Yes. I think it was required to be considered for regular decision.
I would be kicking myself. USC was the top choice. I had listed USC as top choice in my NMSC way back when application was submitted.
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That stinks. I would suggest you contact your admissions officer.
I did write to AO after I noticed today. But I doubt anything can be done so late. I was so hopeful after got NMF status that deferral would convert to acceptance. But now this late I am giving up on any hope.
I’m so sorry. I hope things work out for you.
I can’t tell if you are the parent or the student. It looks like you posted earlier that you were ignoring the FA emails. Unfortunately, this might be a difficult lesson to learn.
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The FA emails are independent from this and if he has high EFC, I totally get ignoring the FA emails. But ignoring the letter in the portal re EA, not so great to ignore. It’s no surprise that every year students didn’t see/ignored the part about the Trojan Transfer in their rejection letter as well. I think like EA, it’s disappointing news so people just take the headline and move on. In this case, it could be costly.
Still surprised they didn’t tweet out that this form was due - for goodness sake, there are like 15 reminder tweets about things Transfers needed to turn in by certain dates on that admissions account.
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True. Unfortunately, I think the timing might look bad. Several schools released admissions this week. If students aren’t getting the results they expected, they might be revisiting schools that they previously brushed off. Not saying that is what happened to ToBeGrad but just that the timing is bad.
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Good point, think you nailed it. Guess we can see if they enforce this the first year (I assume they are, but ya never know)…just curious if anyone (truthfully) posts that they got an acceptance but didn’t turn in the form. Sorry @Tobegrad, I’m sure this is disappointing, but I guess you won’t really know for sure until everyone else does. Hope you have some other good options - hope everyone does going into results next week!
And they are still making decisions incase anyone is wondering…it goes till the nth hour.
Do you know if the 2nd choice major automatically takes the application into consideration if the first choice major passes on an applicant?
We had an interesting situation play out with our first son, but that was 13 years ago. He applied to the SCA, which we knew would be a long shot. (He did get into NYU’s Tisch Film School, but not USC’s.) At any rate, he got his acceptance (big package in the mail) after the initial round of scholarship candidates were notified, but a week before the regular decisions came out.
So, he got an acceptance before SCA had even made their decision. I even called SCA to inquire about his chances and they were surprised he had already been admitted, since they hadn’t even finalized decisions. The person I spoke to said, “Wow, they must really want him.”
I kind of wish we were back in those days when the major didn’t dictate the acceptance. At any rate, is that why decisions go down to the wire? An applicant may not have space in their preferred major, so the backup major reviews the application?
It depends on the major - second choice major may not have any room to take any applicants that put them in second choice spot. In which case, they can be considered as undecided.
I didn’t want to get into it because it is the one thing that has always been inconsistent over the last decade, but I have seen scholarship decisions come out 7-10 days before regular decision, 4 days after RD (just one year, that was terrible) and at exactly the same time as the portal updates for RD. It’s the one thing that contradicts my “things don’t change much year after year” statement.
Was his second choice major in Thornton?
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Regarding 2nd choice, are you asking about my son who was accepted in 2010? He only had SCA listed as his intended major. He was accepted as an undeclared. That summer, he applied to Marshall and was accepted right away into their Global Leadership Program. (It was a tad easier to get into Marshall back then, haha!) He learned of the Business and Cinematic Arts major too late, but was fortunate to get in there after his first semester.
Kiddo #4 has applied to CS games, which I know is highly competitive. His second choice is Applied Math and I think he has a better chance there.
Oh first one had quite a ride! So yes for #4, if Viterbi doesn’t work, Dornsife could certainly scoop him up for Applied Math. And if neither of those work, then he could still come in undeclared and immediately work to move into either of those majors. I agree with you, it would seem there would be a better chance for Applied Math (just from a supply/demand perspective), but he sounds like a great kid that would certainly have a shot at Games.
Good luck - not too long now, although it will still be a long week and a looong Friday! 
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Just out of curiosity, can the major determine whether they get in or the school within the university? For instance if they apply as a Poli-sci in Dornsife they might not get in but they might have if they had chosen art or art history (made-up scenario). Just wondering because it seems easy to change the major once they get there–or double major–or combine. Or perhaps I am mistaken… TY
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Yes – the major can make a big difference. Kids with lower test scores who are particularly talented in film or music may get into SCA or Thornton, but if they don’t make it in there, they probably won’t get in at all. OTOH, if a kid has a strong application in general, but maybe not the talent or portfolio to get into SCA, they could still get accepted to USC and pick a new major. That is one reason it is important to indicate a second major on the application and to briefly touch on the second major in your essay.
That said, there are some majors that, if you don’t get in as a freshman, you can’t transfer in because the majors require specific course work all 4 years. As I recall, Business Cinematic Arts is one and Screewriting? is the other. So you want to make sure the major is one into which you can transfer later, if your strategy is to apply to a non-competitive major to get your foot in the door.
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You are not mistaken. However, the application has to make sense with the major. They can read through someone playing the “major game.” But it can also work to ones advantage to choose a less in demand major.
Of course performance majors are a specialty and very small percent of the population so it makes sense one can’t just transfer into instrument or theatrical performance. But if talking in general, like between Dornsife or Viteribi majors, choice can make a difference on ease of acceptance (granted all the other boxes are checked).
My D changed majors into Thornton btw. She wasn’t gaming the system, she changed majors 5 times trying to “find herself”, ha. Thornton was THE ONE for her, but she did end up with a double major in two different schools. And @WWWard had one move into SCA from undeclared, so that can be done too.
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USC Admissions presentations clearly state that they do not admit by major except where portfolios are required. So I am confused by this conversation. Also, does it indicate on the portal which major or majors the student applied to?
It is easy to transfer within Dornsife, since it is the same school within USC. It is tougher to get into Marshall or SCA, since they are much smaller schools within USC. Dornsife has almost half of all undergrads, so that school accepts many more students. Marshall is only 15% of students and SCA is much smaller, so those are very selective. Ii think Viterbi is also more selective since Computer Science is in that school.
Yes, but once you are admitted into Viterbi, you are admitted into all of the majors. If you were admitted as undeclared, you can change to CS. If you were admitted as BME, you can change to Aerospace.
If you’re admitted to one of our engineering programs, you are admitted to all of them. No major is easier or more difficult to get into than any other, and none of the programs are impacted. Also, Viterbi has essentially the same admission rate as USC, so applying as an engineer gives you no disadvantage.
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My son got into Marshall, but I know some Dornsife students try to switch to that school once they are at USC. My son would have been an Economics major in Dornsife if he hadn’t gotten into Marshall. I don’t know much about Viterbi, but I assumed that since it includes Comp Science, which is an impacted major at most schools, it would be harder to get into than some of the other schools. One of his roommates switched from Dornsife Biology into Viterbi Comp Science, right before he started as a freshman, which seems to have been a strategy to just get into USC.
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