points higher than last year, and the average GPA of the applicants is also up nearly one-tenth of a point over last year.</p>

<p>According to U.S. News and World Report, USC is listed as the 27th best college in 2009 in the National Universities Category.</p>

<p>According to Bob Morse, director of data research at the U.S. News and World Report, it would take a 30 percentage point change in the university’s admission rate to alter a its overall ranking. </p>

<p>“It wouldn’t make any sense for USC’s rank to be affected by a slightly higher acceptance rate because the professors are all the same and the quality of the classes is all the same,” said Jackie Tobin, a sophomore majoring in psychology.</p>

<p>Other factors that are considered in ranking include assessment by peer institutions, retention of students, faculty resources, financial resources, alumni giving, and graduation rate performance.</p>

<p>Even if USC’s ranking were to drop, a UCLA Freshman Survey from fall 2008 disproves the notions that students entering college are largely concerned with college rank. Only 17.6 percent of the students surveyed said this was an important factor in deciding what school to attend. However, 43 percent said financial assistance was a main factor in choosing a school.</p>

<p>USC plans to increase financial aid by nearly 8 percent this year to accommodate families’ increased financial need in the current economic climate, Brunold said.</p>

<p>“This really was one of our attempts to be quite proactive,” Brunold said. “Given the economic uncertainty, more families will need economic assistance.”</p>

<p>According to Brunold, USC has the largest financial aid budget of any private university in the country.</p>

<p>Brunold said the increased financial aid budget will not only help new students, but will support current students as well.</p>

<p>“Our attempts to increase that financial aid budget are being done to make up for any increased need,” Brunold said.</p>

<p>In the state of California, education budget cuts have created challenges for public institutions in meeting the demands of their student bodies and providing adequate resources to students. Brunold said that although private institutions may have to accommodate more families through financial aid in order to maintain attendance, USC thinks its resources will attract more students to enroll.</p>

<p>“I cared about the reputation of the school, but basically my decision came down to the best school I could get into with the best financial aid possible,” said Angie Chen, a freshman majoring in architecture.</p>

<p>Daily</a> Trojan - USC plans to adjust acceptance rate in wake of economic downturn</p>

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<p>Im sorry that partially ******** that kids dont care about rankings.
However, all privates have increased their acceptance rate a tiny bit.
Financial aid will be the answer to USC's problems.</p>

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<p>How is that "partially BS" that kids don't care about rankings?</p>

<p>They apply based on their own abilities and how they feel they match up to admission standards. The rankings are just a convenient way to get a quick breakdown of stats.</p>

<p>UCLA (where they took that survey) is a good school. Those students didn't go there because it's 25, they went because it's a good school. </p>

<p>Most kids are happy with where they end up.</p>

<p>If kids cared solely about rankings, they'd bust their butts to get into Harvard, and that would be the end of it.</p>

4

<p>Thanks for posting this article, mv3. Some very interesting news items.</p>

<ul>
<li><p>Raising the accepted number by 2% means up to approx 700 more students will get big envelopes than last year. Great news for many of you.</p></li>
<li><p>Raising financial aid in this economy may encourage more high achieving students to matriculate</p></li>
<li><p>It's clear the USN&WR rankings are very firmly on USC's mind, as this article seems defensive </p></li>
<li><p>They are making decisions up through April 1, so keep your hopes up!</p></li>
</ul>

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<p>thanks for the article..gives me a little bit of hope</p>

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<p>because it downplays the weight that people put on rankings. To say that 85 percent of kids did not think about their schools reputation when considering it is false. If you got into one of the top 10 schools in US NEWs and you got into one of the bottom 1000, these rankings would effect your opinion. Why is this survey flawed? This asked college freshman not high school seniors. college freshman don;t want to answer yes because it applies they would have gone to a better school if they got in. Take me for example. I still scrutnize this school and all the other schools I got into, but once I get im going to embrace it and say I love it more than any other IVY league avialble. Hell, its probably beacuse you get a little attached to your school once you are there.</p>

