At the Explore USC event, we were told that they had 40k students apply before the scholarship deadline and they have received about 69k applications so far for the class of 23. They expect the acceptance rate to be below 11% and all decisions should be revealed by the end of March. Best wishes to all! Fight On!
@SlimJim005 I think one of the difficulties in the current āapply to 12 different selective schoolsā environment is that itās harder to make a connection with any one particular school, and to convince them that they truly are your first choice ā especially if the schools to which you are applying are concerned about yield (as most of them are). My daughter was able to do that at Michigan because sheād gone to summer chemistry camp there, and was able to reference specific things she liked about the school, Ann Arbor, etc. But I recognize that this isnāt a possibility for everyone. Not sure what the solution is ā unless you visit lots of campuses (very expensive), how do you decide on a front-runner and then let the school know of your feelings in advance of applying, so you are on their radar? Is it by contacting the admissions officer assigned to your region?
Completely agree with your points ā I donāt mean to come here to be disparaging on any one university. I donāt think taking personal frustrations by making a blanket statement the university is bad for everyone is appropriate and I wouldnāt do so. I received a full-tuition scholarship in 2016 and did 4 total semesters worth of classes (including a leave of absence) before deciding to leave recently. I was in the Viterbi school for 3 semesters and and in Dornsife (Econ) for one semester. I created a new account from my old high school one because I didnāt want to make this a massive public issue with my personal name / account. Iām happy to provide finite details to people on an individual basis. I do realize thereās no way to have absolute credibility without being fully transparent on a public post like this, but Iād prefer to not publicly disparage myself.
There were a number of things I did like about USC ā the research opps. were solid and professors were willing to talk to undergrads. The scholarship dorm experience was awesome ā I lived in Birnkrant (although I know its now McCarthy Honors College, so not sure about that). There is also a lot of diversity in majors, and the new facilities on campus are great. A lot of the āprosā are going to depend on specific programs ā the hard sciences and arts are particularly good at USC.
There were (more so) many things I didnāt like and found I did not anticipate correctly about the school before joining that I wish Iād knew. I hope to enlighten prospective candidates (particular merit scholarship recipients) on these things so they can make an informed decision.
Does anyone know anything about the USC Architecture program? Acceptance rate? How many students apply/applied this year? Do they often spring admit students, if they applied to the architecture major? Will I find out before general admission applicants? @CADREAMIN I feel as though you may be the person to look to.
I have a pre-shipment label from Inglewood, CA. Could this be USC getting ready for decisions?
No.
Can you tell me a little about the Spring Admit, how many students they offer it to, and how they shift those students to spring? Iāve heard itās to keep their GPA averages high, so they offer Spring admission to students they want, but donāt have as high of GPAs. Any other insight is appreciated!
Found a cool article https://news.usc.edu/154135/usc-spring-admits-have-a-new-resource-to-ease-their-worries-about-transitioning-to-college-their-peers/
@LisaLisa24 Spring admissions isnāt about lower GPAs. They flat out deny many 4.0 applicants, thereās plenty of high GPAās to go around in 70,000 applications. Itās about full majors/schools then students leaving to study abroad etc., and then there being space they can fill.
post edit - posted before I read the article you linked above - there ya go.
@CADREAMIN would you possibly know anything about the Architecure school admissions? How many apply? How many get in? If I applied for the architecture major, would I still be considered for spring admission? Thanks so much.
@CADREAMIN can you please tell me about the BA in drama stats? # of applicants vs # accepted? Criteria for acceptance since no live audition (video submits). Does USC weigh heavily on academics for these applicants or more on talent/resumeā¦ Basically, whatever you know! We are biting our nails!!! Thank you!
@SlimJim005 I feel your pain. Sorry for what you are going through.
