How does USC have room for so many transfer students?
I read that USC is one of the few universities that accept transfer students without regard to the number of college credits they have completed. Last year USC offered admission to 8566 first year students for Fall term and to 2559 transfer students, or 30% of the number admitted for Fall. With a freshman retention rate of almost 100%, how do they have room for so many transfer students? Do they intentionally 'save space' for these transfers?
I remember seeing the figures for how many Freshman, Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors they have and was surprised that the freshman group is by far the smallest at approximately 2900. With over 17,000 undergrads, that means the other 14,000 are spread over the other 3 classes. If I were to guess, the lack of dorm space for freshman keeps the freshman class low. That is just a guess though.
Not all students admitted, 'regular' or transfer, choose to attend. In round numbers, for the last few years USC has offered admission to 8,500 out of its 34,000+ total annual applicants (reported to be 45,000 this year). Of these 8,500, approximately 2,900 choose to enroll, resulting in roughly 11,600 non-transfer undergrads on-campus (4x2,900). The remaining 5,400 undergrads on campus are predominantly but not entirely transfer students. Therefore (5400/4), you can guess that there are about 1,350 transfer students per class.
^^ my guess is as to why so few students choose to enroll at USC is because it is often treated as a sort of "back-drop" school for those students striving for Harvard or Yale.
hi guys, i'm actually a california-resident who's studying abroad as a full-time student in South Korea. i'm looking to transfer into USC majoring in international relations by my junior year. the thing is, i noticed on the USC transfer brochure that only 2% of the transfer students came from international colleges. does usc give priority to community colleges, then in-state colleges, then out-of-state colleges, and then international colleges? What's the reason for the low percentage with international colleges in that brochure provided? Thanks
^^^
I'm not sure that the rate of acceptance of foreign transfer students is low, as opposed to just the total number being low. I would think your status (CA resident studying abroad) would be highly desirable, assuming your grades are very good.
I'm not sure about the limited housing idea, since USC allows transfers with any number of college credits. Aren't sophomores as likely to stay in dorms as freshmen? If they are limiting the number of freshmen to hold space for transfers, I think it is a great idea to boost diversity and provide a 'second chance' for kids who might not otherwise be able to prove themselves by the end of high school.
USC guarantees university housing for 2 years for Freshman admits. I'm not sure there is a housing guarantee offered to transfers, especially since they are admitted long after the USC housing lottery for continuing students is over. Limitations of freshman housing may be one reason (as mentioned above) that USC has more "room" to admit significant numbers of upper class transfers.
I believe for tracking & reporting purposes, colleges must report data on incoming freshman (GPA, SAT, graduation rates/4 years, etc). Keeping the number of admitted freshmen fairly low may (in relation to class sizes in later years) likely increases the freshman class stats as well as adds prestige to those admitted. And taking high-stat transfers (I think average USC admitted transfer has a college GPA of 3.7 or so) only adds more proven successful students to the mix. This policy seems to have benefited USC thus far. But they do plan on building more housing.
Students attend colleges/universities for many different reasons. For many SC is a dream school, particularly in cinematic arts, music performance, theatre arts and certain other majors.
Last year 37,210 seniors applied to SC. For the Class of 2016, 45,000 is reported to be the number of applications. If 8400 are admitted that means over 36,000 students will receive a letter of regret. As SC continues to become more selective each year I expect their enrollment rate to rise as well.
Vince,
SC has had a rise in applicatons each year.
2010-Freshmen applicants
35,794
2011-Freshmen applicants
37,210
2011-Transfer applicants
9611
2012-Freshmen applicants
45,000 reported
In 2008 fewer freshmen were admitted....7,875.
Last edited by Georgia Girl; 02-24-2012 at 06:01 PM.
The UC system accepts large numbers of transfers as does Cornell. SC depends on tuition more than some other private universities as they build their endowment. It is a much younger university than others in eastern states. When students graduate in 3 1/2 years or study abroad SC fills those spaces with transfer students.
If the university continues to grow their endowment I expect the number of transfer students to become smaller.
I think the "yield rate" for USC is pretty standard and has actually been higher than anticipated in the last few years. It is true that some aspiring to Harvard and Yale treat USC as a "back-up"......which really kinda stinks for those who have USC as their first choice. USC was my first choice over 20 years ago for their Journalism school and I was lucky enough to get in. (I seriously doubt under today's standards I would get in.) USC was my eldest son's first choice because of their outstanding film school. They are they only school in the country to offer a BCA -- a joint major in Cinema and Business. Fortunately, my sons are smarter than I am and he was thrilled to get into USC. Northwestern University is in our neck of the woods and Northwestern was his "back-up" to USC. USC is also the first choice for my second son and I am nervously awaiting news. He is hoping to get into their video game major (which is considered one of the best in the country.) For my family, USC has always been the first choice and it had nothing to do with football. (OK - a little to do with football for my first son, but USC happens to be the best in the nation for the fields that interest us.)
USC has been in the Princeton Review's "Top 10 Dream Schools" for at least the past 3 years.
LegacyMom, good luck to your S2. Both my sons are in the IM major and love it. And as a confessed fan, I'll go on to rave this program was once again ranked (ahem) #1 in the world. http://content.usatoday.com/communit...1#.T0le1rTYCSo Listings are subjective, so we take this for just one part of the puzzle. But unlike US News, this particular evaluation is based on 4 criteria: academic strength, faculty professional experience in industry, facilities/tech infrastructure, and internships/career opportunities.
As for yield rates, my S2 was told that for class of 2015, 20 were admitted to Interactive Media and 17 matriculated. That's 85% yield. This may be typical of the SCA majors, though I don't have other numbers to check. And it seems in line or higher than yields to the top ivies.
Thanks for the well wishes madbean. Actually, I was referring to the video game major through Viterbi. (I am aware that the #1 ranking for undergrad is based on the IM major in the Cinema School, but Viterbi shares the #1 ranking in the grad program.). #2 son considered the IM major and, frankly, the process seemed too overwhelming......VERY impressive that you have 2 sons in that field. We decided that having a computer science degree with an emphasis in video games would be more practical. He also happens to be artistic, though. So he plans on taking a minor in 3D art for video games. I looked at the course requirement for both the Viterbi major and the Cinema School major and they have a good number of courses in common. If he is lucky enough to get into USC, the plan is for him to take the classes they have in common first. That way, if he decides to try to transfer to IM , he won't be behind. Anyway, at this point, I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that he gets in.
BTW, I stunned that the Cinema School doesn't literally have 100% yield. Who on earth would go through all it takes to get in there and then say, "No thanks?". There is absolutely nothing better.
