I’m not sure if this has already been discussed on here. I flipped back a few pages, but didn’t see anything, so here I go…
By some miracle, I was accepted to USC, but was deferred to the spring 2016 term. If they give us enough financial aid, I would definitely spend the fall semester at a local community college, and then transfer. USC is the DREAM for me.
So, was anybody else offered spring admission too? Are you going to take it? I’m also curious about your test scores and what not.
I have a 4.0 with a class rank of 10 / 296 and an ACT score of 28 and 6 AP credits (out of 8 offered), along with 25 credit hours from the local community college. (Like, I said, its a miracle I was accepted). I think being from a small town in the backwoods of Georgia had a positive influence on that.
I read in the admissions packet that they don’t gaurantee housing for spring admits. That could be a big problem, considering that finances are already a huge issue for my familiy. Are apartments way more expensive, or are there affordable options? It would also be doable to apply for a dorm my 10th grade year, even after spending a semester in an apartment, right?
I would be going to a school across the country without knowing a soul, so having a dorm would definitely be the best option for me.
On a topic not-related to the title, I applied as an English major (mainly because I figured it would be the easiest major to be admitted to) but my long-term goal is to transfer into Annenberg for communication. How competitive is the admissions for that college, once you are a student at USC?
Sorry for this long-winded post, but I AM SO EXCITED TO [possibly] BEING A TROJAN!!!
Hey there, I feel as though I am in a very similar position as you! I recently got accepted into USC as Spring Admit and although I am ecstatic, I am a bit bummed that I will be missing out on everything that happens during the fall at USC. As for test scores and what not, I have a 4.2 weighted GPA and I received an 1830 on the SATs, so my scores are by no means amazing and you can understand my surprise when I got accepted into USC! I also happened to take many honors and AP classes so that could have possibly helped!
I also saw in the packet about the Spring Admit housing situation and I must say, it does worry me quite a bit how they may not have room for everyone! I will be moving to a state where I know absolutely no one, so living in a dorm would be ideal, but I’m sure the school has procedures to make Spring Admits feel at home.
I will probably end up taking the offer given that this is my dream school, and I will most likely attend Arizona State University ( a school not far from me) for a semester as a non-degree seeking student!
Hopefully that helped? Just know that you’re not alone!
I’m a Spring Admit too. My stats aren’t the best either (3.6 GPA 1890 SAT and 29 ACT), but I had a great essay, good work experience, and I’ve been taking all community college classes since junior year. Anyway, USC is my dream school and I felt a little sad when I got Spring Admission too. But, you have to realize out of more than 50,000 applicants there are only 2,700 spots for Fall (stats from Admissions blog), and there are only a couple hundred spots for Spring admits. There are thousands of people with perfect test scores and GPAs who also have incredible extracurriculars and still weren’t admitted. And many of them probably wish they could have Spring admission.
So, if USC is really your dream school then go for it. Yeah, we won’t be there at the beginning to meet everyone, but at the end of the day 7/8 semesters is better than none at all, and it’s just another 4 months of waiting.
To answer your question: Yes, I’m going. I already sent my intent to enroll. I don’t know what will do for Fall though. Maybe AUP, if they give the same fin aid.
You two are not alone, at least to this four-year freshman admit. If I had my druthers, I would have forced President Nikias’s daughter to attend during the Spring to see how all of you and your parents feel.
If I were in your shoes, I’d go to ASU or elsewhere and tell USC thanks but no thanks. I am ashamed of my alma mater for treating all of you poorly. What you will miss out is a lot – football games, meeting other new freshmen, new friends and getting accustomed to USC like all of the rest. If you must go to USC, then at least write President Nikias and copy all of the Board of Trustees (actually, target those who went to USC undergrad), to express your disappointment. USC will not change until and unless those like you express your deep disappointment.
