@c0ll3geTime The selection criteria for the Dean’s Scholarship on the website says:
"Selection Criteria: Open to incoming freshmen. All Fall 2019 freshman applicants who submit a complete application for admission to USC by December 1, 2018 will automatically be considered. Selection criteria include academic excellence, leadership, and community service.
How to Apply: Submit a complete application for admission to USC by December 1, 2018."
So applicants who applied after December 1 will probably not be considered for these scholarships.
@applicantXIX Yes. The decisions received later this month will reveal whether you got into USC or not… plus if admitted to USC overall… whether that decision was as Undeclared or to your first choice or second choice major.
Just curious, but does anyone know how USC weeds through the applications to see who will really be likely to attend/accept an offer? I know lots of qualified students at my HS that will apply, but they don’t have any real intention of attending if accepted. They are just looking to see if they get accepted, then they will go to the in-state university where they will be in the “honors” program – unless the outside chance that they get into HPSY occurs.
I’m asking b/c I’ve got high scores, and I’ve been told a lot of schools assume that you won’t accept. Now, they’re focused on their admit rate and yields in order to maintain and/or improve their status.
Last year scholarship decisions starting rolling out the evening of March 22. My D got hers early morning of March 23.
I had already put down a housing deposit. I was willing to lose the $55 if she didn’t end up at USC but if she did, wanted to make sure she was early on the housing list.
Hi everyone – I am a former USC student who received a full-tuition merit scholarship to attend a few years ago. I decided to leave the school due to many issues with the school, programs, administration, etc. I would highly recommend any student considering USC, depending on their major, to reconsider and really do proper research.
I’m not here to say USC is the wrong school for everyone, as it is the right fit for some. But I found myself highly disillusioned with the university after multiple bad experiences including misconduct by a faculty member. There is large disconnect with how the administration sells the school to prospective students, and the actual reality at the school.
I am happy to provide proof/documentation of my scholarship and discuss specifics or answer questions in detail for anyone interested. My goal/hope is to make sure everyone can be as informed as possible, and not make the same mistake(s) I did when choosing a college.
@uscscholar. Interesting user name given the post. No school is right for everyone and certainly there are some at any school that don’t have a good experience. Can you explain what specifics of your experience would be of concern for others? Not saying it isn’t, but more info is needed as to why it is a concern for anyone else.
What is confusing is this being a first post and years later…And why not provide the details of your scholarship or situation up front to validate and back up claims. If you are no longer there…how could that hurt? What are the many issues with the “school, programs and administration, etc.?”
Just saying - it is hard to determine if this is a post of a recently banned cc user coming back to wreak havoc on the minds of current applicants, someone that was rejected from USC, a UCLA poster having some fun, or someone with a valid issue to discuss. If the latter, then discuss it, hiding behind veiled innuendo without backup of any data whatsoever is not so helpful.
CC is a community forum, it was not designed to set up only private conversations. This is a great forum to discuss the good, bad and ugly of any school. I would hope you would provide more details of your “multiple bad experiences.” If you want to inform others as you say, then by all means do so with more information.
@slimjim005 All that USC admissions and the admissions teams within each USC School can go on is the application packet in its entirety. These days, 4K+ applicants with 4.0 unweighted GPAs and 99th percentile test scores are among the tens of thousands denied admission each cycle. Those that succeed have likely done some compelling research into USC and provided a solid “Why USC?” answer, demonstrating a strong commitment to USC. Many even declare formally that USC is their top choice and that they plan to attend if admitted. These are just some of the components being evaluated along with ECs, leadership roles, writing ability, demonstrated passion, creativity, etc. … along with other factors like ethnicity, FirstGen status, geography, etc. If an applicant puts in all of the effort required to imply a strong connection to and fit with USC and meets all of the other qualifiers that may lead to an admission, but that applicant is doing so disingenuously just to get in… and with no intention of attending… there is not much else that USC can do from their side to uncover deception. The opposite though is more likely true in most instances. Every year, CC sees posts from some applicants astonished that they got into Harvard, Yale, Stanford or the like and did not also get into USC. Many of those likely coasted a bit with their USC application however. Far too many assume that stellar grades or stats equals an automatic admit to USC. But with a projected admit rate of circa 12% this cycle, there will be even more astonishment out there. The cold hard reality is that 88% or so of all USC applicants will be rejected ultimately by the end of March. Hopefully those admitted applied with candor and good intentions. And hopefully those rejected have solid options elsewhere.
I am sure that is true WWWard. However, I am also sure that more students get denied from Harvard and admitted to USC. The problem with this process is yield management. Universities need to stop trying to guess who is committed or not when applying. I am sure many of their guesses are wrong. Wouldn’t it be a good thing if students had to rank their college admission applications? If a good student puts USC as number 1, then everyone wins when the student is accepted. In today’s college process, colleges want the students to say the college is their first choice or else they risk being denied as you stated the process works. However, applying to one school or two is NOT recommended by the high school counselors as the process is unpredictable.