In 2014, my older daughter applied to a whopping 17 schools. She did so because of all the CC stories from prior years describing exactly your scenario. Her stats and total application were such that we were still convinced that she would likely get into 8 of them. In the end, she was denied by 12 and only accepted to 5ā¦ USC, UMiami, UTampa, FSU and New College of FL (FLās Honors College). USC was the only elite level admission. She was wait-listed at UChicago and UVa, but those became rejections. Luckily, USC was her first choice anyhow. By 2017, we were sort of in a panic, as my younger daughter had almost identical stats, ECs, etc. Her essays and leadership roles were ultimately better, but we were still very concerned. She applied to 15 in total but mixed up the list a bitā¦ applying to Rice, Emory, UTexas and not applying to UChicago, Dartmouth, Penn, Columbia or New College of FL. She got into 8 - including Princeton and all three changesā¦ Rice, Emory, Texas. But as with your example aboveā¦ you simply cannot predict results. Princeton, like Yale and Stanford, seemed like an extreme reach. She was also rejected by Duke (along with Brown, Yale, Stanford, UVa, Northwestern) and wait-listed/rejected from Vanderbilt. To me, it all came down to the relative strength and creativity exhibited via her essays. She is currently at USC.
I would note that both made it super clear that USC was their first choiceā¦ and both had rather compelling āWhy USC?ā answers. And as they both ended up where they wantedā¦ we cannot complain any as a family.
As for your situationā¦ there is no real rationale that explains why you are getting rejected where you should be acceptedā¦ which is why the number of applications keep soaring. Sending you good wishes. Hopefully you land somewhere that inspires you.
Good Luck
@anxiousmomof3 My older daughter was such within SDA. While I do not know the admission stats, it is my understanding that they are basically treated the same as Dornsife applicantsā¦ meaning that it is not necessarily leaning toward performance or creativity as a determining factor. So yesā¦ it does weigh chiefly on academics and all of the normal considerations (ECs, potential leadership roles, writing ability, demonstrated passion, why USC? answer, etc. ā¦ and potentially other unique qualifiers - URM status, geography, FirstGen, etc.). While talent/resume is considered, it will not sway them if the rest of the application is lackingā¦ whereas such may be the case for BFA acting majors. At least that is my take on it.
In years past, SDA was the one program where an early indication of admission was possibleā¦ simply due to perceived timing requirements. There is an SDA event in the Spring that they invite new SDA admits to, and those invitations used to go out about a week before the admission packets were sent. I do not however recall reading about such on CC last year, so maybe they have changed things. Butā¦ if your family receives such an invitation in the mailā¦ it is in fact an early indication of admission. And historically, it has been the only such early indication that I am aware of school-wide. All other emails or brochures from Financial Aid or whomever or faculty interview requests, etc have never served as a true definitive hint.
Good Luck
@WWWard would you possibly know anything about the Architecure school admissions? How many apply? How many get in? If I applied for the architecture major, would I still be considered for spring admission? Thanks so much.
@WWWard thank you - this is so helpful. I will stalk the mail for the invite - lol. Does anyone know if SDA still sends that early indication? Thank you all!
@WWWard Thanks very much. That helps. My father pushed me to apply to more, as he said it was a ācrap shootā, but I didnāt listen. My ED1 was Duke, which was a total rejection and ED2 was Vanderbilt, where I was Legacy, but also denied. I am waiting on USC (which was one of my top ādream schoolsā), and a few others. Iāve been told it will all work out.
@SlimJim005 I feel your pain. My S is in a similar predicament: 1590 SAT one sitting; 800 Math SAT II score; tons of APs; 3.71 UW, decent ECs, works 2 Jobs, good essays. He was rejected by Penn ED (he is a legacy - my alma matter), and UVA. Deferred by Michigan and Tulane and waiting on UC schools, USC, UNC, IU, UChicago and Wesleyan. He was accepted to Cal Poly SLO and UMass Honors (Isenberg) so he has some good options, but it seems like he is likely going to be shut out of other top schools. Frustrating process, but just hope he goes to a school where he will be happy at and thrive there.
@CaptainRonnie Iām sorry about your son, but Iām glad itās not just me. I hear over and over that these schools are looking at yield, but youād think when you commit ED1 or ED2 that youād get a real boost. Iām not sure thatās the case these days.
@SlimJim005 Sometimes it helps to know others are going through the same thing. Yes, I thought ED would help, but apparently it did not. I am surprised he wasnāt at least deferred ED since he was a legacy even in spite of his relatively low GPA for Penn. While I am sure you will be fine (as will my S), here is wishing you the best of luck going forward.
Does anyone know the exact date of when the decision comes out?