There are in fact top kids that would have gone to USC and are not admitted, blaming the student for not expressing enough interest and doing something wrong is not productive and is getting old. Promoting USC at their expense seems harsh. I think it is easy for the parents of students that get the big awards, and keep mentioning them, to feel USC is simply wonderful, while not really understanding the perspective of those that have just as great a student that does not get a scholarship (for whatever reason) or maybe not even admitted in the end. The “my kid got one and this is why yours didn’t” seems to be a source of constant conflict, particularly when laying blame on the student which doesn’t help anyone, especially the students on here. There just isn’t enough room for all of them, demographics play a role, among a zillion other things that a student has no control over. Acknowledging that and empathy can be a good thing.
From what the admission coordinator at FSU MPA told us, they utilize a methodology to guarantee just 20 freshmen will enroll, along with 10 transfers… for a total of 30. I took that to mean that they accept only 20 initially, then wait to see who commits or declines, presumably with a rather rapid reply requirement, and then if need be, move on to the first alternate among the remaining 25 who interviewed and so on. She said that they do not admit more than 20, using some kind of a projected yield… as they do not want more than 20 to enroll. It sounds exceptionally rare to proceed that way. I assume that SCA does not, and instead has some traditional yield formula in mind… and thus cannot predict exactly how many will commit and enroll after being accepted. Of course, I also suspect that SCA’s yield is likely double the university-wide normal, and likely closer to 70% or even many 80%.
USC may in fact not practice any form of yield protection. It just appears that way to many. Their own article on admission, “An Insider’s Look at USC Admissions”, pointed out in December that they reject 3000 applicants with 99th percentile test scores and also have to reject the vast majority of the 10K SCions (legacies) that apply each year… as only around 600 are enrolled as freshmen. If they all commit and enroll after admission, that would mean that they reject around 9400 legacies annually. Ouch.
https://tfm.usc.edu/a-guide-to-uscs-college-admissions-process/
I personally just think that with roughly 66% of those admitted then enrolling elsewhere (only a 34% yield rate), it would be preferable to really take into consideration those who are fully committed to attending USC if admitted. My daughter is certainly poised and ready to do her part to raise that yield rate. Even the yield rate for those offered merit money languishes in the 30s. That sort of seems like a failed methodology. Compare that to Stanford, Harvard and BYU… who each have a yield rate around 80%.
I would clearly not begrudge USC turning away anyone who did not make it clear via their application/essays that they want to attend USC, as you suggest. But still, they manage to get rejected themselves by the vast majority that they do admit. It is why an EA or ED offering could help to determine the true commits upfront.
Oh well… too late for my family. I just hope my younger daughter is among the 9K or so who get to decide if USC is right for them. She already knows it is…
@scotlandcalling, I believe I’ve said that same thing over and over. Not enough open spots. However, the idea that kids blame any school for not admitting them is really entitled. Unless a school admits strictly by stats, there will be holistic criteria that the kid or parent won’t be able to judge. It was not my intention to blame the applicant. As I’ve mentioned on various threads, one of my kids got lucky with a scholarship, and one who had a very equal-type application did not. I’d say I have an extremely clear understanding of great kids who don’t get hoped for prizes. And I have never seen anyone post the attitude you express: My kid got in and this is why yours didn’t.
But I do take issue with your suggestion that I or others who like USC (clarification: I love the education my kids got there, their FA and merit opportunities, and found the university to run very smoothly) are falsely representing what goes on with admissions. I am giving an opinion–and you can certainly disagree! But I have watched admissions cycles here for 9 years, and kids and their parents are not always the most objective judge of how their application packages stacks up against the very competitive pool.
Frankly, a lot of parents and students who read this thread are applying next year and the information that is spread without back-up (like USC rejects their top applicants for yield protection) should, I feel, be discussed. Everyone reading can make up their own minds, certainly.
In that spirit, I post some of my observations. Please all feel free to disregard what doesn’t seem right to you. But my hope is that students pay extra careful attention to their essays. The idea that writing a “correct” essay makes it great—meaning proper grammar, topic sentences, yadda yadda, is simply not doing the applicant a bit of good. Students who select cliche or negative topics or whose essays show a different person than the rest of their package or whose essays seem to be in a voice that doesn’t match the shorter essays… those will not help the applicant out.
I’m not blaming the poor student, but warning everyone to not shoot themselves in the foot.
