My son was rejected for CS (Games) - I think I may have been more bummed than him. He did get into University of Utah which is an excellent program (only a few spots behind nationally for this field), so he’s very excited about going there.
We’ll check out the transfer plan, but I don’t think he’ll want to change schools after getting settled, making new friends, etc. Also, his rejection letter didn’t include anything about the Viterbi pathway program or TTP, so clearly he wasn’t in the top tiers of kids being considered.
I’m feeling much better today after the initial disappointment (and glad to be saving $40k a year). So proud of everyone who got accepted! And for those who didn’t get in, your undergrad doesn’t define your success…the most successful people I know actually went to small state schools with no national recognition I know it still hurts…big hug!!
Congratulations to all who were admitted yesterday!!!
To those who were not… good luck elsewhere. There are many great other options out there. There are so many potential paths to greatness. USC was only one of them…
No. Spring admits are not included in the 8804. That was just the fall admits. I do not recall the exact # of spring admits last year. It can really vary by year, but I expect a few hundred most likely.
well in that case, it does make @Goldikova decision that much harder. It doesn’t seem fair to preclude a very logical set of decisions and priorities that many students are likely to make, like:
deposit at Cal by May 1, since I can’t have USC in fall
deposit at USC for spring (and throw away said deposit if not admitted for fall before August 1 or whatever)
withdraw from USC spring once fall semester starts
Sounds like USC is trying to have it’s cake and eat it too, and not the student that is being “unethical”… just my 2 cents
My D21 is in the same situation, and I agree. Reserving your place for spring is not taking away someone else’s spot like reserving your space for fall. There is no waitlist for spring.
Well it turns out my son was admitted as a spring admit. My son was at work and I was not at home so my son told my husband how to look on the portal so he could report back with news… he takes a screen shot of “congratulations etc…” but cuts off the part about spring admit (and doesn’t read past the congratulations). So we all thought he was accepted! I have not been paying attention to all the spring admit posts - if someone could tell me in a nutshell what the drawbacks are? From my research they are not guaranteed any housing at all and they cannot rush in the spring with the rest of the fall admits who rush. Does anyone know how it impacts the 1/2 tuition for national merit finalists? Since he is a NMF I’m wondering if this was a way for USC to not have to give him the award.
Parent of Spring 20 here. DS was in a similar situation, deciding between a full ride at UMich as a Shipman scholar vs USC SCA spring admit. He loved UM and could see himself being happy there after visiting multiple times (after EA).
When the spring admission email arrived he was overwhelmed with joy (SCA childhood dream school), but tempered his hopes because he knew FA was the determining factor as a Questbridge applicant. He chose USC SCA and is so glad he did.
Concerns/Realities of Spring Admission:
He’ll miss out by not being on campus - He missed the entire football season, along with the experience of attending a game. That was a big deal for him. He did CC courses at a local CC (TX) and found the 15 weeks went by super fast. By mid Fall, your USC academic counselors are already talking to you about acclimating to campus life and verifying your courses will transfer. The academic counselors (USC and SCA) did a great job making him feel like a Trojan during the Fall by constant communication and availability for questions.
He’ll be behind in making friends/joining groups - No. he made friends and joined groups in Jan when he arrived. He wasn’t behind at all, socially or academically. He found out people didn’t even care (or ask) if he was a spring admit. There are so many students and your always meeting new people. He also joined FB/GroupMe groups in the Fall to connects with students in his freshman class (fall and spring admits).
The Spring welcoming experience is not the same as Fall - True, but not as big of an issue as we thought. The Spring welcome week was a wonderful experience for our entire family. Spring convocation was meticulously planned, well thought out and looked like USC spent a lot of money making Spring Admits fee welcomed and part of the Trojan Family.
Housing - While it’s true Spring admits get what’s available, everyone accepted in Spring is still guaranteed on campus housing (you just may not get your first choice). DS got Parkside with another SCA spring admit. Quieter dorm than the others, but it was perfect for him.
We told DS to consider Spring admission a $35k grant, because that how much he’ll save by taking GE classes locally.
Again, once you’re on campus nobody cares or even asks about Spring admission. You’re part of the Trojan family and we’re hand-picked among tens of thousands because they thought you’d thrive at USC. Congratulations and FightOn!
I have the same question on the award for NMF in spring. My son will drop USC from his list if the half tuition is not granted. Although USC is a great school, we have to make some tough decisions.
Thanks for sharing the first-hand experience. Did your son have to take GE courses from a local CC designated by USC? Was there any problem in transferring the credits?
“Double depositing” is unethical. USC doesn’t require a deposit for spring until August. Also, none of the reasons why it is unethical apply to spring admission since USC doesn’t need to “plan” its numbers for spring and there is no waitlist for spring. In fact, spring admit is essentially the wait list for fall. Students must commit to a university by May 1 even if they are on the waitlist for their first choice. They will only be accepted from the waitlist after May 1, and when they are many drop the school where they deposited in favor of the waitlist school.
This seems like a smart and much more humane way to manage yield. The waitlist limbo sounds tortuous. Do spring admits at USC get financial aid or are they typically full pay?
This is such helpful info.! Thank you very much for sharing! The one thing I wonder about is 4. Housing. It sounds like this year is different than last year, because in the Welcome to USC Brochure on page 17 it says “spring semester housing for first-year students is dependent on available spaces and is not guaranteed.” So they are not guaranteeing housing for this class…
It’s hard not to agree with you. USC often takes actions that clearly benefit the school over the student. For example, when they wouldn’t allow last years accepted students to take a gap year even though the campus would be completely closed. If they didn’t want to enroll they had to reapply the following year. No other school to my knowledge did that.
If USC wants to be a truly elite university they have to put the students first, trust the student’s judgment, in these sorts of situations.
While they have no waitlist they seem to use spring admits as such. The question is why? And why so many spring admits? Do they have enough attrition after first semester that they need to reload? Or are they trying to game the USNWR SAT and GPA etc stats? Certain other schools do this via transfer and spring admits as well.
And the second year transfer makes sense as they don’t need to provide on campus freshman housing so bring them in after that bottleneck is solved.
We have to understand these schools are businesses and need to run as such, but some are more aggressive in balancing student needs than others.
I know it still hurts…big hug!!