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<p>Rankings and reputation aren't exactly (or even remotely) equal.</p>

<p>Asking college freshman (at UCLA) is a demographic to get timely info for their opinion on rankings. And how do you know that implies they dislike their school? They could be perfectly content with their school's ranking, or (like the survey implies) they truly don't care. </p>

<p>How would they conduct a meaningful survey from prospective freshman? Send it with their admissions packet with a card, "How did our USNWR ranking influence your decision?" They'd be under the same pressure as current college students. </p>

<p>And the situation you put (top 10 v. bottom 1000), that's more of a "match" issue than a rankings issue. </p>

<p>There are MUCH more important factors in deciding where you want to attend.</p>

<p>Using USC v. UCLA as an example, they share the same geographic area, similar stats. UCLA is ranked higher. If that was so important, anyone who was accepted to both would choose UCLA. That's simply not the case.</p>

<p>With Ivy v. USC, it's still more of a personal preference more than anything (unless your decision is guided by those rankings for some reason). You go with whatever's a better fit.</p>

<p>You conciously choose where you apply. Hopefully there's some research done beforehand. When people look at those rankings, most of the time they're looking at those other stats like acceptance rates and cost and not the rankings themselves. The rankings are more of a way to screen their chances. It might be important in that sense, but otherwise, most people don't dwell on these numbers.</p>

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<p>Well at UCLA vs USC no one cares about rankings. It so close at those points. Rankings are only accurate at the +/- 20 range. But when comparing USC to and IVY league. The fact that the Ivy league has that ivy league reputation does play a major factor. dont forget that ranking and reputation is somewhat interchangable.</p>

<p>You are absolutely right about ranking not being improtant but a vast number of poepel do pay attention. You are clearly at USC fan and now a lot about the school. but for most peopel who have no idea what college to go to, ranking plays a roll.</p>

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<p>"but otherwise, most people don't dwell on these numbers. " </p>

<p>Have you been on College Confidential Lately?</p>

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<p>CC isn't most people.</p>

<p>USC v. Ivy. Here's a non-ranking related reason: USC is in California, and I'd like to go to film school. That's an N/A for any of the eight.</p>

<p>There are plenty of intracacies that can't be described in that little number. And it's sad that you put so much weight on it.</p>

<p>Of course, I didn't apply to an Ivy. But it's consistent with what I've said. Most people use USNWR as a way to get quick facts. The rankings won't determine their decision.</p>

<p>I went to Ben Franklin in New Orleans (top 20 public high school), and I go to Tulane (wanted to stay in New Orleans, applied early last year, perfectly happy with staying).</p>

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<p>of course, but do you think the majority of people dont care about rankings? Your reason for not lookign at rankings is GREAT. But not everyone is as educated on colleges. When you look outside of CC this gets even worse since CC represents a large portion of the academic elite. Those who do not look into it care even more about rankings.</p>

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<p>except for Forbes rankings. They are BS.
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/676484-forbes-ranking.html#post1062112064%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/676484-forbes-ranking.html#post1062112064&lt;/a>
I think the problem with this conversation is this:
Rankings on the common USNEWS are a direct relationship to reputation.
I think people care about reputation and that ends up correlating with rankings.</p>

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<p>Using HYPS as an example:</p>

<p>Stanford isn't an Ivy. It's in California. Huge difference? Yes. Rankings related? No.</p>

<p>Most people are happy with their state schools. </p>

<p>Tulane (51, private) had 40k applications. In state, LSU (100 something, public) has a better rep. LSU is probably a bit more renowned in the south (even nationally, when New Orleans isn't attached to Tulane) simply because of football.</p>

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<p>Some people no matter how much they bust their butt will still not get into Harvard. It is pure serendipity when you are at the level to be looked at.</p>

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<p>Dswartz, this thread is over three years old. Please refrain from resurrecting topics that have long since died off if possible.</p>