Colleges are like machines that run and run. They have to follow the same calendar to hit everything else down the line on the calendar. Scholarship interviews, regular decisions, orientations, graduation, summer school, transfer process, recruiting, athletic schedule, fall start to school, etc etc etc - all these things are a long line of a zillion dominoes from Jan - December. Even with Covid and many things being conducted online, I don’t think there will be any change to the typical notification time frame.
4 Likes
I was in a session with an admissions officer yesterday and they confirmed the merit scholarship notification date is February 10/11 and the final decisions go out April 1.
1 Like
Again… USC has always used language that gives themselves leeway in terms of the dates for making admission announcements, but the merit announcements have always been made during the last week of January. I suspect that it will remain the same this year.
And realistically, the final numbers are not all that daunting for USC Admissions. Please keep in mind that only 1000-1200 or so will be admitted during January as part of the merit scholarship announcements round. The vast majority of current and past USC students, including both of my daughters, were instead admitted in March – and not January.
Good luck to all who applied by Dec 1st.
5 Likes
@ajketch01 Yes, agree with @WWWard, for the couple decades, they have used Feb 10 and April 1st only as a placeholder or “cover story” then send out results around the 24th of January and 24th of March, sometimes a bit earlier.
Dates aside, the main take away is that while a very low number of applicants will get great news in January, typically more than 50,000 (that’s a huge number) will not, and their decision is deferred until March. And plenty of applicants with 4.0+ and perfect or nearly perfect test scores will be in the group deferred or in the end not even admitted, because too many great students apply, and various criteria plus a holistic foundation are used to determine scholarships and regular admission.
Not trying to be doom and gloom, but rather encouraging everyone to be open to the fact that there are a lot of great schools for them out there, not just USC. Hope, but don’t put all your dreams in one basket.
5 Likes
Great advice. Good luck to everyone but know that things happen for a reason. I still keep trying to tell myself that 
I have made the following statement each cycle, as I believe it to be very true.
Unfortunately, rejection does come along in life. It’s what you do next that matters most. Steven Spielberg desperately wanted to attend USC SCA… so much so that he tried three times to gain admission. He was rejected all three times. And now there is a building bearing his name within the SCA complex. Bryan Singer tried and was rejected by USC and SCA. He tried a second time and got into USC but again not into SCA. He then succeeded as an internal transfer on his third try. Persistence can also pay off.
Many have faced rejection to their dream schools. In my day, for me… it was Harvard… but Harvard saw it differently. Harvard also rejected Dr. Harold Varmus twice. He simply went on to win a Nobel Prize in Medicine. Harvard also rejected Warren Buffet. They surely would like a do-over on that one.
Every year around this time, it is important to remember that rejections need not control our lives. And with the way that things have evolved… with the Common Application making it far too common for high school seniors to apply to 10+, 15+ or even 20+ schools, those rejections are bound to add up. My older daughter was rejected by 12 out of 17 in 2014. But these rejection letters are not true assessments of student aptitude or ability or the quality of an application. They are simply the natural evolution of a cruel #s game.
USC could clearly admit tens of thousands of quality applicants this year. They are instead stuck with the arduous, unwelcome and nearly impossible task of only picking 7-8K out of a field of 50K+. They will even have to reluctantly disappoint 90% of all legacy applicants.
As Warren Buffet says in the article linked below: “The truth is that everything that has happened in my life…that I thought was a crushing defeat at the time, has turned out for the better. A temporary defeat is not a permanent one. In the end it can be an opportunity.”
To all of you active on CC or just following along without posting… good wishes and the best of luck getting in. If you do not get into USC, hopefully you will find your place at another great option. But clearly some will face disappointment. Some will not gain admission into their dream school. I wish it could be otherwise.
Here’s a link to an excellent article on the subject of those who went on to great success after facing such a similar set-back as aspirational high school seniors aiming for that dream school scenario…
Good Luck to all those who applied to USC by Dec 1st. And if the answer you are seeking does not come during January, hopefully it will in March.
18 Likes
Hi everyone, quick question: do we have to submit first semester grades to USC at all? And do we notify USC if our course schedule changed for the spring term? Or are one or both of these things done by our counselors on the Mid-Year form? thanks!
Mid year report from counselor will do.
1 Like
Hello everyone,
Quick question! How important is it to maintain a word limit of 250 words for the questions that says (approximately 250). Is it okay if I go around 300? The limitation for the character is 2500, so I am assuming a little over the word limit shouldn’t hurt. PLEASE HELP!! Thanks in advance.
Hasn’t the deadline passed? My son’s essay is close to 300 words.
I think you need to focus on two things:
- Value the reader’s time. If you’re over 250 it better not be a rambling essay that you were too lazy to edit down.
- The limit is written that way to test the applicant a bit. Can they edit? Can they follow directions? Can they get to the point?
1 Like
Does common app allow one exceeds the word limit? it could be bad sign because it shows the applicant can’t read instruction. It is also not fair for others who stick with the 250 words limit.
My son actually had around 240-250 words for those three essays for USC. I mixed it up with another university where 250 words were recommended but common app had a limit of 300 words. You cannot go beyond the limit in common app.
For our son, trimming down his essay answers was the most challenging part, but it allowed him to be succinct and direct.
In the same way your job interview begins at the receptionist desk, your application also begins at the prompts 
1 Like
So normally merit scholarships for USC come out in late January. I saw somewhere that USC will be sending notifications out this year mid-Febuary. Can anybody confirm this? Do they normally say mid-February and release them early??
Yes - usually the end of next week.
I’ve seen this on their social media pages too. Whenever we applied in December, the AOs and their Instagram page were saying late January but now they’ve changed it to mid-Feb. Did they push back the late because of the number of applications they got?
It could be moving the interviews to zoom instead of in person means they need less time from announcing potential scholarship recipients and the final decision.
1 Like
Anyone have a guess on when our scholarship/application status will be updated in our portal based on previous years?
4 Likes
based on last year’s thread I believe they mailed out scholarship boxes on Jan. 23/24th, and the portals were updated that Sunday, around the 26th. If they follow that same pattern it could possibly be this Sunday or next, but I am not sure if covid has shifted their timeline for this year
2 Likes