Post 1505, @syd24ranger
@winjammer Did you receive the Thornton email (probably around Jan 26) about being considered for admission and USC/Thornton scholarships and that decisions would come out by April 1? Or have you not heard anything at all?
@musicmama369 I remember you mentioned in your previous post that your son got an email right after the audition that he’d be considered for acceptance and scholarships. Your son must be on a high performance level and his instrument is not super competitive. I do ask my son if he has received any emails and his answer is always no. His instrument is not that competitive (viola) but still, you’ll have to play at a high level.
@pdxtigermom I think you have me confused for someone else. Today is the first day I have posted. There are others on this forum that have received this same email and posted about it earlier- in both audition and non-audition (Music Industry) majors. All the best to your son.
@musicmama369 I guess I got confused by the music mamas on CC
Daughter just got a phone call from a professor, and he asked her about her portfolio. Is this normal or routine?
@Johnnyvan What major was this for?
@winjammer @musicmama369 It’s post #1324 on page 89
@musicmama369: Yes he received the Thornton email with the “by April 1st” language.
@ChenXiaoYun: Thanks for clarifying. I guess when they say by April 1st (which historically means late March) they mean just that for Thornton Music applicants. So apparently there is no early notification process for them.
@Johnnyvan: My S is a composition major and he hasn’t received any follow up calls about his portfolio…but I would suspect it’s probably routine in some circumstances.
@Johnnyvan I see a phone call as a good thing, if they had no interest, they wouldn’t be calling! Those who see calls from 213 area code over the next month would be better to answer the call rather than thinking it is spam.
film production
What was the call about? Did he ask for a face-to-face interview?
Just an FYI… last year, the admission packets were mailed on March 23rd. The first posting of a packet arrival was in the L.A. area on March 24th at 10:37am (Eastern). Portals updated online on March 26th at 3am (Eastern). And again… they are mailed via USPS Priority Mail, but not able to be tracked via advanced USPS notification. USC does not pay to enable that feature. They want those admitted to have their surprise mailbox moment. If you want to estimate your delivery zone time, use 90089 as the originating zip code.
https://www.usps.com/priority-mail/map/
Here is a link to last year’s thread in case you want to pass the time by seeing the questions asked and answered last cycle. That thread eventually had over 5500 posts and nearly two million views.
Good luck managing the wait until then…
Is USC more stats oriented or EC oriented? I know they are wholistic but it seems some schools care more about stats than others (which would be good for me…)
@kd6410 USC would not be defined as mainly interested just in stats. USC seems to generally want to see sufficient stats (e.g. 3.8 or higher unweighted GPA and 1370 or higher SAT or 30 and higher ACT) mixed with strong ECs, memorable essays and a profile that seems like a good fit for USC. It helps if you actually tell them a compelling “Why USC?” reason and vice versa… i.e. what USC gets by having you there. There are clearly exceptions, and many do get in with stellar stats and weaker ECs, etc. But USC does also reject 3K+ applicants each cycle with test scores in the 99th percentile. They do so to let in those with lesser stats that may have other components to offer. They even have to reject 90% of legacy applicants. There will likely be over 56K applicants for less than 9K offers of admission.
They thus have to make tough choices. Overall, they are looking to craft a well-rounded freshman class comprised of unique individuals that they see doing well at USC.
Good luck.
@WWWard Thanks for the info! And all the other stuff you have posted as well throughout this thread and last year’s. have decent stats though my GPA is a little low as my school is pretty difficult (93 UW). I think my essays are good but my EC’s are very weak. Lots of volunteer and paid work experience but no leadership positions (except a study abroad year if that even counts). I’m definitely expecting a rejection as I’ve been rejected by all my reach schools so far - which I attribute to my basically no leadership and low (in context) GPA
@kd6410 you’re welcome. Keep hope alive. And hopefully you land in the right place for you regardless.
DD has a lowish 3.68 uw, but got the early USC box last month for presidential consideration.
USC must have liked her EC with game programming experience and the spike for her community activity. Also high test scores and lots of AP’s helped keep attention off her lowish gpa.
But just to give hope to some with lowish gpa’s, those lots of B’s on your transcript won’t keep you out of USC!
A cautionary note, before the frenzy that occurs when the decisions are mailed next month.
- When decisions are mailed, USC has, in the past, sent out some kind of notice, a tweet, or something on the website, celebrating the mailing. At some point, the mailing date will be posted (usually the day before) and everyone will start going crazy on CC. This happened, to a smaller degree, with the early acceptances.
- In most instances, people in Los Angeles will receive ACCEPTANCES the day after they are mailed. However, REJECTIONS will come the next day. This is because the acceptances are sent priority mail, while the rejections are not. This leads to the sad situation of people in the "one day area mailing" zone waiting by the mailbox, and then, if nothing comes, hoping that the mail was unexpectedly delayed and they will get the acceptance the next day. That could happen, but usually doesn't. But it extends the agony for a day.
- USC has a robust Spring Admit program. Applicants are accepted to USC, but can only enroll in the Spring semester. This is instead of having a waiting list. This program is great for some, but can be disappointing. However, USC sends the Spring Admit packages Priority Mail, in the same big colored envelope as the regular Acceptances. So the initial euphoria of seeing a big package can lead to a shock once the kid actually reads the admission letter, and learns that he or she was admitted for the Spring. USC does this because they want to assure the student that they are wanted at USC, but it leads to a whipsaw in emotions.
We still have several weeks before the mail hits.
Just to keep it real, posting low stat acceptances can lead to so much false hope and heartbreak. In terms of a low gpa even getting accepted and then getting a scholarship, one has to keep in mind there are a ton of factors that come into play - your major, other grades, scores, grades/scores in certain areas, all the demographics relevant to USC admissions on that given day in that given class - race, where you are from, URM, first gen, then activities, passion, etc. Any one of those or a combo of them can help a student with a low gpa relative to USC stats. But with about 2 % getting merit, I would say a 3.6 gpa getting merit, while obviously possible, is very rare indeed.