also, does anyone know around how many people applied?
Does anyone know if this is a program you can get into if you get into USC under a different major? I applied w/ EE, but I think this program sounds so much more interesting and I hadn’t really looked into it so I was wondering if I could change to it if I were to get in?
I’m even more nervous for the interviews now… can we expect around 60 interviewees and 25-30 acceptances? Yikes
Congrats to you guys who got an interview!! You’re all so smart and amazing no need to stress 
@bananafofanna They enroll 25 people per year from the pool of apps they have. 25. That’s it.
I feel like they would accept 50 of the students who went to the interview in case there are some who don’t end up going. Then at least they would reach their minimum of 25
I don’t think 50% of the students accepted turn it down. My guess is pretty much anyone getting in IYA probably goes. I would assume their yield is extremely high. Would be an interesting number to know, including how many apply.
Ok maybe not 50%. My estimate is that 65 are interviewed. 10 decide to go to their first choice. 5 cannot afford the tuition. Another 5 don’t attend for miscellaneous reasons. So that’s 20 people right there who won’t attend if they get past the interview stage.
This leaves them with 45 students. The average class is 25-30 students. So I would say out of the 65 who interview, 15-20 students don’t get accepted.
Now this is just my guess, not based off anything but my own calculations
Are the interviews only 20 minutes long? That’s what it looks like on the online schedule…hmm
Also, does anyone know what we should wear to the interviews and events? Maybe a dress for girls and slacks for guys?
Kind of freaking out…
@IYAtrojan Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Hey there! I’m asking this question for my friend. She applied to IYA and received an interview invitation. Does this imply that she got in the program? To be precise, is this interview part of the admissions process or just for a scholarship? Thank you
@stehyh it is for both the admission into the IYA program and for the scholarship
@collegecurious15 alrightie. thanks!
The program actually doesn’t accept more than they’re prepared to take. If 25 are accepted and 10 choose to go somewhere else, then the program will have 15 in that cohort.
Clothing advice: don’t show up in ripped jeans, but a nice collared shirt or dress is fine enough.
- current student
@troygirl95 Hi, do you know if all of the current academy students will be dining with the interviewees, or just some?
Hi I am currently preparing for my interview, and I was wondering if any current students could offer some tips? What type of questions do they ask? Should we bring in anything in particular? Is the setting casual? How many interviewers? How to keep your stress down? Thanks!
@31415826 All of the current students have been invited to dinner with the interviewees on Friday. Not all will be able to make it though, I’m guessing.
@thegirlwhocodes They’ll ask you more about anything on your application. It would probably be helpful to talk about how you work (well) in teams because of how the program emphasizes collaboration a TON. I’ve heard of somebody not getting in because they came off as arrogant and difficult to work with. Being curious about the world matters. Learning you’ve done on your own independently is a plus. If you’ve fixed a car on your own, learned Swift outside of school, started a jewelry business, etc…
You don’t need to bring anything in particular at all.
Try to be nice to everyone there though because that stuff does get noticed.
The entire weekend is pretty casual. The panel could be between 5-10 faculty members representing different fields. There are no bad answers and you don’t have to pretend to be good at everything as long as you are interested in understanding a bit of everything.
Try to remember that they’re trying to build a diverse cohort and they’re not going to accept 30 clones of each other.
If you’re into something niche or passionate about something weird, then own it! Think about all the things you’ve done in the past and what gets you excited and what you’re excited to learn more about.
When they asked me what my favorite magazines are, I told them 17, People, and WIRED. You’re still allowed to be teenagers.
Don’t worry too much about the student dinner on Friday. Unless you do something terrible, current student advocacy for you won’t affect decisions very much at all.
Not to undermine what @troygirl95 has said, but some of the information presented is a bit gray, so let me offer some clarification. The academy in its first year accepted 36 students in hopes of receiving 25, they got 31. The second year they accepted 30 (if I recall correctly) and they got 22. They try to hit 25, but they’re not afraid of being over or under and don’t strictly accept 25.
Other than that, she has presented great information so heed her advice!
Whew, now that the weekend’s over:
How do you guys think it went? Everyone’s interview questions were all SO different that it’s hard to judge at this point. But overall, the whole experience was incredible!
@31415826 I arrived later into the weekend but for my interview I just got asked about my favorite character/movie which was a bit interesting. Can’t be certain they liked me though … the panel members were pretty intimidating … hope this wasn’t just me? All the prospective students seemed more qualified than me but yeah who knows… :-SS im so nervous
I felt like they could have asked me more questions during my interview. It basically started with me explaining my dream job answer and then the rest of the time one of the panel members just told me to check out this other “famous” entrepreneur dude that had a similar style. They could have asked me more questions during that time because I had so much I wanted to say but wasn’t prompted with the right questions. It really felt like I was in the room for like 5 minutes instead of 20 lol
Did anyone get asked any questions about Common App stuff or only just USC Supplement and portfolio? I’m only asking because I had some really important activities listed on my Common App that I hope they were able to see since I didn’t get a chance to mention them during my interview.