USC Class of 2024 Applicants Thread

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Southern California
201

Sometimes the internet is wrong (ha) and let’s face it, college confidential has been known to contain some crazy info! Just a little trivia to pass some time…

2005 is millions of years ago in terms of college admissions, but even then they were certainly holistic. In 2005, USC had some pretty good standards and much better reputation than in the 90s. 2005 acceptance rate was 32.1 percent compared to 45.6 percent in 1997. The Class of 2005 had a mean grade-point average of 3.93 and SAT score of 1319. This is about the time the rise in selectivity really started to climb to where it is today around 11% (and way less for schools like Viterbi and certainly the performance based schools like SCA/Thornton).

The acceptances of USC has always been less predictable than a lot of other schools, that’s for sure because of the holistic approach. Which is why we see over 3,000 students with scores in the 99 percentile rejected every year. While plenty of 35-36 ACTs and/or 4.0 gpa’s for example will get in, there are many with the same scores that won’t be admitted. And there will be someone with a 29-30 score or 3.5 admitted over them because their application expressed more passion/desire/committment for USC and/or their field of study. Or they fit the needed demographic. All kinds of things come into play. I could predict with almost certainty which UCs or other universities my kids would get into and it proved pretty much spot on. But USC, ugh, it is hard. Ater having 4 accepted to USC, majoring in different schools within USC, one there currently, and being very involved, I certainly understand it better, but it’s still a crap shoot in figuring out what they will do!

But back on topic, they certainly don’t give the top scholarships to just the top scores or send them out in any order aside from geographic mail delivery. It has been that way forever, and is what makes them who they are.

Frankly, this scholarship delivery week is fantastic for the 1200 that get them, but pretty much blows for the other 38,000+ hoping to, that don’t. And it is repeated again in March for regular admission. Hang in there everyone, it’s a long and bumpy ride for many. Keep busy and enjoy senior year before it’s over. There is nothing more you can do but wait, so make it a happy time, not one all about anxiety! It is what it is at this point.

202

I’m an American living abroad - will USC mail the package to me if I’m lucky enough to get a scholarship or will I have to wait until my portal is updated?

203

@maglor1 in post #184 @CADREAMIN mentioned “International packets are sent DHL” - but perhaps portals will update sooner than packages arrive internationally? I don’t know how long international packets would take to arrive.

204

@maglor1 It will be sent to the address on your common app profile.

For merit decisions, internationals always find out by portal, they are all sent at same time, so international packages lag.

For March decisions, they send the international packages ahead of U.S. by a day or two, in which case some (very very few) internationals do find out with everyone else, most notable, London and Hong Kong. Other international locations can take weeks to get package. For most int’ls it is portal update with package arriving after.

205

@CAtransplant omg I owe you a message! I wasn’t on cc much for awhile after they changed the system so drastically, then couldn’t log in for the longest time with the new approach…but will PM you and catch up!!!

206

@CADREAMIN great, I’d love to chat! Missed seeing you around here!

207

I’m an international applicant, from India. Any idea by when I should expect to receive my packet (if it is sent, at all)

208

Look above @LyricalLeader! :slight_smile:

209

@CADREAMIN can you chance me?

210

@johnschmick1234

In terms of getting “Chanced” for USC, it is virtually impossible for others to predict what may or may not occur in your specific case. With an admit rate now below 12% and falling, and with 4K+ applicants with 4.0 unweighted GPAs and test scores in the 99th percentile among those not gaining admission, your success will instead likely depend on too many potential factors for anyone to correctly evaluate… making predicting admission nearly impossible. But this also shows that they admit many without perfect grades or test scores. They are after all seeking to craft a well-rounded and diverse freshman class comprised of those who actually have a strong affinity for or connection to USC. They do aim to admit those who they project will thrive well at USC and bring something unique to the campus environment.

So your individual admission decision will likely come down to a composite and holistic analysis of your stats coupled with writing ability / essays, ECs, potential leadership roles, potential other unique qualifiers (URM, First Gen, geography, demographics, etc.), your Why USC? explanation/reasoning, etc. And that “Why USC?” explanation is likely the most important single component of your application. Hopefully you provided a well-thought out and well-researched answer as to why attending USC is truly significant and important to you specifically. And moreover, USC does want to gain a sense as to what you will be uniquely contributing to the greater USC community if admitted.

