<p>I can’t speak for why those students decided not to apply to UCLA, Cal, or UCSD.
Even though USC is not as numbers heavy, you are wrong to insinuate that lower stat applicants would have a better chance of being admitted there than to a UC. </p>
<p>Compare the SAT scores as listed on about.com: [UCLA</a> Profile - SAT Scores and Admissions Data for UCLA](<a href=“http://collegeapps.about.com/od/collegeprofiles/p/UCLA_Profile.htm]UCLA”>UCLA: Acceptance Rate, SAT/ACT Scores, GPA) and [USC</a> Profile - SAT Scores and Admissions Data for USC, the University of Southern California](<a href=“http://collegeapps.about.com/od/collegeprofiles/p/USC.htm]USC”>USC: Acceptance Rate, SAT/ACT Scores, GPA)</p>
<p>570/680…620/720
610/740…650/750
580/710…640/740
ACT: 25/31…29/33</p>
<p>So, despite USC looking at the entire application and rejecting applicants who are disproportionally strong in their numbers, USC still manages to enroll a stronger freshman class. </p>
<p>It sounds to me like those “lazy” students would have been better off at UCLA or UCSD. They could expect to be admitted at a higher rate while attaining lower grades and scores and not focusing on ECs and other important aspects of a well-rounded applicant. (I won’t speak for Berkeley).</p>
<p>From what we read from USC admits here on CC, the school is definitely not easy to get into these days, and those who truly want to attend USC need to put real effort into the application, essays, etc., which shows their honest interest in attending.</p>
<p>It is puzzling to me when a student a) does not care a lot for USC, and b) would prefer to attend other universities, so c) doesn’t put full-on tremendous effort into the USC application, that d) they are hurt. Surprised I can understand. They underestimated what it takes to get admitted. But it should not be a shock that universities are looking to admit students who show in their application how much they bring to the school aside from nice stats. For any high achieving hs student, this may be the first time they are facing their limitations–and that is no fun for sure. A good, if difficult, lesson, though.</p>
<p>Of course, I do feel badly for these excellent kids. But a string of admissions is not to be used as badges of their worth. It often seems that the ones most hurt are often the ones who really didn’t want to attend in the first place.</p>
<p>I should say that I am conjecturing about the lack of effort on the supplemental. After a rejection, you normally try to figure out…“what could I have done better.” My D thinks maybe it was her essays. It’s of course something we shall never know. As for not wanting to attend – she hadn’t made up her mind. She didn’t love the feel of the campus – I guess that’s a personal thing. She likes more trees and space. But of course the student teacher ratio was appealing. The cost was not appealing (to me :))</p>
<p>I’ve said this before and I believe it. I think USC highlights its “50% off tuition” policy for National Merit Finalists but the “if admitted” part is in small print. I think they cheat themselves out of good applicants this way because a 17 yr old who is busy applying to a score of colleges, reading the 50% off, will tend to take it for granted that they will be admitted there and put more effort into the other applications.</p>
<p>Anyhow, congratulations to all you USC admits and parents.</p>
<p>UCLA DAD,</p>
<p>The 2011 U.S. News data is from 2010. For 2010 the SC admit rate was 24%. For 2011 the admit rate was 23%. The admit rate for 2008 at SC was 22%. </p>
<p>On the common data set for UCLA there is still no information as of last week for 2011. The information on the general site is for admitted students, not enrolled students. </p>
<p>According to the NYTimes article the admit rate for last year’s class that entered in August of 2011 were:</p>
<p>HYPS All under 10%
Julliard In the 6% range
Northwestern 18%
USC 23% (As shown above)
UCLA 25.3%
Boston College 27.9%
Carnegie Mellon 30.4%
UVA 32.3%
Georgia Tech 47.9%</p>
<p>I think there is a student who posted in the results thread who had an SAT score of 2350 who was not accepted at SC. Admission committees are building a class. There are going to be some students accepted with lower scores than others at all selective colleges. Test scores are just one of many factors considered.</p>
<p>It’s tough when a school you love doesn’t admit you.</p>
<p>Admissions statistics tell only part of the story. Anecdotes from CC will remind posters that they can stop just short of curing cancer and still maybe not get into their dream school.</p>
<p>Why does a kid get into Cal, but not UCLA? Because they are different campuses. Your major may have had many more people than they could admit, and so they denied your application. But maybe Cal had room and offered admissions. That’s the way it works. </p>