It’s easy for fuddy duddies to claim that you are lucky to get in, albeit in the Spring; however, those admins are clueless when it comes to how you feel, and they simply don’t care. All they care about is how your statistics will adversely affect the USN&WR rankings.
I’m sure USC can survive admitting the several Spring admits in the Fall. I’d rather admit all of you and close the door to a few transfer students than the reverse.
seattleTW, the alternative to spring admission is not that USC would somehow be forced to admit these students for fall. You get that, right? There are no remaining spots open in fall. The alternative to being admitted to USC in the spring is that the students above and others would have gotten a “no” from USC, like the over 40,000 other students who got thin envelopes.
This offer is hardly an insult, and seems a lot more secure than being put on a waitlist with 10,000 other hopeful students with no way to plan for the future, a common practice at other Us. But for many it may be a disappointment. I’d say, it’s a far far less depressing disappointment than getting a rejection in the mail. To some students, it’s a great chance to go to the university of their dreams. To some, it’s not the way they want to start college. But… football games, socializing? While those are fun, there are years ahead for that. Many students have posted on CC that they found it very easy to make friends once they started in the Spring. I can’t really remember any spring admit coming to cc to complain.
The spring admit program is an innovative and responsive program to address the reality of college admissions: too many great candidates, too few available spaces.
I completely disagree. It is far better to be told “you are accepted, we want you, and we will have space in January” than to be told “please join our wait list and we may or may not accept you at some point in June…but probably not given the size of the wait list and the number of slots we have”. For example, in 2012, UCLA had a wait list of 2900 students. http://dailybruin.com/2012/04/13/ucla_waitlists_2900_for_first_time_in_schools_history/
I completely disagree. If they cared so much, then they would NOT make admissions offers for spring, since anyone turning that down would negatively impact the acceptance rate. It would be far better then to go with the brutal wait list.
Most importantly, this is a school that has clearly stated that they want a student and came up with a way to do that even in the light of limited space. Harvard has their “Z admit” program in which your admission is deferred by a year, Berkeley has a spring admit program and my bet is that you will see more of this approach in the future.
My DS was a Spring admit and had absolutely no problem getting fully engaged and integrated into life at USC and now looks back at that Fall as an incredible gift where he could do some really interesting things.
Will some students be disappointed? Sure. Will some fall admits be disappointed when they get on campus? Sure, just like in every other college in the world. Will some fall admits have trouble integrating into USC even if they go to football games? Sure. Just like in every college in the world.
USC, and other colleges who make commitments to students and find ways to accommodate students they want, should be commended. Students should remember why they were excited and applied to USC in the first place, even if it means that it is too inconvenient to go to football games in the fall. Unless of course you are a freshman football player and will be missing the first season of football
There is plenty off campus USC owned housing to accommodate 3,000 freshmen. That’s a viable alternative to Paris. All USC needs to do is reduce the transfer class size to accommodate all freshmen. Nikias has an elitist and imperious attitude towards Spring admits. He cares more about international and grad students. Harvard’s approach is better than USC’s. The key is affording all freshmen the full freshmen year experience, including leaving home, severing the umbilical cord, joining others in a new adventure, and maturing in the process.
Of course, they could accept more freshman if they didn’t have as many transfers or grad students, or if they forced people to graduate after 4 years. So what?
You may disagree with the mix of freshman, transfers, grads and internationals but the fact remains that the college is finding creative ways to accept the people they want.
One tends to mature more quickly by following their own path, not just being part of a herd. Spring admit is one great option to start on that journey.
It worked out exceptionally well for my DS and all of his friends.
Yes, USC should kill the TTP and Spring admits too. There should be no WL either. Unlike the fortunate few, I suspect not all Spring admits can afford to play in Paris, go on shopping sprees in London or hobnob with other rich kids in Milan. What are the Pell Grant kids supposed to do, bake cookies at home? At least fall admits can attend USC football games and socialize with each other. Nikias and his cronies are wooden.