Good Luck…

211

@west2east20 That was me last year! My DD had a perfect ACT score, yet I was worried that she wouldn’t get into any of the schools she applied to! I was wrong, she got into all of them! USC was, by far, my favorite and the full Trustee scholarship she received was just icing on the cake. She chose to go to the IVY and she had the most successful Freshman first semester any parent could hope for. She’s thriving there! @CADREAMIN who gives the best advice was right! Follow the child’s lead even if sometimes it means leaving money on the table. Yes, she’s doing incredibly well and has found her tribe and is happy. But I was just in CA and drove by USC and I still remember what a special place that was!

Good Luck to the class if 2024!! You’ll all end up where you’re supposed to be!

212

@WWWard @johnschmick1234
I am sure people ask for “Chance me” not to actually have an assurance that they will be admitted, but rather to keep themselves sane during the wait, and have some sort of “yes you have a chance”. It is psychological… Good luck everyone, thank you WWWard for helping people here.

213

@ElenaParent You’re welcome. And I am of course sure that you are right too.

I went through it all twice as a parent, and I still vividly recall the angst… especially the “waiting game”. Most though will not have the pattern of successful admissions mentioned by @Mkate75 above. Most will face rejection in one form or another, and many will be shocked by the # of schools that simply pass on them as an applicant. This is especially true if an applicant applies to the new normal of 10+ or even 15+.

In one of my daughter’s cases, she chose USC over an Ivy. But that single Ivy admission did not also mean that she was destined to run the table. She instead only went 8 & 7. USC was her dream school, and she remains happy that she chose it over Princeton, Rice, Emory and others. But she also got rejected by UVa, Northwestern, Brown, Yale, Duke, Stanford and Vanderbilt. There is often no rhyme or reason to the admissions vs rejections. My older daughter fared even worse… going only 5 & 12. Clearly though, they both ended up where they dreamed of going… to USC… and I suspect that it was their “Why USC?” answers that shown through as a passionate commitment to attending there & that those written words aided them most in getting in.

This is a trying and challenging time for high school seniors and their friends and families alike. I just hope that each and every applicant applied to a good mix of reach, match and safety schools and that they then have a few solid options to review and choose among by April 1st. Disappointment is of course hard to face, but its also not the end of the world. Dreams do not have to end simply because your dream school may have passed on you. There are scores of truly excellent colleges and universities out there, and ultimately, most can thrive, find success and even enjoy sustainable happiness at each of them.

214

@ElenaParent That’s literally me. I’m just trying to occupy myself.

215

Those applying to the WBB program, I am reposting from previous years.

@Quantjock reposting from last year. Thank you!
04-28-2018 at 11:13 pm edited April 2018
Hi, proud parent of a newly enrolled USC Marshall World Bachelor in Business (WBB) student here. I’m posting this as an FYI for any future WBB Presidential scholar early admits and their families. The merit scholarship process works slightly different for WBB (as we found out the hard way) and there isn’t any info posted on USC’s website about the specifics. Hopefully by posting here it will help smooth out some of the bumps we encountered this year for future WBB families. I’ll cross post this info to the Trustee/Presidential scholarships thread in case Google sends people there.

Most (not all) of the US WBB admits are notified of their acceptance in the early round with other Trustee and Presidential admits. In their admission letter in the “White Box”, WBB early admits are notified that they are invited to interview for a Presidential scholarship during one of the Explore USC scholarship events. One bad thing about the acceptance letter is that the actual WBB program acceptance itself is hard to find. It isn’t listed in the main section of the letter but is found as “additional information” at the very bottom of the second page under the Merit Scholarship Status section. Not seeing that right away led to many moments of wondering whether a WBB admit was out of the running.
The Explore USC visit, overnight stay and scholarship interview were exactly the same for the WBB kids as they were for other Presidential scholars.

From that point forward, things start working differently for WBB. Scholarship notifications for most USC Presidential and Trustee winners happened via portal the night before Regular Decision boxes were sent out by USC Admissions. That didn’t happen for WBB admits. Do not, I repeat DO NOT, wait up all night refreshing the portal. Or the next day, or the day after. It will never update. WBB scholarship decisions and notifications are run thru the Marshall admissions office, not the main USC scholarship/admissions office and they will not show up on the USC portal. This year, the WBB early scholarship decisions came via an email from the head of Marshall admissions, in the afternoon, 4 days after other scholarship results were posted on the portal. Those were four very long days and nights for us, waiting and wondering about the results of the scholarship interview. Knowing before hand that the portal would never update would have been nice to know.