@prouddad2020 You are likely right in that an applicant applying to both Harvard and USC is more apt to get into USC. But those admission rate margins are also tightening. Harvard’s admit rate is around 6%, and USC’s is now projected to be 12%. Five to six years ago it was 18%. But it is also true that more applicants are rejected from USC than the number applying to Harvard in total.
The overall problem is that this ultra-competitive environment compels most applicants seeking admission to an elite college or university to apply to more and more schools in total. And if you are Asian, Asian-American or a white female applicant, you are wise to do so, as the numbers are not in your favor these days. Far too many such over-achieving and well-qualified applicants are out there from each such category for a limited number of spots due to diversity considerations, making it hyper-challenging for anyone in those groups. But it has also gotten worse for everyone applying, simply due to the staggering number of total applications. The advent and expansion of the Common Application has made it much easier to apply to 10+, 15+ or even 20+ schools.
But to USC’s credit, they also have not been all that concerned with yield rate historically, and until very recently, the norm was 33-34%. Last year, I believe it jumped unexpectedly above 37%. Other top universities seem far more concerned or at least they have historically been more successful in managing to maintain very high yield rates… for example… Stanford 82.78%, Harvard 79.2%, MIT 74%, Yale 70.5%, Princeton 68.7%, Penn 67.8%, Columbia 65.1% and Chicago 63.7%.
But your point is well taken. The process should be improved. Unfortunately, I do not see the system changing for the better. I only see it getting more and more competitive over time. Thankfully, as a parent, I am done with it from a concern standpoint. Both of my daughters were fortunate enough to gain admission to and then decided to attend USC.
@prouddad2020 Not sure if you came across this article, which talks about instituting a national match process and why it would probably be illegal under antitrust laws: https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2018/04/college-admissions-antitrust/559088/. Interesting stuff – a match process would (the law aside) seem like a great fix. I do agree that the current system seems like it works poorly for almost everyone – and it would be hard to counsel your student to apply to only one or two schools (my daughter applied to 12, USC included; by contrast, back in 1988 I applied to 2).
A reasonable solution is stated in the article. Move competitive college applications to the same system as medical-residency programs. All we need is to get Congress to grant colleges antitrust exemption for the admissions process.
The medical-residency process works well as students are asked to rank their preferences. Since the students only include options they would consider, it works.
SAT 1560
ACT 34 (superscores to 35 for those schools that superscore the ACT)
3.7 unweighted GPA, 4.30 weighted
11 APs (so far, all 5s with 2 scores of 4).
I’ve been denied by an ED1 (yes, it was a reach). I’ve been denied anED2 (less of a reach & I was Legacy). I’ve also been denied to every competitive state schools (UVA, UNC Chapel Hill, Georgia Tech) and deferred by U of Miami (where I’m way over the top quartile in terms of test scores). My only acceptance was to one middle of the road State school that was required to accept me by State Law (based on my Class Rank). My ECs were good, and my essays were reviewed by a UPenn student and a recent Stanford alum. I was a 4-year varsity athlete – although not good enough to play D-I sports. The only B’s I made were in AP or Pre-AP classes.
I’m a white male.
I am finding that I ain’t gettin’ in no where (other than the in-state school), and it’s a bummer.
@SlimJim005 The competitive state schools you listed are far reaches for anyone out of state, especially UVA and UNC solely due to their in-state bias. Clearly your quantitative statistics are pristine but what really designates applicants are their extra-curricular activities and being able to visualize the person at their school based on the amount of personality and thought in their essays. I also have to point out that legacy is just not as important anymore as it was a few years back. I’m sorry the application process has been tough for you and unfortunately the system at place is extremely competitive and will remain this way. If you really want to know why you didn’t get in, call them. I have called a few schools to find out specific reasons I got in (out of curiosity) and they were all willing to bluntly tell me the deciding factor in my application (EC’s and unique essays). Good luck where ever you end up.
@SlimJim005 Wow. Congrats on your accomplishments! I agree with you. The process is broken. You sure have the qualifications to get into the schools you listed. UM is a safety for you but I guess they are thinking you will not attend. Same issue we discussed above. You are too qualified for some schools and the rest are probably mostly bad luck. I really doubt schools can spend a reasonable time on applications when they are getting 70k+ applications.
I hope you still have some schools looking at your application for the decisions in the last week of March. Wishing you good thoughts and lots of good luck. I am sure you will get accepted somewhere exceptional to match your achievements!
I’ve been told before that UM assumed I wouldn’t go b/c I was “over-qualified,” but it’s weird b/c it might’ve been my best option. I’ve also been told this is a total crap-shoot. I saw on one site that someone was denied Duke, UPenn, and waitlisted Vanderbilt, but he then got into Princeton - which was his throw-away application that he never really expected. So, I’m hopeful. I have doubts that I’ll get into USC, but … there’s always a little bit of hope.