<p>You can appeal an admissions decision with the UC’s. You can also appeal an admissions decision with USC. However, telling the admissions officers that they should let you in because you got into a rival school will do nothing, except perhaps amuse the admissions officers. </p>
<p>I worked with a great student this year that got into Cal (spring admit), USC, accepted to UC Davis and UC San Diego, waitlisted at UCLA. Good grades, community service, athlete.</p>
<p>It’s how it works. </p>
<p>I also had another student - amazing kid - you should have seen his application. Rejected by nearly every school he applied to - waitlisted at some. Not accepted to either Cal, UCLA or USC. It often doesn’t make sense. Higher GPA and test scores than previous student, similar major. Excellent grades, community service, Eagle Scout - fascinating essays.</p>
<p>aUCLAdad, I hear you and I really do feel badly for your D’s disappointment. I can imagine how you and she got the impression that “USC highlights its “50% off tuition” policy for National Merit Finalists but the “if admitted” part is in small print.” But I just looked at the USC website (my sons were not NMF so I hadn’t had reason to pay attention to this back when they were applying to college). On the pages I checked, all of open scholarships (Mork, Trustee, etc) were listed as scholarships available to qualifying USC freshmen. The inference made that all NMFs would be automatically admitted was a natural mistake, but when so much money is at stake, it’s one worth asking about beforehand, as it could easily be misread.</p>
<p>Do any top 25 universities promise auto-admittance to NMFs?
This is a serious question, as I honestly don’t know, but I would NEVER assume something like that. I wouldn’t even assume it would be a hook or great asset. That is where the mistake was made, not putting 1 hour into the essay rather than 2.</p>
<p>We certainly never assumed auto-admittance for NMF either. Just like we didn’t assume D would get into HYPS even though her stats were there.</p>
<p>I don’t believe any universities auto-admit for NMF, in fact USC might be the only top 25 university that guarantees scholarships for NMFs (I’m not sure). Still, I do think it’s a great asset for a college application. I especially favor the metric because it’s regionalized (NMFs are top 1% in their state), which gives you a better idea of how students have succeeded relative to their environment.</p>
<p>Interesting article that I’m sure applies to USC as well as the “Ivys”
[J.D</a>. Rothman: Why Your Brilliant Child Didn’t Get Into The Ivies](<a href=“Why Your Brilliant Child Didn't Get Into The Ivies | HuffPost Life”>Why Your Brilliant Child Didn't Get Into The Ivies | HuffPost Life)</p>
<p>Timothy Brunold, USC Dean of Admissions made some interesting comments during lunch at Explore on Monday. He mentioned that the average admit GPA was really a 3.9 and didn’t really seem too concered with the waited GPA (but that’s just my opinion). He also said the next 8000 in-line were just as qualified as those who were admitted.</p>
<p>I feel your pain!!! My daughter was also a USC spring admit and is currently attending her first semester! Yes, the admit letter was definitely very confusing and disappointing, and caused so much uncertainty, stress, etc. I was angry for a long time because I too wanted closure and wanted my daughter to have a “normal” college experience. It was a long a difficult wait…felt more like a year…but my daughter found some comfort in connecting with the other 1000 spring admits that kept in contact daily on facebook, and were truly a great support system for each other. Most of the kids attended community college in the fall, and posted daily about their feelings and experiences, which helped create a nice bond before arriving at usc.</p>
<p>I was also VERY worried about the housing situation, but they do actually find housing for all the spring admits, but its mostly off campus housing that usually sophomores get. Some of them get placed on campus in dorms but not many. My daughter was originally placed in sophomore off campus apartments, but got moved into a dorm 2 days before arriving, and so did several others. I also have another daughter at USC who is a sophomore and was admitted for fall, so i have been through a lot at USC so far, so feel free to ask me any questions.</p>
<p>I must say that even though it was extremely difficult to wait for spring admission, my daughter is very happy at usc now, and says it is "everything plus more’ than she hoped her college experience would be!</p>
<p>The closest cc is West LA, about 10 mins away. My daughter was also a spring admit and is currently completing her first semester at USC.</p>
<p>admissions this year was an absolute bloodbath. i go to a highly competitive public school with a large asian population (i myself am asian), and i have many well-qualified friends who were rejected from UCLA but accepted into Berkeley and/or USC. i lay awake at night and think about how fortunate i am to have gotten in USC (Annenberg fall 2012), UCLA, and Berkeley.</p>