<p>According to an article in the student newspaper at SC by Natalie Chau applications are up for the 2009 incoming class. Vice Provost for SC, Jerry Lucido, remarked, " Numbers of applications has risen since last year and numbers of California applicants has remained strong."</p>
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<p>On the admissions website the admissions profile last year listed applications for the freshman class were a record 35,901. Perhaps this year SC applicants might break the 36,000 mark.</p>
<p>Not a lot of specifics in this article. Common App schools are releasing actual numbers now. "Numbers of applications has risen since last year" is subject to interpretation. Is January 2009 so far rising in comparison to December 2008, "last year"?</p>
<p>JW,
Admissions deadline was January 10. However, for certain schools such as the Thornton School of Music applications had to be in much earlier. Applications were due on Dec. 1.
My interpretation is that in comparison to last year's numbers SC's applicants are up. Keep in mind SC receives many international applicants, particularly from China and Canada. They are not affected in quite the same way by the economic changes.
I spoke with an official from one of the graduate schools last week. He was quite happy with the applicant numbers for his school.</p>
<p>A rising tide lifts all boats... and economic downturns tend to actually increase grad school applications, as people find it difficult to get jobs. I can tell you that I do not know of a single company in my industry that is hiring, the situation for both undergrad and grad students graduating this year will be very, very rough.</p>
<p>The real test for USC UG apps comes next year and the year after than when demographic trends start to reverse themselves. A comparison of the increase to the overall increase of the total applicant pool will be more meaningful.</p>
<p>Yeah, but adcoms at USC and every other school out there still don't know what's going to happen with yield this year. I wouldn't want to be in their shoes.</p>
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...adcoms at USC and every other school out there still don't know what's going to happen with yield this year.
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<p>That is a fascinating question. The yields at the likes of HYPSM are unlikely to change much, as parents will endure penury and students indebtedness rather than turn down an admittance. But the yields at schools such as USC, that do not have as distinct an advantage over the likes of UCLA and UCB, will be up in the air. There must be leading indicators to predict which way things will go prior to decisions being made in April/May, but what are they? ED? UCSD, UCI, UCSB decisions, which are a few weeks earlier?</p>
<p>There are at least 3 distinct advantages of USC: 1. availability of financial aid, 2. famous Trojan alumni network (for example, my husband, an alumni of USC, got his first engineering job from a fellow Trojan at a time when engineering jobs were hard to find), 3.
outstanding unique programs (ex. Cinema school, etc.). Furthermore, the budget cuts in California facing the state schools will be a matter of concern for some students.</p>
<p>I agree with JW. It is a fascinating question and very hard to figure which way things will go.</p>
<p>mdcissp, as much as we USC parents LOVE USC, California students will have very difficult choices. You are from OOS, so you may not be aware that California students who qualify receive financial aid both from the UCs and USC that generally makes the costs very similar. For some students, the FAFSA-only aid at the UCs is a bit better, because certain assets assessed by the CSS/Profile at USC are not included. For students who do not qualify for financial aid, the UCs cost 1/2 as much as USC. As for outstanding programs, UCB and UCLA can make that claim for quite a few of their programs as well.</p>
<p>The budget cuts in California will certainly be a concern, particularly for parents (I am not sure the students pay that close attention to the budget), but may cause them to think: "If we lose our Cal Grant, do we want our child at $52,000/yr USC or at $26,000/year UCLA?"</p>
<p>I know the USC/UCLA/UCB decision was very difficult for our family last year, it will be even more so for families this year.</p>
<p>As trojanchick says, I would not want to be in the adcom's shoes this year, trying to guess which way things will go.</p>
<p>Personally, I have to believe that the yield will be significantly lower this year. As great a school as USC is, a lot of people don't give it full credit for its prestige, which is the main thing that will save the Ivys. The number of applicants may be up this year, but I would have a hard time believing that the yield will remain close to that of last year.</p>
<p>Actually that's what Harvard did last year, when it wasn't clear what the effects would be with the elimination of ED or EA (whatever they had in 2007). Quite a few of the elite colleges put more students on waitlists than they had in previous years. There was a kind of domino effect.
