Ugh, seems cruel. I mean why offer the half-tuition then? To increase applications and drop acc. rate? I don’t know anyone from my school who has gotten in w/ NMSQT, even though USC takes a good number of applicants from my school each year (around 30 according to Naviance)
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This is a very controversial topic… “holistic review” is what they say. Stats (including act/sat/ranking/gpa/sports/music/art/volunteering/leadership) are only one of many factors and they will never tell you what their standard is.
Sigh 
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Check in spam
My son was also deferred from Marshall WBB. My daughter is a WBB student right now. Good luck to your daughter!
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my son got an interview at Iovine & Young.
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Without real data it’s hard to judge. What you’ve noticed could simply be the result of very high stats people more likely to report being deferred (and those surprised by acceptance due to lower – only in a relative sense – stats more likely to post). I don’t think it’s the high stats but weak ECs situation (too many postings making that clear). With 2400 accepted and 1100 spots in the running for merit, it’s possible that 1200 or 1300 were admitted to cover other institutional priorities (perhaps really only 1200 of the 2400 are still in the running for merit scholarships and the other 1200 are not and never were in the running for merit aid). Those priorities for half of the admits might not correlate well with ultra-high stats (“just” high stats that indicate they can succeed at USC). Most EA/ED processes have a large number of “hooked” applicants (athletes, urm, first gen, children of large donors, children of professors, etc.) accepted. If that’s what happened, it could explain a difference from prior years (when only those in the running for merit aid were admitted early). If there has been a change, this is my best guess. And/or perhaps there has been a shift in priorities for merit scholarships. Their site says they are based on “academic excellence, leadership, service and talent”. Only one of those four criteria is very amenable to stats. The rest are fairly easy to define in ways that adjust to current institutional priorities which might not correlate with ultra-high stats. But that’s a lot of speculation for far too little data. There could be no change in priorities at all this year. Just self-selection bias in who posted their stats.
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My older son was admitted and received half-tuition as NMF in 2019. One of the reasons that he applied was because In 2018, another student from his high school had the same scholarship. Both of them got to stay in honors dorm which are super nice. He has many friends in that dorm who got the NMF scholarship. USC is the most highly ranked college that offers scholarship on merit (NMF). I hope that doesn’t go away.
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My D23 also didn’t receive an email about the portal update but was admitted.
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DS accepted
NMSF
35 act
4.0 uw (school doesn’t weight)
Exceptional EC, art portfolio and Voice portfolio’
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ohh
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Congratulations on your admission to USC. You and many others will have a tough decision deciding among a number of solid options. Hopefully the majority of those applying this year will be blessed with a similar experience… of having to choose between good options. But many are not so lucky. 1000s of kids dreamed of attending USC, but the vast majority will not even have that opportunity. Over 90% of all applicants will eventually fail to gain admission. And roughly 4900 of those 7900 fortunate enough to be admitted to USC by April 1st will then ultimately enroll elsewhere, rejecting USC in the process.
But, in my opinion, the 3000 or so that do decide to enroll at USC by May 1st will be making an excellent choice. As an USC parent who sent two daughters there, I have been extremely impressed over the last 9+ years in terms of all the things that USC does regarding internal communications with their student body, external communications with parents, financial aid, all of their various online portals and a host of other services. They do seem to be a very well-oiled machine in almost all regards from my family’s perspective.
But what really sets USC apart is the wealth and abundance of offerings and opportunities. They offer a staggering array of majors and minors and have an insane amount of student organizations and ways to get involved. It is an elite private university, but it has the offerings of a major public university in terms of the entire spectrum of things one might expect at a much larger university… including academics, athletics and the arts. USC is quite frankly only limited by an individual student’s effort and imagination. It can be morphed and molded into whatever form of college experience you are seeking.
