I’m gonna get hate on this, but I’ve heard that the majority of spring admits are legacies that were not good enough to make the fall semester, but were accepted later due to their parents’ history.
^^^No, you are not gonna get hate, (we tend not to be big haters on the USC forum) but just gonna get corrected. Same thing is said about TTP and it’s not true in that case either. Some legacies get in during every cycle but many don’t every cycle as well. Legacy isn’t in play like it use to be a decade ago, that’s for sure. When thousands are turned away with scores in the 99 percentile every year, they are not lacking great students, they just don’t have room for all they want to take…so they "defer/waitlist/spring admit/whatever you want to call it, until there is a spot for them. And some majors are so specialized and have such small departments…it’s great students that otherwise wouldn’t get a spot at all have a chance to accept it if they really want it, and they obviously fit the program. USC, like other great schools, is one many people feel is worth the wait. And spring is another way they manage enrollment and spaces since so many open up for study abroad, early graduates, people that leave for whatever reason, etc. It seems odd to me to want to put down anyone that gets into any excellent school - actually gets into any school - they want to attend for fall, off a waitlist or as a spring admit, a transfer, etc…bravo to them all!
@CADREAMIN agreed and thanks for sharing. Totally worth the waiting if you really love the school.
Just to clarify and not to confuse anyone in post above - USC doesn’t waitlist or defer - but some people think of spring admit as a form of that. Just sayin’
@DanielSabogal It’s just not an accurate speculation. As stated above, it is simply a matter of managing enrollment and spaces in programs and freshmen housing.
The cruel reality is that now USC is in a position where they are forced to reject even 80-90% of all legacy applicants each year. USC can only accommodate circa 3,000 new freshmen each fall. Certain projections and circumstances allow them to also admit a few more for spring enrollment. Overall, with their projected yield rate, that means that they can only admit 7000-7500 or so in total. But with 56-66K applying in recent years, USC then has no other recourse but to disappoint around 49-59K applicants each cycle… including roughly 8-9K of the 10K+ legacy applicants annually.
Will there be any hints to admission? Specific emails or changes to the portal?
@CindyLeuWho As far as I can tell from previous posts, USC is good about not giving ANY hints/clues to admissions. No changes in the portal, no USPS tracking, …nothing. We just have to wait for the ‘mailbox moment’.
Yeah… that’s not what happened with their early (scholarship invite) batch this year though.
A change to the portal gave out the result with the “Fall 2020 admit reply” form option:
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/22553927/#Comment_22553927
@CindyLeuWho For 10 years there haven’t been clues (on purpose) and if it’s a portal change it happens so close to all the portals being updated it doesn’t make a difference except to those obsessed with conspiracty theories. It is fun to watch all the posts of people trying to decipher things. But since it can also lead to disappointment or elation that can be true or false (because posters really don’t know but post with such certainty), it is best to ignore it and wait for the box or actual update rather than ride that roller coaster.
For many years they have sent a picture when the trucks are being loaded with decisions, but last year for the first time in many years, they didn’t send it. I will def know when they go out regardless and can post they left, but still hoping for more information on exactly when before that. They prefer they land so they update portal on weekend, but the 21st (Saturday) is a wee bit earlier than their typical drop and update, it means they would have to be sent the 19th, which would be earliest in years. They love the 23rd but it’s a Monday…so we will see. They are working through spring break, so here’s hoping they go earlier than later. The birdie is flying around and I am waiting for chirps…
Best of luck to you - really hoping you get great news!
When my eldest daughter attended USC, her high school classmate applied. His mom was alumni. He did not get in, nor offered spring semester. Went to Stanford. It’s really hit or miss sometimes. With 6000 freshman, they can easily spare at least 100 spaces for poor scoring legacy kids. Those kids pay full price by the way.
^^^ The above #s are off a bit. There are not 6000 freshmen. They aim for a class of 3000, admitting 7000-7250 to achieve that goal. USC admits many more than 100 legacy applicants, but I doubt that any of them are poor scoring. They do have over 10,000 such applicants to choose from and only admit like 1000-1250.