@WWWard, USC is a very long way from the desirability of the ivies! For some reason, USC prefers to make up their incoming classes with 33% of the tiptop applicants rather than, say, 70% of the next layer down. I don’t believe they yield protect because they are gunning for those high GPH, high SAT (NMF) students with lots of merit $$. But I don’t think (at all!) that USC is immune to trying everything they can to move up the stupid rankings. How else would they have managed to rapid climb they’ve made over the past 30 years? I believe (my opinion only) they do it by tempting (bribing?) a lot of high stat kids with money. They also bring in a lot of very low income kids with extraordinary FA grants. The kids of the middle class with A- averages and tons of ECs or passion–I’m afraid they are not the target of (what I perceive as) USC’s admissions methodology. But in the end, USC is an extremely expensive private university. One of the reasons the yield is low may be the cost to the un-scholarshipped admit. Other better endowed schools offer no-loan FA (Vanderbilt is one), or generous FA grants to middle class families (Stanford is one). Whatever the reasons, USC has steadily increased its average GPA / test scores every single year since I’ve been watching. This, I believe, may be part of their drive to increase their reputation for having high quality students. They’ve just completed a campaign drive to raise $6 billion dollars. I believe they will use some of this increased endowment to mimic the top ivies/Stanford in offering better FA to more families.
All of the above really amounts to their strategies in non-talent-based majors. When auditions, portfolios, supplements are a major part of the consideration, it’s very subjective as to who may or may not be admitted and some may find their extraordinary stats are not the key to admission in these Schools.
I just think that USC’s formula, evidenced by the results, is flawed. USC is, I believe, more desirable than their admission strategy allows. USC may, as you say, prefer to make up their incoming classes with 33% of the tiptop applicants, but they do not actually get to enroll the same.
https://about.usc.edu/files/2016/10/Freshman-Profile-2016.pdf
And during their admission decision phase, they are - by their own words - turning away many 1000s with better stats. Now, I am all for the creation of a well-rounded freshman class, etc. using an holistic approach vs a strict adherence to relying on just GPA and stats, but that admission methodology should also create a natural synergy of success. A yield rate in the 30s ranks USC behind some state schools that I have never even heard of. That is not a successful approach, in my opinion. And it is one key reason that USC’s rank remains in the low to mid 20s, when it should be higher. I believe that they could have a yield rate in the 60s-70s and still have enrolled applicants on par with what they garner now.
The tempting or bribing efforts that you have described have also not worked either, if you consider that they still only land roughly one-third of those merit scholar admits. They clearly do need to revamp their FA approach. As I understand it, they are fairly generous with those that they actually admit via grants, work study and loans. They should target even more middle class kids with A and A- averages and then find a more creative way to compete with the colleges like Vanderbilt, Stanford, Duke, etc. You are correct… they do likely lose too many un-scholarshipped admits because it costs them less to attend elsewhere. But USC has the means to correct such. USC’s endowment is sufficient for them to be more generous in their approaches to FA. And with adjustments to both their admission and FA policies, the yield rate could climb, along with their rankings, leading to more infusions of capital, etc. It all ties in together. But I believe that it has to start with improving that yield rate… one that has been in the basement far too long. If North Dakota State University can have a yield rate in the 50s, so can USC.
Here’s hoping that you are right and that they will use some of their increased endowment to mimic the other elite colleges ranked above them.
@Wynn22 Heyyy, ASU over here as well, what engineering program did you apply to? I did software engineering. And for the same reason as you, I looked into their film program and I didn’t think it was the best so I just decided to probably do it on my own and transfer.
@PolarKode Hey, that’s pretty cool! I didn’t apply to the engineering program, just the film program. ASU is probably the best option for me if I want to be in-state. If I attend, my plan is to spend two years getting some more experience under my belt so I can create a stronger application if I decide to transfer to a Cali school. That’s only if I don’t get into USC, so we’ll have to wait and see until late March
@Wynn22 Best of luck to you.
Does anyone know if external transfer students (international, to be specific) hear about admissions by the March date or the April 1st date?
Very few transfer students hear by April 1, that tends to be TTP (Trojan Transfer Plan) applicants and maybe a few other regular transfers, but small amount. Most transfers aren’t notified until after April 1 and often well into May and June. This is great thread to follow along…good luck!
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/transfer-students/1903737-2017-2018-usc-transfer-p1.html
My daughter had a phone interview last week as well! The advice I gave her was to just be your most awesome self! She held it together and did well. I was a nervous wreck. It seemed to be very informal and just a way for the professors to see how they speak and present themselves. I am sure each call is focused around the individual applicant, applications/essays, and film submission. Film Production is all about how you communicate ideas, so Im sure these calls help w/ decisions. Good luck everyone! The end of March seems like forever right now, but we are optimistic. 
Parents, you have just a few months before your kids head off to college - if I may offer some advice - don’t waste one of them worrying about decisions at the end of this month - enjoy the time in other less stressful endeavors and “other than college” conversations! Time with them is precious and counting down. My D and I just enrolled in a few week pottery class together just to do something different than talk about where she should go to college. Frankly, I have tired of the conversation as well.
Well, if all USC class of 2021 decisions are really being mailed out in just 11 days, I have to assume that the admission decisions have basically been finalized. If so, they are likely also done with faculty interview requests of SCA applicants. As my daughter and others were not interviewed… and while many others were… maybe we will be able to come to some kind of a determination regarding such that may help future applicants.
