idno

If you marked on your SAT for the scores to be sent to USC, good for you. But most students don't do that, which is why USC explicitly tells you to send your Score Report to them.

cc411

About mailing SAT scores-

It is perfectly fine to just have College Board send your results if you take an early test. But if you take a later test (like in November or December), you will want to be sure USC receives them quickly, so it's best to print out your results from your online score report and send them to admissions.

Many people will send them in on their own to USC regardless of when the tests were taken just to be absolutely sure they are received.

Of course you will still need to follow up with official scores from College Board.

Wneckid99

how long should the short answers be..under 250 words? or what?

cc411

USC admissions specifies only the length of the essay: "approximately 500–700 words (typically about two double-spaced pages)."

In their FAQs, they state:
"Although we strongly prefer applicants to limit their essays to one page, we will read every application essay in its entirety, regardless of length. However, in the past, our experience has been that successful applicants are typically able to appropriately express themselves in one page."

Referring to the essay length, they state "two double-spaced pages" in one instruction then "one page" in the other. The discrepancy seems to be only in the spacing.

Referring to the short answer length, they do not give any specifics so we can only surmise what they mean. Since the seem to want concise answers encouraging that the essay be no longer than one page, that would mean your short answers should be concise as well. That is really up to you to define the exact length.

That being said, most here have said their short answers are no longer than a paragraph or two.

(Wow- that was five paragraphs. I guess I could have been more concise!)

beeish

so should the essay be double spaced or not?

sky-raptor

For the "Offices held and activities and organizations in which you have participated " section, how should I format my responses?

For example, If one offices held was:

Treasure of Math Club
Grade 12
1 hour / week

Should it be: "Treasure of Math Club, grade 12, 2 hours/week"?

Do I need to add any description to the activity, such as managed two fundraisers, collected members dues, etc.?

Columbia_Student

^USC application states to explain things a little bit. I believe my daughter did elaborate on what she did for the club and not just listed the position.

cc411

USC has stated it both ways in their instructions so it seems that either is fine, i.e. one page single spaced or two pages double spaced.

Short answers length or spacing is not defined in their instructions so that will be up to what you think is best.

pinkbunny101

Hi, I'm filling out the online application part II right now and I don't know
where I am supposed to report my courses and grades. There is a tag
on the left side that says "courses and grades" but that seems to
be inactive.
Please Help!!
Much thanks.

dou

It is actually active but you've got to wait quite a bit.

I also thought it malfunctioned the first time I tried to input my scores. But when I came back after a while, the page had refreshed itself.

Wneckid99

what about teacher recommendations? are they necessary or wanted by USC? how many are needed?

just to clarify: I sent my SATs from college board to USC- is that okay?

also: the USC id number or the sticker it says to put in the upper right hand corner- all you need to do is write the id number?? thanks

cc411

This is from the USC website:
"Counselor or Teacher Recommendations
All freshman applicants should submit one Counselor/Teacher Report and letter of recommendation. You may submit additional forms and letters; however, the number of recommendations received does not factor into our decision-making process."
USC Undergraduate Admission - Freshman Standards

You can do an advanced search here on CC to find more discussions about recommendations.

Yes

Yes

Wneckid99

thanks a lot cc!

dou

I'm a little bit confused about the test scores that we are supposed to send in on paper. Do we photocopy the score report that Collegeboard mailed to us or do we print out the online score report?

cc411

Either one is fine.