Hi everyone, I’m starting this post for the class of 2020 Iovine Young Academy. Can’t wait till February :)>-
Nice, I was waiting for someone to start a thread. Don’t we only have to wait till January?
we find out near end of January, late February interviews. fingers crossed
i feel like the acceptance rate is going to fall to 1% this year. There’s twice as many proposal videos up on youtube compared to last year.
What was acceptance before, I think you’re exaggerating? Also not everyone uploads to Youtube
I think it fell between 5% - 10% post-interview last year. This number isn’t backed up by any real data just numbers I saw on other posts. and it probably wont fall THAT low, but it does seem like way more people are applying this year assuming the same percentage of applicants post videos every year.
Yeah I didn’t upload to youtube, just went straight into the porfolio… we will see what the real numbers boil down to after the process
It’s hard to truly determine the Academy’s acceptance rate. Unfortunately, many applicants don’t realize the intention of the program and send in music demos which leads to obvious issues. The “real” acceptance rate the first year was around 8%-10% and the second year was around the same. They are accepting less and less each year (36 down to 32), so yes it will become more and more competitive to get in. There’s been around a 20% acceptance rate to interviews on campus. If you have anymore questions please, ask away.
Oh perfect! @IYAtrojan So during the USC open house, Brian Shepard was talking about how essential it is to integrate the three main focuses of the academy, but I know not everyone coming in has a perfect balance of the three. How have the students been developing these gaps when they use their emphases to enhance only their strengths. The reason I’m asking is because of the whole idea of “you’re only as good as your weakest link”.
@mrcomments So, the academy is really moving towards adding a lot of core classes so that they can maintain the idea of learning all the disciplines. For the exact reason your saying, they want to make sure that students aren’t just focusing on strengths or one thing, and really diversifying themselves. Now beyond that, it’s really up to you as a student. If you wish to use your emphases to strength yourself, then that’s great; if you want to learn something new, that’s great too. That’s what’s so nice about the emphases: you can learn exactly what you want or feel you need to learn most beyond the core. For those who wish, the Academy even allows students to try and pursue three emphases. Also, some students are wishing to pursue minors to make sure they’re learning everything they need to. At the end of the day though, it’s really the student’s job to evaluate where they’re weakest and whether or not they want to take courses in that!
What specifically are they looking for on the application
So if we get an interview, even though it doesn’t mean we’ll be accepted by IYA, does that mean we are most likely already accepted to USC (undeclared of course)?
Not really, I don’t really know of a case where people were denied elsewhere, but I am sure it can happen (I am not banking on admission if I receive an invitation)
@collegecurious15
Students aren’t affiliated at all with the applications committee, so I can’t really speak for them. However, I can say that admitted students generally show a breadth of skills and interests (from design, to medicine, to painting, to automobiles, to architecture) as well as a general desire to learn EVERYTHING. Being stuck in what you do, and not willing to learn outside of your bubble is a huge turnoff from what we have seen as students. Students also generally tend to be more outgoing individuals. I’m not saying extroverted, but they are able to present in front of audiences, make conversation, and relate to those around them.
@austrie & @sidatars
I do know individuals who have come out to interview, but were not admitted to general USC (as far as I know, perhaps there were other circumstances such as poor senior year performance post Academy interviews). The Academy is obviously looking for different individuals than your average college student, so the students they choose to interview may not be deemed as “good fits” for the rest of USC.
Has anyone gotten any news yet?
An email should come around this Thursday for interview invites. This is just going off last year’s date
Also, as a side note - All IYA applicants will be automatically “rejected” from this merit round considering you cannot be admitted without an interview. So don’t expect any packages to come yet. IYA has its own merit.
If we don’t get an interview invitation, will we get an email saying our acceptance to the academy was rejected? Or no email at all? Anyone know?
@hopefuluscbound Yes you will either get an acceptance or rejection email
does anyone know the average test scores of those who were admitted to IYA? I have a pretty good personal statement and portfolio (my strong point is art), as well as many extracurriculars and a high GPA (in top 8% of class). My test scores are just pretty weak (1700 on SAT and 26 on ACT) 