My daughter’s FA portal did also request three different items/clarifications over the last week or so, so I will be curious to see if that meant anything at all. Or - maybe they are just super thorough related to any and all FA applicants.
Of course, there is also the possibility of gaining admission to USC generally and without acceptance to SCA (undeclared).
Good luck to all SCA applicants this cycle waiting on that potential Golden Envelope. It is a great university and especially an amazing film program, so a couple hundred applicants will be super excited very soon…
Hi @WWWard Did your daughter give a second choice? Would she accept cinema studies ( not bfa film production) or acceptance into another school at USC? My son only gave one choice so that will certainly limit his chances further. So for him it is the bfa film /tv production or bust.
I think it looks good for your daughter being that they are asking for more info! Fingers crossed!
Yes - she listed Cinema and Media Studies as her second choice and would accept it and attend USC if offered it as a major instead of the BFA in Film Production. To her, even that secondary path at SCA is better than any other path elsewhere. I guess your son had a different point of view. What is his primary Plan B?
We have learned though from having her sister at USC currently that even a CMS major can take a very similar course load and focus on as aspect of film production that interests them most. Bryan Singer after all was a CMS major while at SCA, and his career was not hindered any. My older daughter is only a Cinema Studies Minor and has already learned a great deal.
Thanks though… I certainly hope you are right. We are hopeful that all of the FA communication means something, but time will tell…
I wonder how many students in the CMS program are there because it was their first choice. I picked CMS as my first because I’m very interested in the theory side of film, story construction, etc. and I was happily surprised to find out that it is less competitive than other SCA programs, but I can’t help but wonder if there are any resentful students in the program wishing they were in Production instead…
I’m sure CMS is a fabulous program!
Honestly, my husband and I don’t love the idea of our son going to school in CA being that we live in NY. It’s very far and the travel will add a lot of $$$ and the 3hr time difference makes things extra difficult. So our agreement was he could go if he got into his first choice program ( which is becoming more and more obvious that it is a long shot!). Luckily he was in agreement.
From what I understand by looking at the curriculums, Cinema studies is more of an academic approach to learning film ( it’s combined with the arts and science school) whereas Film production is more hands on, making films, editing, sound, etc ( it’s basically considered an art program). My son is more artist, than student and I do believe he would be disappointed attending a school that had the bfa program but he did not get accepted into it. To be honest, I think his only chance of getting accepted is the bfa program anyway- because his grades/scores are pretty low for USC. If he gets in it’s because of his artistic pursuits in high school.
@filmstudent2 You do not need to worry. I’m sure the people that attend are more than thrilled to be there!
@TheatreGoddess I’m sure you’re 100% right, and good luck to your son! I’m an LA native so I’m biased but I really do love it out here ;
I’m currently a sophomore in Cinema and Media Studies (although it was called Critical Studies back when I was admitted) and I can happily say that it was my first choice major! I wasn’t interested in doing production at all and WSTV was my second choice, but I didn’t like how restricting the BFA schedule was. Most people I know in my major want to stay in it and really like it as well, but there are always those people who just want to get into production. Some of them succeed, some of them don’t. Personally, I want to work in development, and CMS is perfect for that. I’m doing a development internship this summer and they specifically told me that they prefer Cinema Studies majors, because we learn so much about what actually makes cinema work.
If anyone’s interested, I can DM you all the classes I’ve taken, but I honestly love my major so much and even though it’s mostly theory, I still get to do a lot of production. Everyone has to take at least one production class (CTPR 290) but there are also many others available (editing, cinematography, etc.) With Cinema Studies, you can also declare a minor or a double major, which I strongly recommend. I’m a Forensics and Screenwriting double minor, so I can take a bunch of writing classes as well. You can’t really do a minor if you’re in the BFA program (I mean, you theoretically can, it’s just difficult).
Another thing, production is expensive. There is an $800 lab fee just for CTPR 290, which is essentially the intro production class, and it just gets worse from there on. Intermediate production has a budget of $2000 I believe, which you pay for out of pocket. It’s not included in the tuition. And if you want to work on sets, just volunteer to work on junior or senior thesis films, or grad productions, or do Trojan Vision.
I find it a little sad that so many people see CMS as nothing more than a backdoor into SCA. It’s a very valuable program and I’m learning a lot, in fact, I’m pretty sure I’m learning more than I would if I were in Production or Screenwriting. That said, it’s definitely a very heavily writing/analysis based major, and most classes are lectures, and I know that puts a lot of people off.
Like I said, if anyone is interested in what classes you have to take in particular/more detail about CMS, feel free to DM me!
Everyone! I’m freaking out. I’m checking my yousc portal and there’s a tab to submit Mid-Year report grades, which I have not done yet. My school counselor has already submitted them through common app so I didn’t think I had to do them manually myself. Do you know if I need to do it again through the yousc portal? They haven’t contacted me about any missing information so I’m guessing it’s ok but I’m freaking out. I’m going to call them tomorrow but I’m still just very nervous about this!