Thank you for applying to the University of South Carolina. We will release Early Action decisions late Friday afternoon. You will receive an email advising you to check your status on your UofSC Admissions Portal.
Decisions will include acceptances, denials and deferred to second review notifications. Students admitted during Early Action are competitive applicants who present above average academic credentials. Those deferred to second review will go through an extended review period so additional factors may be considered, such as personal circumstances, extracurricular activities and the personal statement. No additional credentials are needed for this review process, as everything we consider is included in the application. However, we will accept additional self-reported test scores via your UofSC Admissions Portal through the February 1 credentials deadline.
If you have any questions about your application status, please contact the Office of Undergraduate Admissions. We’re happy to assist you.
I second that… We are thankful for the communication, for sure, but it left us feeling a bit worried. I’m curious if I am reading the email correctly or am making inaccurate assumptions. Based on the email, did it seem that more or less, early applicants were selected primarily on academics without consideration to the whole picture, including extracurriculars and the personal statement? If so, I admit, I was naive.
Again, remaining hopeful, patient, and very appreciative of the communication. This was our one and only early application, as the others were rolling, therefore I’m just curious if that is typically the protocol for early applicant review, in other experience? This thread has been an extremely useful resource for information! TIA!
@UofSC3413 , we applied to all schools EA and this is the first experience we have had with the kind of language that was contained in that (daunting) email. I agree with everything you said and am actually second-guessing whether this school would be a good fit for my son all things considered. We are OOS and haven’t visited. I’m happy he has other great options (thank goodness). I feel sorry for students who have their hearts set on this school and are finding themselves in an admissions process they weren’t expecting.
I do appreciate the clarity from the email but, like you, was admittedly naive. If their process was going to divert so much from past years, the biggest surprise is that it was kept so secret.
With that said, hopefully we are reading too much into the email.
My daughter applied OOS EA in August. We didn’t get the email you all are referring to. I just went back to check her portal and the email address is good. It says we applied EA, so I am glad that is correct. Thinking I should call the Admin Office
@OceanIsle thank you so much for your insight on other EA experiences. That is very helpful to know. As this is the only EA school my DD has applied to, we could only judge the process based on the admissions website information, which I really did not gather it was going to be a narrow review. Rolling is obviously a much smoother/faster process that can’t be used for comparison. I am sure much of the EA process is relative to the applicant pool, understandably.
@kathyswim I hope the Admissions office can provide you with helpful information about the email!
Best of luck to everyone this upcoming Friday afternoon!
@UofSC3413 , all other EA schools we have dealt with (and there are 8 of them) were very clear on the timeframe of when decisions would be released with the exception of one large state school (but we already received the admissions decision from them a few weeks ago).
Some of the EA schools have given the offer of admission with merit scholarship already (if applicable) and one has even already provided their financial aid award numbers in addition to a merit offer.
Not one of them made it all a big secret and then sent an email a month after usual admissions notifications saying more or less that high stats students will be admitted without much other evaluation and the rest of the kids better hope they have more in their apps to help them get admitted at a later date. (lol - exaggeration I know, but was it just me that felt that way after reading that email)? :lol:
Called Admin offices and was transferred to a supervisor since my daughter is a recruited athlete the process for EA is a little different. They cannot confirm if hers will be this Friday or not but I should know by 12/23 before they leave for the holiday. So frustrated as this is the first we heard of this. Unlike the traditional student we only apply to one school and one would assume she will get in if they offered a spot on the athletic team, but this makes this mom worried. We have friends on the same team at USC and last year they found out 11/1. Very different process this year.
I got the same impression from the email, that they are judging EA applicants based on stats and not a holistic review of their application. But being from OOS and having applied to 14 schools (yes I am indecisive) I have to say that getting an email with ANY information, even if it was tersely worded, is better than nothing. Most of my EA schools sent nothing at all and I still have no idea what day I will hear. So to me, this was great, and means I don’t have to click refresh every two hours on my portal until Friday! (So what if I still am, but just sayin) In the grand scheme of acceptances, this is still early, and in my opinion the email was very considerate and helpful. It means I will probably be deferred but at least now I know what to expect. Just my take as a very nervous borderline applicant!! Good luck everyone!
