You’re not alone. My daughter (dual parent legacy) denied with 4.0 UW/4.5W; 10 APs/honors; TO - Had 7 SATs canceled due to Covid; Very Strong ECs; Strong essays, etc. Emailed her AO twice a year dating back to her freshman year of high school - although he only responded about 20% of the time with a simple “great” or “keep getting straight A’s and take tough classes.” There was absolutely nothing more she could have done to show her passion and commitment to SC. Very hard for a kid in that light to understand how she wouldn’t make the cut for admission.
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Incredibly frustrating to see admissions counselors being able to turn down clearly qualified kids like our son and daughter. They would have improved SC’s stats by attending.
Thank you Thank you! Makes me feel a lot better!
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That must be so frustrating as double legacies! Were you both undergrad legacies? And do you think not being able to take the SAT was a disadvantage even though it was a test optional year?
@TrojanMPT @Didjaco Ya, so sorry to hear such great kids were shut out, it can be devastating for them, and leaves them feeling like working so hard just didn’t matter. And it’s a hard funk to shake, sometimes it really rocks their confidence for awhile. I assume he/she were offered Trojan Transfer Plan? While it works great for some, I think in the case of kids with stats like yours the attitude often becomes more like “if they don’t want me, I don’t want them.” I think that can be an empowering stance to have. And in that case, they either forget about TTP and/or simply use it as a backup plan just incase the 4 year they choose goes wonkers for whatever reason. Luckily the student goes to another school and tends to move on faster than the parent does. I guess we just carry the anger for them as we do sometimes. Also tough on legacy parents cause someone you have loved for a long time just hurt your kid, and that feels awful. These college admissions can be completely brutal.
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Wife is undergrad legacy; I’m a grad school legacy. Not sure on the SAT question. The logical answer is it shouldn’t have been a disadvantage - considering her entire portfolio and the issues surrounding SATs with Covid. The common app offered a place to explain any circumstances surrounding any stats - and she explained her frustration regarding SATs to them as she prepared seven times to take the test - only to have it canceled each time. Numerous practice test scores were in the high 1400s/low 1500s.
Agree with your sentiments. For us, the most unacceptable component for her situation is the lack of communication from her AO. These folks are supposed to be the student’s sounding board, advocate, etc. When they choose to not respond to a student who consistently reaches out, it’s beyond problematic. Our experience with all of the other private institutions and even some of the public options have been the complete opposite. Across the board, the AOs assigned to our region have been extremely responsive - 100% of the time - and have served as advocates throughout the process.
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Hi @cheedu !
Congratulations again on your D’s Spring Acceptance. There are plenty of parents/students here that had the same concerns. Other things not mentioned in my previous post @CADREAMIN linked:
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Other threads that may help: Spring Admit 2021, Spring Admit 2022 (you probably knew about this, but I didn’t see your name among those that have posted)
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Housing is usually the biggest question mark for Spring Admits. I spoke with the Housing office a few weeks ago, and while the person I spoke to acknowledged housing isn’t explicitly guaranteed, she said she doesn’t know of any students in the past few years who were no assigned on campus housing as Spring Admits. Given the campus opening this Fall, I have no doubt housing assignments will work out. A call to the housing office would give you some peace.
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If she hasn’t already, your D should contact each of the clubs she has any interest in. Some many not be open for her til Spring, but at least you demonstrate interest (yes, USC records demonstrated interest
My son reached out early, which allowed him to join social media groups in the Fall. She should have a 2022 Spring Admit GroupMe (if they still use that)
Spring Welcome Week is amazing. Plan to attend with her, if that’s an option.
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So true!
Ya, AOs are not a strong suit of USC for sure, very inconsistent. Funny, cause once in, everyone is very responsive and systems run smooth as butter for the students, there is a lot of support then. We had a wonderfully responsive AO, and even a department head from the school that one of mine was interested in that she connected with after a tour, be very helpful. But we also had the AO that was, “you should be lucky we are even considering you” kind of attitude (to another stellar applicant like yours), they def had a God complex, and it was utterly disappointing. They need better direction, consistency and expectations set for their AOs for sure. They aren’t the only school with tons of applicants and the student/parent is the customer for goodness sake. They shouldn’t be conveying that if you don’t come there’s a hundred kids behind you to take your place, but they sometimes do. Or they don’t respond at all which is unacceptable as well. Def room for improvement in that department.
