My mom went to grad school at USC (undergrad in her home country) and I was wondering if that would make me a legacy candidate as a undergrad freshman c/o 2022. And besides, does USC even take legacies into account? Thanks!
Undergrad legacy counts the most.
Frankly, there is a lot of wondering if legacy helps much at all anymore, some legacy argue it actually can hurt (can only let so many in). There are 4.5+/high test score/strong EC legacy’s that don’t get in every year. But I don’t think it really ever hurts you. Siblings, parents, and grandparents are asked about. Whether it means much anymore is undetermined, they have a lot of other boxes they can use in addition to legacy to get to a richly diversified student body, which is their primary goal these days.
Here is what you are asked:
Are any siblings also applying for undergraduate admission to University of Southern California this year?
Have any relatives ever attended University of Southern California?
Are any of those relatives a parent, grandparent, or sibling? If yes, then this pops up:
Relationship
First/Given name
Last/Family/Surname
Maiden/Other last name
Number of degrees received from this college
Degree received
Year received
To all future applicants, I highly recommend reading this article online…
https://tfm.usc.edu/a-guide-to-uscs-college-admissions-process/
Within it, USC admission officials provide many insights into the admission process at USC. It also addresses your question directly.
Basically, any legacy connection will only be one of many considered factors. USC receives more than 10,000 applications from legacies each year. USC could thus fill its entire freshman class (about 3,000 spaces) three times over with the children of Trojans alone. But they clearly cannot and will not choose to do so. Even if every admission letter went to a legacy applicant (around 9,000), USC would still have to disappoint around 1,000 Trojan families annually.
In our family’s case, while neither parent attended USC, both of my daughter will thankfully be at USC this upcoming school year. So, the sibling connection worked out for us… as USC was each daughters’ clear top choice. But that familial connection was likely only one small factor being considered by admissions… along with grades, test scores, essays, supplements, etc.
USC does strongly consider proven or demonstrated interest in attending. But the “Why USC” answer should be applicant driven and with your specific reasoning & research about USC and not simply indicating the legacy connection. Explain your own reasons for USC being your top choice… if applicable.
Good Luck