Fortunately, all WBB students are awarded either a 1/2 tuition or a 1/4 tuition scholarship as part of their acceptance to the program. The WBB scholarships are joint awards from all 3 partner universities (USC, HKUST & Bocconi) and they transfer to each school as students travel to them. It’s welcome news for the US admits that the scholarships are applied to each school’s local tuition cost. For example, if tuition at Bocconi is 14,000 euro, the 1/2 tuition WBB students pay 7,000 euro the year they are in Italy plus room/board. After doing the math, this aspect of the WBB program made USC an extremely attractive option for us.

One downside that is unique to the WBB merit awards is that they are program specific and are not transferable to other majors at USC. If students leave the WBB program to transfer to Viterbi or into a different major in Marshall, they forfeit their scholarship.

WBB students must also maintain good academic standing which is spelled out in the acceptance letter as at least a 3.0 GPA in all Marshall business classes and at least a 3.0 GPA in all USC classes. Grades at the partner institutions must be maintained at an equivalent scale. With only 2 full years at USC, and less within Marshall itself, that leaves little room for a couple of weak grades. That is another downside and may be why the WBB program is so selective.

One last important item…we found out recently at admitted students day that the WBB scholarship award will not officially post to the USC financial aid portal until sometime this summer. It’s only after orientation when the WBB classes are scheduled, that the WBB scholarship notification is sent by Marshall to the financial aid office and applied to the portal. Until then, the only proof of scholarship is the emailed letter from Marshall. Hang tight and don’t stress too much about the big numbers on the financial aid portal, it will eventually be fixed.

I hope this is helpful for future adventuresome WBB admits, Fight On!

Disclaimer: WBB office is working diligently to improve their processes. Last year we did not have to wait long for any info. Once you receive the white box, your child can email them and get all the doubts clarified. Also, I am not sure of ALL the admits get merit scholarship. I do not have details on that.

216

Hi all,

First off, thank you for all the awesome information; it has truly made this process so much easier and less stressful.

I’ve seen a lot of rough estimates as to when the packages will be sent out. Most are saying that it will be this week at some point, possibly tomorrow or Wednesday. Does anyone have an educated guess about the exact date that they will be sent out? Does it matter that MLK jr. day is earlier than last year but later than normal? Please let me know what you think. Thanks again and good luck!

217

Last year our daughter received it on the 25th. It was dated 23rd. It should be this week. Stay tuned. Remember to let your child find the white box and open it. Keep your cameras ready. We still look at it and tear up.

218

Great, thank you!

219

Guess would be (AND IT’S A GUESS PEOPLE)…

I am hoping they mail them Wednesday (and they do sometimes), but their usual pattern is to mail on Thursday with them hitting Fri (Socal), Sat (Major metros across country) and portal update late Saturday night (early morning Sunday). Not crazy about the third day being a Sunday, since not everyone gets mail on Sunday, but regardless, people that would get the package on the third day usually get the news from the portal regardless, as they update after midnight of the second day of package arrival (so Sunday morning/afternoon). In the last year, they have posted a portal update time on Sunday early afternoon. It really helped so people didn’t stay up all night crashing the website trying to see if results are up. (For many years prior, it posted after midnight and kids were crazed if nothing had posted for them at 3am, 4am…it was madness and not all at the same time like the UCs - don’t know why!)

It would be great if they would go earlier in the week, but I think they like the majority of packages arriving over the weekend when they can’t be flooded with calls. If one doesn’t get it Friday, they hope it is coming on Saturday so don’t bother the office with a call…then by Monday people have had the portal update and 24 hours to deal with things (like reality).

Just like gradeschool when they posted teacher assignments…the admin would post them in the window then run out the back door and zoom away in her car.

We can cross fingers for Wednesday mailing and hope having today off didn’t slow them down, but if you set your sights on Thursday mailing, the angst may be lessened.

220

@CADREAMIN Thank you so much! That is exactly what I was looking for. Keeping my fingers crossed!