Every kid is different but your daughter would probably still have been declined even if she took her SAT. My son had a perfect 36 ACT (all sections) and 1480 SAT (his SAT was as a sophomore, my son also couldn’t easily take the SAT but hard to imagine he wouldn’t have gotten a higher score if he took it again). Not sure if that will make her feel any better about the admission counselor’s egregious decision to deny her admission. Hope she does well wherever she goes.
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If an AO isn’t responding to a student who is appropriately initiating communication, it leaves a great sense of wonder and doubt to whether the AO is doing all they can (i.e. adequately representing the student’s efforts over the years) through the admissions process.
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Is this true - one AO makes the decision? There aren’t multiple readers? I thought each school had AOs and they also review? (Or is that just merit?) @CADREAMIN?
I think it would be very unusual for a single AO to make the determination. I would be very interested in understanding the process.
Thanks so much!
My guess is that applications get looked at by a few different people, esp for schools like cinema, business or engineering as well as for national merit scholarship finalists since an acceptance obligates SC to a half-tuition presidential scholarship. Again, I worked in SC admissions in the 90s (which means I’m a few decades out of touch) but it is seemingly a shell of it’s formal self.
Reading about great applicants getting turned away by USC and by other elite colleges and universities is always disheartening.
As I have stated many times, my main advice to future college applicants is to start the application process early and to ask the important questions before actually submitting the application. With the application environment as it stands now, it is virtually impossible for others to predict what may or may not occur in terms of admission. With recent USC admit rates in the range of 11-16%, and with 4K+ applicants with 4.0 unweighted GPAs and test scores in the 99th percentile among those not gaining admission each year, any individual applicant’s 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.
It is not the case that USC is looking for a freshman class of circa 3K comprised necessarily of well-rounded students. They are instead looking to craft a well-rounded class comprised of unique individuals who might bring something interesting and specifically needed to campus. So use the admission process to demonstrate that. Let the readers understand what USC may be gaining by admitting you specifically.
An individual admission decision will likely come down to a composite and holistic analysis of 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. You do need to provide 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.
To all future applicants… before applying, I suggest reading through the very helpful insider’s guide to USC admissions…
https://tfm.usc.edu/a-guide-to-uscs-college-admissions-process/
And also look to what USC is highlighting recently when they announce admissions. This year, for example, they made a big point of highlighting that 20% of those admitted were First Generation applicants. In other years, they have chosen to emphasize just how many applicants who were admitted also qualified for Pell Grants. So, in some cases, it is quite simply those other factors, like URM status, First Gen status, Socio-Economic factors or being a QuestBridge finalist… or elements like geography or demographics, etc. that leads to success for one applicant over another. All things being relatively comparable, a certain # of applicants will be highlighted and admitted over others simply due to the extra factors applicable to their application.
And lately, even 90% of all legacy applicants have had to be rejected. Why? because of the #s. 10K+ of all applicants are legacies. USC could choose to admit from only that pool of legacy applicants and still have to disappoint 2000+. But they are looking for many other components too. Legacy no longer carries the weight it once did.
Good Luck to all those looking to apply to USC in the future. Think about how to differentiate yourself when applying… and really pay attention to how you frame your Why USC? reasoning… both in terms of why USC is important to you but also in terms of what you might uniquely be potentially bringing to the USC campus and community. It is that potential uniqueness that needs to be highlighted. Stand out, be remembered and secure a spot. The system is far from fair or even equitable these days. But the system is what it is… so apply accordingly.
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Hi everyone! I was admitted to USC for CS as a Trustee Scholar and received Viterbi fellows! I have happily accepted it and have enrolled. I had a 1,580 SAT, 4.7 GPA, top of the class, PResident of my school’s CS club and Student Body president.
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Congrats! Welcome to the Trojan Family. Fight On!
Hi, so I was wondering how an informal campus visit would work. Do I need to arrange something through the school or are they even allowing informal campus visits?
We just finished ours last week. At the gate entrance they will ask you to complete a Trojan checklist after which you will be checked for Temperature and let in. Basically you will need to tour the campus on your own, but it’s still worth it.