USC legacies currently represent around 20% of the freshmen class in recent years… or 600 or so of the 3000 freshmen. Only around 1000-1250 of the 10,000+ legacies that have been applying in recent years are offered admission. So their yield rate is pretty high… something in the range of 48-60%. So, while 14-17% of the 7000-7250 being admitted are in fact legacies, USC is still compelled to disappoint 80-90% of all legacy applicants. They could admit nothing but legacies if they chose to… but they have other priorities that span a host of factors… URM, FirstGen, demographics, geography, ECs, leadership roles, performance skills, creativity, writing ability, etc… in furthering their goal of creating a well-rounded and diverse freshman class. Legacy is considered too… but more and more, you need to be a very well-qualified legacy applicant that brings something unique to the Trojan community to gain admission.
In that process, USC does in fact also disappoint 4K+ applicants with 99th percentile test scores and 4.0 unweighted GPAs. Stanford turns away even more such “high scoring” applicants. So, it is not all about perfect or near perfect scores for USC. It is a balancing act… all designed to craft that next nearly perfect – as USC chooses to view it – Trojan class.
Here is the USC freshmen profile, if anyone wishes to dig deeper into the #s or stats…
http://admission.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/Freshman-Profile-2019.pdf
@WWWard I am estimating and not using exact figures but the point is that USC can afford to have a select amount of legacy spaces and not need to offer it as spring admission. So Spring admission is still a great option and not necessarily because you are a legacy. I have one graduated USC and one applying for this season. I am A-okay with a spring admit box.
I agree with your point about the other qualified applicants. Sometimes extremely well rounded and well qualified applicants , even legacies sometimes just don’t get offered a space. It really depends on what USC is looking for in a specific year. This year I think it will be the kids with resilience over stats. Essays will most likely play an important year after the scandal.
Why spare 100 places for “poor scoring legacy kids”? What about well scoring legacy kids? There are 10,000 legacy kids applying every year. There are plenty of “SAT=1500+ and GPA=4.0 (unweighted)” among them. And not all of those are getting in!!! Why should poor scoring legacy kids get ahead of those (legacy or not) who scored great? And, btw, will also pay full price?
Wait a minute. Let’s talk just about legacies, for a minute, even if it is unfair with respect to all other well qualified applicants. Once again. THERE ARE 10,000 LEGACY APPLICANTS EVERY YEAR. It is enough to fill the whole freshman class three times over.
What “select amount of legacy spaces” are you talking about? Even if UCS wanted to satisfy ONLY legacy applicants (and through away all the rest - which would be a totally ridiculous move), they wouldn’t be able to admit all legacies who applied.
I am sure it varies widely by school but someone from admissions at another school once told us that legacy at their school was like adding 100 to your SAT score. A bump that might help a little but will not carry an otherwise weak application.
I know that last year merit scholarship results were released slightly later than admissions decisions, but does anyone know what the timeline for that was like in 2018 and earlier? Any guesses on why it changed? Thanks!
@Elenaparent, initially I was responding to a comment about the “spring semester” option being a place for legacies that didn’t have super scores. Meaning if USC wants to have space within their freshman class of a certain percent of legacies ( poor scoring or not) they don’t need to give them Spring.
I just looked through old texts. In 2018, my D found out about her scholarship in the early morning of March 23. Some kids found out on March 22 in the evening. I think that was a day before regular decision boxes started arriving.
Why? The places in the fall are taken by, obviously, more qualified applicants, and many of them ARE legacies. Giving a poor-scored-legacy a place among fall admits means ditching a better qualified candidate into Spring. Why would they do that? Legacies already take lots of spots.
[Mind you - I am a USC graduate, I got my PhD there in 1995. The father of my kid who applied also has a degree from UCS)].
USC extends online class conversion until end of March asking students not to return till at least then…conversation in this “current event” thread so we don’t hijack applicant thread. Just fyi…