SeattleTW has had an ax to grind on this subject and Nikias for a very long time. It’s really not worth it to try to argue with him. For those of you who are looking for another opinion about Spring admission here is my take on it as the parent of a Freshman Spring admit.
Positives
My son got to attend his #1 choice. It was also the #1 ranked program in the nation for CS (Games). Any “cons” were completely mitigated by this fact.
He was able to take classes at the local community college in the Summer of 2014 (C++ and Diversity requirement). He is now taking CS 103, Intro to Programming, which is basically C++, and he is totally a rockstar in that class because of the Summer course (I’ll admit the CC C++ course was not as rigorous but it was a great basis). Fall admits are not supposed to take CC courses after graduating high school and before starting college. My son now has two more slots open for a possible minor.
He did attend the AUP program in the Fall and knocked out three GEs and the lower level writing course while getting an interesting cultural experience (visits to the Louvre for Art History, how cool is that?)
We are very much middle-class but the cost savings from a cheaper college more than made up for the higher travel expenses. Having said that, I did feel like there were a lot of Spring admits /TTP students from very wealthy families at AUP. Other than Legacy I wonder if many of the TTP students are also selected due to future contribution potential?
Because he was at AUP he was able to register for Spring classes two weeks before other Spring admits.
My son has really bonded with the other Spring admits in his major. They are really supportive of one another!
Spring admits who are in Viterbi are excused from the 2 credit Intro to Engineering course (where you learn about various Engineering majors).
Cons
He had to explain to his friends why he was not a Fall admit. It was an awkward conversation but they “got it”.
On-campus housing was not guaranteed. He got into the A&H dorm, which is great, but there was a reason why his roommate’s prior roommate had left; my son’s roommate has a medical condition which keeps him up at night. This, then, causes sleep issues for my son. I guess this could happen with any roommate situation but perhaps more so if a student is slotted into an empty spot.
Because he was a Spring admit he registered for Spring classes months after Fall admits. It was tricky but his adviser helped him get the classes he needed but there was some anxiety while it was being figured out.
When he moved into his dorm (a few days earlier than the Fall admits who returned in January) there was no RA there to greet them. There were other housing folks who tried to help out but it wasn’t the same. For example, we had to figure out how to “loft” the bed up, where the laundry room and mail room were, etc. Small stuff but a bit irritating.
Convocation was a bit underwhelming. No robes and they all stood up and sat down at the same time.
Once he got past the first few weeks of the semester he felt like any other Freshman. He loves USC and is grateful to be there. By the way, his stats were firmly in the average for admits. He would not have hurt or helped USC stats.
I’d also suggest ignoring SeattleTW on this. He feels Spring admits and transfers are lesser students, and it hurts USC’s (and thus his own personal) prestige.
Please don’t attempt to describe my beliefs. I support anyone accepted to USC, and that includes Spring admits. My position is clear: If you get in, then you should be treated as a full freshman. It’s better, IMO, to be rejected than admitted as a Spring admit. Since these kids were accepted, they should be allowed to begin in the fall. I support stopping the practice entirely. Just look how many threads are popping up on this subject; it’s appalling.
No problem here being a Spring admit for USC. Our developing issue is financial aid. My son has several other great options and is ready to make a decision. Spoke with FA at USC today and asked when his FA will be available, her answer … in about a month. Waaaaht! USC has confirmed that they have everything they need for his file so what is the hold-up? We have decided to wait until Monday, April 13th (two weeks) and see if it comes together. If we don’t have it at that time we plan to contact them once more and press for an FA answer. If they cannot deliver then we’ll move on. It would be a shame to walkaway but not everyone can, or is willing to work on “USC Time.” To be honest this outcome would be worse than a Thanks but No Thanks letter.
Dear gmbern: USC financial aid isn’t very good. You’ll get quite a few loans, and more in your later years. Other colleges offer much better FA. Go where you get the best aid.