@OceanIsle haha! That’s essentially the vibe I got. Ugh! I’m hopeful it is just my insecurities after a long wait that’s influencing my reaction! Fingers crossed!
It sounds like your son has had great outcomes with the other EA schools so hopefully this is just a different approach, but similar results! We too are OOS, however in a neighboring state. UofSC is my DD #1 since we are a UofSC family, but she thankfully has options elsewhere if that’s what ends up happening. Goodness, can’t wait for this all to be over and moving forward with purpose!
@MD2024 thank you so much for your reply and help! I agree! The email, regardless, was much appreciated! You are not alone, we are checking the portal at the same rate, prior to the update lol. Can’t help ourselves! Truthfully, a deferral would be a great offer for us, at this point!
@kathyswim I am glad you got in touch and hopefully this delay is just a minor bump!
I’m also a borderline student and that email made me nervous about the decisions. I’ve applied to other schools but USC is my absolute top choice. I know they recalculate our weighted GPA’s but does anyone know how they weigh AP’s and honors?
The email did make it sound like they do “stats based admissions” initially.
It’s very possible that they have always used this methodology in there decision process but it was not detectable because of the decisions being mailed. Definitely a “Did you just say that out loud” moment. (lol)
Did I read that this is the first year that U of SC has used the common app? I never bothered to look into it but if that is the case, would explain the initial stats based review…
If that is indeed the case (I still didn’t bother to research it as I am in class!) Imagine getting three times the amount of applicants as last year and trying to sort through them. Makes me even more nervous if that’s the case though. I bet their acceptance rate goes way down if so, ugh! But their yield will too.
Mom of a USC sophomore here. It did seem that, two years ago when we she applied EA, that the higher stats kids found out first (they all went snail mail, starting in waves the first week of Nov) USC was her #1 school and she knew she was in that very first wave, which was SO nice because she just relaxed/coasted the rest of the way through the year after that. And while her stats were good, they certainly weren’t over the top great. I believe by their scoring she had a 4.2 weighted and had a 30 ACT. She did not get Honors but was/is in their Capstone program. I think she found that out in March that year. Definitely seems different now as far as when/how they are notifying BUT it seems like they are sticking with primarily stats-driven acceptances for EA and then get more holistic after that. Their OOS merit scholarships are purely stats-based–test scores and GPAs–so it seems like those are the first students to get their acceptances. Hang in there, everyone. While it’s becoming more competitive each year, it’s still not what I’d consider a super-tough school to get into, especially if you’ve got decent grades and test scores. Might be harder over the years to get in EA, but if that doesn’t work out, I’d sit tight for RD.
@illinois321, I’ve heard over the years that they weigh AP and Honors the same, giving an extra 1 point for each. If you search, I think someone living in South Carolina explained it a bit ago. And then recently I read that they weigh a numeric GPA as a 90 being a 4.0 and a 95 being a 4.5–not sure how the “point bumps” work with those kinds of GPAs.
Has anyone applied to UGA? IF USC is using the stats only for EA then this is taken right out of the playbook of UGA. They only look at GPA and test scores for EA and defer most of the students. My thoughts are that USC is becoming increasingly harder to get into because it is becoming way more popular for OOS students. That being said, I think there will be more secondary reviews this year. As far as notification, It was always this week that EA was coming so Im not sure what the fuss is about. Id rather know exactly the date and time then have to have my son check every day. Many of the schools this week are coming out with either EA and ED and most give specific dates and times.
@illinois321 when we went for the tour they told us the added .5 for Honors classes and 1 pt for AP.
No fussing here! Just simply a newbie with only one child who’s a first-time applicant and trying to bounce ideas and experience off one another. I think, based on research and discussion, it has been a different process for UofSC this year, adding in the Common and Coalition applications and releasing the majority at one time, rather than waves, via electronic notification as opposed to previous years. The 13th was always the endpoint, you are correct! Best wishes!