As someone who went to JHU, I saw firsthand how many elite private colleges and universities are limited in terms of that overall college experience. Colleges like Hopkins, UChicago and even the Ivies have their challenges on that front. I wanted much more for my daughters. I did not want them to resent the final college decision after making it. There are other elite private colleges that more closely mirror the overall experience possible at a place like USC… Stanford, Duke, Northwestern and Vanderbilt, for example. But to me and our family, USC still stood apart. And thankfully, the post-college experience looking back at USC has remained that way for my daughters who graduated in 2018 and 2021.
I would suggest you and others take a look at the Niche College Rankings too… comparing USC and other colleges and universities using some of their rankings, metrics and measurements. It offers a different perspective from other rankings. The Niche Rankings and Grades are mainly based on survey results from past and current students and faculty, and they delve into a number of areas that really highlight the topics that will most impact you once there as an actual student on campus.
For those curious… the last time I checked, its grades were: A+ for its Overall Niche Grade… and then by category: Academics A+, Value A+, Diversity A+, Campus A+, Athletics A+, Party Scene A+, Professors A+, Location B+, Dorms A-, Campus Food A-, Student Life A+, Safety B.
But here is likely the best indicator… USC was ranked #1 out of all U.S. colleges and universities surveyed in terms of “Best Student Life” overall. If you can have that… a quality student life experience… and not suffer any limitations in terms of offerings or opportunities and still attend an academically elite private university, why really look anywhere else…? College is after all a four year commitment. You might as well be content and happy for those years if at all possible.
But, I also get that USC is not the right fit for everyone. USC and UChicago, for example, are very different, and choosing one over the other would lead to a very different outcome in terms of your likely college experiences.
Of course, USC - like any college or university - also needs to make sense financially for the family making the decision. But, if affordable, I highly recommend USC. In our family’s case, the financial aid offerings made it so… so we remain extremely grateful to USC for that.
Good Luck to you and others with your final decision…
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Accepted
Viterbi BME
3.96 UW / 4.7 W
1540 SAT
Maryland
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DS accepted
4.0/4.7 gpa
35 ACT
7 APs, mostly 5’s
Dornsife - Astronomy
NASA internship
Leadership/awards in school clubs
2 varsity sports
400+ hrs community service
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Thanks for sharing; helps a lot, sometimes one gets caught up in academic ranking only - especially kids in ultra-competitive schools.
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You’re welcome. Exactly. And should a new college freshman discover that he or she made the wrong choice once actually there on campus and attending classes, those pure academic rankings alone will be of little consolation. Plus, when a college graduate ultimately fast forwards 10-15 years into their future career path, no one will really recall such factors. The breadth and strength of that school’s alumni network will matter much more. There are roughly 30-40 elite colleges and universities that each offer the prospect of significant academic rigor. Any applicant fortunate enough to choose among those may want to broaden their parameters to include a few other key factors into their decision making process too.
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any idea when those callbacks come out? i think the bfa program is the last to release anything
Anyone else who was deferred also get an interview for a Town and Gown of USC scholarship? It is a USC alumni body which was founded in ~1905, and they give about 170 scholarships per year, for about $1.7million in total. You have to be a Southern California resident and separately apply to Town and Gown. My son has an in-person interview scheduled for Feb (he was notified that he was offered an interview on Jan 11). The email with the interview offer specifically says that “an invitation to interview does not indicate that you have been accepted” - and that “the Office of Admissions is a separate entity from Town and Gown of USC.” But I was just curious to see if other deferred students received the invite as well.
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I bet USC loved Astronomy & NASA internship – they go hand-in-hand ! Congrats!
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Thank you so much for your kind words
After USC accepted me my college list has been whittled down to very few top schools
I applied to all the T20s and tbh would choose USC over JHU, WashU, Williams, Berkeley, LA
because I want to go into quantitative finance and at USC I can do CS + Physics and Econ which is really good
At berkeley/la I cant do CS since its impacted, and at JHU grade deflation + bio culture
and WashU is mid
UChicago is out bc grade deflation + no good entry into top MBA program
So the only ones that are good for me are Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, Duke, Harvard, Northwestern, Rice, Stanford, Vanderbilt, Yale
JHU, WashU, Notre Dame, Williams, Berkeley, UCLA, Georgetown are kind of out
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