<p>I know this is sort of an old thread but I just happened to look up the number of applications that USC receives (with the current application system).For 2010, USC received over 35,000 applications, which is around the same number of applicants as Harvard. So, just estimating based Columbia’s 32% increase in the number of applications after adopting the Common App, if USC were to receive the same increase in applications, that would be over 47,000 applicants! Does anyone else find this number insane?</p>