Just got off the phone with the HPDP major director at Keck School of Medicine and she said that historically they have seen up to 900 applicants apply and accept only 25 students for fall, and have accepted at most 9 for spring in any given year, making it extremely competitive to even get spring admission into this program. So I guess being a spring admit can actually be a much greater accomplishment than it seems! Wow I’m ecstatic!!
How many spring admits accept those spots?
I don’t want to be a downer, but for those looking at spring to fall bump, I want to point out that they admitted almost 2,000 more students than usual to fill up their fall slots. That’s a huge increase and unprecedented.
Besides the uncertainty of everything right now, I am sure they don’t want to have the big move of spring to fall again as last year was so atypical. In the last 20 years they have often bumped none, or just a handful. Last year, as @awaysgoing mentioned, their yield was way off (likely scandal) thus the big move from spring to fall. They seem to be trying to fix that by admitting so many more this year.
@awaysgoing is super involved in the process and has firsthand experience with a spring admit (and fall admits!) and brings up some great points about how the spring admit process has been greatly improved over the last several years and the variety of options/ways to use your fall. There are certainly plus and minuses to spring - make a list and decide what is important - each person has to decide what works for them. Good luck!
how many people did USC admit this year? 8000? or less? @CADREAMIN
9500, usually 7500-ish
@CADREAMIN what’s the enrollment cap for this year?
3100 I believe…I’m tired and it’s late, but I think so.
Other universities across the country, including the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University, are also seeing increased acceptance rates for the Class of 2024, expect they are all doing this to protect yield.
@CADREAMIN Damn, there’s no way I’m getting bumped to fall if there are 3100 spots with 9500 acceptances. RIP
You just never know. Not that long ago, the USC yield rate was routinely 33-34%. It then jumped up to 41.9% last year. Even so, they still bumped many from Spring to Fall.
2020 is a very strange year. With COVID-19 as a continuing issue to date, many may opt to stay closer to home. Many international students may have to rethink their plans too. No one really knows yet what may occur or how the admits will make their commitment decisions.
The 9500 or so admits could include the Spring admits too. And if so, they did not break down the #s between Fall and Spring. But it is not coincidental in terms of the new total # of admits. They are aiming for a freshman class of 3100. And that happens to be 33% of 9500. So, they are clearly expecting a return to their prior yield rate of circa 33% vs last year’s of almost 42%.
The cruel reality is that 58-67% of those who were initially excited to be admitted to USC will now elect to attend elsewhere. Some will select what they perceive is a better option for them, but many will feel compelled to look elsewhere simply because attending USC may not be financially feasible given their family finances. In the case of Spring admits, I guess that many of you simply have to pull for that percentage being higher versus lower.
The 9500 includes Spring admits. My little birdie did not have the split. They did offer to more than in prior years due to possible internationals not getting visas, not being able to travel, people staying closer to home over Covid concerns, and the usual people accepting other schools or not getting the financials they need. Financials will be less of a concern for the group with income under $80,000, but I think the offer was tuition only and not room and board costs. There will likely be some movement in some departments, but Spring admits, like my daughter should plan to start in January. If you get to start in Fall, that’s great. You need to be OK with January, though. My little birdie said there is nothing you can do to improve your odds, however, those with higher stats, NMF, etc., might have a leg up because their stats are included only for fall admits, not Spring.
@mtmom3girls Thanks for that clarification. And I agree with your assessment.
if the fast portal just recently asked me for a “copy of parents’ 2018 federal income tax return for verification” will this affect my financial aid package? ie coming out later than other people? I submitted FAFSA and CSS profile back in late November and have been consistently checking the portal but they recently just asked for verification
@nursingcolleges This same thing happened with us, and I uploaded the tax return right away. I called the FA office yesterday and they said that we would still receive our financial aid early next week, so I would imagine the same for you.
@WWWard Do you mean the year before last, the incoming class of 2022 (USC fall 2018), which was a 41% yield and did not bump any students from Spring to Fall? Or was it last year?
In a meeting end of February, USC said they were still accepting the same amount of students despite being down about 6-7K applicants, which is why acceptance rate is almost 4% higher this year. They were uncertain even then how their yield would pan out given the virus. (which was largely only in China in Feb. but lots of students come from there) USC was not willing to say that they would move as many spring admits or take the same number of appeals as last year as admissions has recalibrated for changing trends in college admissions nationwide. Last year really caught them off guard! They illustrated preparation for uncertainties at USC and other universities in the same boat. However, there is no way USC could anticipate this level of uncertainly and @WWWard is exactly right! In the past, USC bumps spring kids as needed to fill vacant spots for specific majors and talents. (I am guessing that stats won’t matter cuz they will not be bumped until after May 1)
@nursingcolleges Yes… by a few extra days potentially.
@awaysgoing No… last year. Here’s the link…
http://admission.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/Freshman-Profile-2019.pdf
@WWWard Thank you for the link! Didn’t know USC had over 40% yield 2 years in a row. Interesting there is such a big disparity of 300 bumps from Spring to Fall last year and none the year before that. It’s hard to read tea leaves this cycle! Either way, spring students can’t count on being bumped but can count on being Trojans next year! Fight On!
@awaysgoing You’re welcome. Very true.
I wonder if USC might consider some other option for Spring admits during the fall since study abroad will likely not be possible. And it seems that was a way that a lot of them not only got credit but made friends with other Spring admits. It would be great if they were able to take classes at USC and pay tuition but live at home (if they are close) or in other housing near the campus. It would give them a chance to make friends and start to assimilate in these unprecedented times…!
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