USC Class of 2027 — Regular & Early Action Decisions

you’re welcome

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I posted this question through my mom’s account. Yes, I already asked my math and history teacher from 11th grade for LOR.

I am planning to apply TO. My school discontinued IB Physics last year, so I registered for AP physics but ended up dropping that class as it was too difficult and it started to affect my grades in other subjects. I do have the disadvantage of not having a science course in my Junior year.

But my IB chem teacher this year is willing to write a LOR.

In that case, I would choose an 11th grade teacher who can write about who you are in the classroom. That isn’t necessarily the same as a teacher who can write about your personality. The 12th grade science teacher would be okay but they haven’t known you for as long.

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Have a question:
Applying to USC Fall 2023 Major : Business Admin tonight via common app. My regions Admission Counselor is visiting my city soon. Will be at a local hotel USC event + my high school the following morning. I am planning to go to the USC hotel event with my parents. I really do not have any questions at the moment. How should I approach the meet, talk/ask ? Should I take my resume with me (No resume required with application). Thanks. @lkg4answers @CADREAMIN

You’ve asked about a resume a couple of times. What is in your resume that you were not able to include in your application?

I would attend both the hotel event and your HS event. If there is a sign in sheet, make sure to sign in. If you don’t have any questions that you want to ask at either event, you don’t need to. Follow up with a short email thanking the AO for visiting.

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There’s no reason you can’t introduce yourself when you check in, they are usually floating around. I assume you can figure out who they are before you get there. Just say hello and introduce yourself.

Ya, you gotta get off the resume, as indicated, several of us don’t understand why you think they want this - you had pages of a college application to tell them about yourself. Having to give them an additional item to represent yourself would not be seen as a positive.

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Thanks for your input! On the resume - it has more details on each activity/honor; some universities I am applying to have it as required (or optional). But understood, USC does not ask for it, so I will stop harping on it for USC.

No problem, best of luck to you! There is an additional information section at the end of the common app (assume it’s still there?) - if you think there is something really important that didn’t fit in to your essays or elsewhere, you can always add it there. I wouldn’t just add more info on activities already listed however, they understand each activity all too well. Sometimes less is more. :slight_smile:

But if there was something remarkable or influenced you greatly that you did outside of what is already included within the app - this would be the place to put that.

Mine were always able to meet their advisor at these USC events, I think you will find a way to get your name in front of them. You can always ask them about their experience/time at USC versus bringing up a random question whose answer is on the website.

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if anyone could answer this it would be great!
a USC admissions counselor came to my high school the other day to gave information and said USC doesn’t track demonstrated interest. is this just something admissions officers say to test who has genuine interest in a school and isn’t just reaching out for the sake of reaching out or do they genuinely not track interest at all?

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Did they say that they don’t track interest/interactions or that it isn’t a factor in admissions decisions?

Page 8 of the Common Data Set has a chart of factors used in selection. Next to “Level of Applicant’s Interest” it says “Not Considered” That said, they likely track effectiveness of their marketing and outreach efforts.

They do actually consider it, and depending on what you tell them, they will notate such to your file. I suggest reading through the insider’s guide to USC admissions. Within it, they explain it more clearly…

My daughters both demonstrated significant interest in USC and on a # of occasions. They made it clear that USC was their #1 choice. And then each sent a single follow-up email after not gaining admission during the merit round to reiterate their continued interest in USC. They each even committed to attending if admitted. Both eventually were accepted and attended. That approach clearly cannot work for every applicant, but if true, there is no harm in saying so.

Good Luck

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I’ve heard Brunhold speak on several occasions and he always mentions this.

A UNIQUE GAME PLAN

Curating a great freshman class starts with identifying great students.

USC’s admissions professionals don’t sit back and wait for a flood of applications to arrive. Instead, they recruit aggressively, well before application deadlines loom. They visit 2,200 high schools a year, three times more than any other university. Brunold spends up to 60 nights a year on the road, traveling from Nashville to Mumbai to Hong Kong and beyond. “The class is not the way it is by chance. It’s because we have constructed it to be that way,” he says. “If we want more of a certain type of student, we have got to go find that student.”

I’ve heard him talk about the efforts that USC makes to identify and recruit the type of student they want and then evaluate whether their outreach is working to attract that student. He has said that their efforts start long before a student is a senior in high school. He has stated that they are always surprised at how many applicants that they feel are excellent fits for USC, were not on their radar.

For what it is worth, I’ve also heard a UC representative talk about the data mining they do when looking for students.

Thank you for sharing the information that 90% of legacy applicants were denied admission. My husband and I went to USC along with my siblings and my parents, etc. My S23 is not planning to apply to USC because he has an unweighted GPA of 3.4 and not likely to get in… but I am exhausted by the number of people telling me “he will get in anyway because of legacy”. Now I can repeat the stats you shared when people question why we aren’t applying. :grin:

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Is Business Administration a major? Or on Commonapp you need to choose two majors (first and second choice)with Business Administration? Or do you need to choose business admin and something else at another USC college?

You’re welcome. Strange to be thankful for that stat though lol… but I get it.

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There’s multiple Business majors in Marshall, check out the website. You can choose BSBA (Bachelor Science Business Administration) and a second major within Marshall or an entirely different major within another USC school like Dornsife, etc. That’s up to you. If you would only go to USC if you got into Marshall, then both can be in Marshall; if you would be interested in attending USC in another major in another school, that’s ok too. It’s a personal decision.

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Does anyone in this thred have a pulse on admissions statistics specifically for Price? We’re a few years out with my sophomore but I don’t often see Price to be a popular place for applications or acceptances in these threads. My sophomore is interested in Public Policy or Urban Policy. I can sense that Price has a strong graduate program but given that based on the 2021-2022 student profile and admissions information, Price got 1% of the first yeaer students. Is it as equally competitive and/or just not a popular undergraduate school for admits?

Equally competitive - acceptance rate is same as general acceptance rate at USC. It’s just a smaller school with something like 3 undergraduate majors and enrolls about 650 students each year. There’s a lot of other majors that are small like that at USC, it’s just the may reside in schools (like Viterbi for example) that offers way more majors than Price. I know several Price grads from all 3 of the undergrad programs (Urban Plan/Pub Policy/RE) - they are all really great people/students and loved it.

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My son is currently a sophomore in the Price School (I have another son applying to USC this fall so that’s why I am on here.) Price is equally competitive to get in and rigorous once you are admitted. It just so happens to be a smaller school overall due to the specialized and focused nature of the undergraduate majors within Price, such as urban planning. One of it’s strengths is that it offers a Bachelor of Science degree which provides exposure to quantitative methods and data analysis, in comparison to a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science that is typically housed within a College of Arts and Sciences (like Dornsife at USC). USC’s Price School also offers a progressive degree program where students can earn the B.S. and a Master’s in 5 years. Price School students can also apply to take the undergraduate required core classes through the honors program offered by Dornsife. My son loves it.

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