USC however doesn't have one.</p>
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But I think even in this economy there are still plenty people that want to go to USC.
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<p>USC had 35,900</a> applicants, a 22% admit rate, and a 35% yield in 2008. Barring economic conditions similar to that depicted in The Road, there will still be plenty of eager matriculants. CC'ers, however, want to know specifically whether USC anticipates a lower yield, and thus increases the admit rate.</p>
<p>To Alamemom-You are right that the California students will have difficult choices. However, USC takes a lot of international students plus students from all over the U.S. Therefore, it seems reasonable that there will be a lot of applicants. I live on the East coast and am confused by what is really going on in California. Despite the real estate foreclosure mess, and some drop in real estate prices, real estate (at least in good to excellent locations), are still amazingly high. Please feel free to correct this point of view: I still sense that many Californians have tons of money in million dollar plus houses, have high paying jobs (how else can you afford to live in California?), and can afford USC tuition (unless you lost your jobs, left all your savings in down stock market).
Are there really that many Californians who would choose state schools (when the California state budget has terrible problems) over USC? Has the recession in the U.S. really hurt California?</p>
<p>At USC, about 50% of applicants and admitted students are from California, and those students typically also apply to more than one UC (all the UCs are on one application, so it is very easy to apply to multiple campuses - those with fee waivers may waive the fees for up to four campuses). So the decisions of California students may have an impact on USC's yield. I don't think the number of applications will change significantly, I think the yield may change - the question is, which way??? Will California's budget troubles push students to USC, or will the economic troubles in general push them to a UC?</p>
<p>Yes, mdcissp, California has been hurt. While there are million-dollar houses and high paying jobs, the vast majority of the 38 million Californians are living in ordinary houses doing the same type of jobs you find anywhere. In my community, the median home price is currently $240,000. In a nearby community (of about 300,000 people) the median home price was just published at $165,000 (that community also has one of the highest foreclosure rates in the nation). Those figures are about 40% lower than 3 years ago.</p>
<p>The Cal Grant program (California's college grant program) has been suspended (again) No</a> budget, no money - News and there is not yet any information what that will do to families counting on them. At USC, the Cal Grant is worth $9,708. That is more than the system wide fees (“tuition” for California students) at the UCs. If the program is not re-instated with the new budget, will USC be able to make up that amount, or will families have to cover it? Without the Cal Grant, can middle-income families (like mine) even consider USC? There is a great deal of confusion and worry for Californians who do not have million-dollar homes and huge incomes. (And, despite the stereotypes, that includes most of the 38 million of us.)</p>
<p>I feel like USC's reputation is on the rise and they're going to see more applicants from across the U.S. I live in Chicago and I think that 5-10 years ago, not many people I know would have been interested in USC, and now I know ten people who want to go there. It's not really reasonable to make a blanket statement about the whole U.S. based on information like that, but I think it does say something about the type of applicants that are now interested.</p>
<p>The media makes it look like there are a lot of rich people in California-from the millionaires in Silicon Valley, to the movie stars, the estates over looking the ocean, houses with price tags over 1 million in West LA (and these houses look like starter homes in many other parts of the U.S., i.e. very over priced, even with the foreclosures). It is astounding to see the high prices being asked for real estate. True, some areas of California have been hard hit (Riverside, the fires, etc.), but it just feels like there are enough wealthy in California who can afford the USC tuition, particularly if they are alumni and want their kids to go to USC.</p>
<p>Can someone clarify what the "yield" means? When you say USC had a 22% acceptance rate and 35% yield does that mean that out of the 22% they accepted only 35% decided to go to USC? Sorry but I'm new at this and its confusing. THANKS!!!</p>