@sydn226 sorry did you mean my daughter? lol. was’t sure who you were asking:)
I have not checked the portal in a long time so this may have been there for a while but now there is a pop up that says “Admission decisions will be available in the USC Applicant Portal on Thursday, March 26. We will notify you via e-mail when your decision has been posted.” So I guess we wait for the email rather than checking the portal randomly all day and then checking it 5 seconds later “just in case”…
@sydn226 Yes… her stats were solid too. ECs mainly revolved around theatre. Good luck…
@sassycassie5896 Yes. As stated above… you can be admitted one of three ways… admitted and to your first choice major… admitted and to your second choice major… admitted but undeclared as to major. And yes… switching majors is relatively easy (depending on your selection) and rather common.
Well, Decision Day is finally here. You will all know your results in a matter of hours.
As I have posted before… and for the final time this cycle:
I understand that it is difficult, but please just keep in mind that 58,640 of the 66,198 who applied last cycle were ultimately not admitted. I choose to say “not admitted” because in reality that is how USC sees it too. The simple reality is that they are not rejecting applicants. Instead, they are simply faced with the cruel reality of only having room for circa 3K new freshmen each year. With their projected yield rates and the goal of only seeing around 3K enroll, USC thus can only admit 7,000 to 7,500 or so in total. The massive # of new applicants each cycle makes their task extremely hard. They are only able to admit so many.
Unfortunately, disappointment does come along in life. It’s what you do next that matters most. Steven Spielberg desperately wanted to attend USC SCA… so much so that he tried three times to gain admission. He failed to gain admission all three times. But now there is a building bearing his name within the SCA complex, and he did very well despite lacking an SCA education. Bryan Singer also tried and was also not granted admission by either USC or SCA. He tried a second time and got into USC but again failed to get into SCA. He then succeeded as an internal transfer on his third try. Persistence can also pay off.
Many have faced the disappointment of not gaining admission to their dream schools. In my day, for me… it was Harvard… but Harvard saw it differently. Harvard also failed to admit Dr. Harold Varmus twice. He simply went on to win a Nobel Prize in Medicine. Harvard also failed to admit Warren Buffet. They surely would like a do-over on that one.
Every year around this time, it is important to remember that such failed efforts need not control our lives. And with the way that things have evolved… with the Common Application making it far too common for high school seniors to apply to 10+, 15+ or even 20+ schools, those disappointments are bound to add up.
But these letters from admissions offices potentially detailing the bad news are not true assessments of student aptitude or ability or the quality of an application. They are simply the natural evolution of a cruel #s game. USC could clearly admit tens of thousands of quality applicants this year. They are instead stuck with the arduous, unwelcome and nearly impossible task of only picking 7000-7500 or so out of a field of 56K or so. They will even have to reluctantly disappoint 90% of all legacy applicants.
As Warren Buffet says in the article linked below: “The truth is that everything that has happened in my life…that I thought was a crushing defeat at the time, has turned out for the better. A temporary defeat is not a permanent one. In the end it can be an opportunity.”
Here’s a link to an excellent article on the subject of those who went on to great success after facing such a similar set-back as aspirational high school seniors aiming for that dream school scenario…
https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704211704575139891390595962
To all of you active on CC or just following along without posting… good wishes and the best of luck getting in today. If you do not get into USC, hopefully you will find your place at another great option. But clearly some will face disappointment. Some will not gain admission into their dream school. I wish it could be otherwise.
Best Wishes & Good Luck…
Any idea when the decisions will start being posted? Also if your decisions come out earlier, does that mean you’ll get accepted?
From the numbers you posted regarding legacies, and from the general admission rate of 11%, it is clear that being a legacy, on average, doesn’t give you an advantage - the acceptance rate for legacies is not greater than for all applicants altogether.
Just an observation, that’s all. 
That’s assuming the legacies have the same average stats as the overall admission pool. The best way to truly compare would be to look at the odds of two candidates with similar stats.
I could be wrong but generally speaking, I feel like all things being equal they would select the legacy applicant. But not sure if with the admissions scandal this has changed because they feel they are more under a microscope?
Don’t know if this has been asked before but.
- Does anyone know if the “admitted students hear back early in the day, rejected students hear back later” has any proof with it or just observation?
- Does anyone know a rough start time for decisions to start being released?
- Do any of the schools have different times for release in their too?
Thanks, and good luck to all the applicants today! Hopefully some of us will be Trojans next year, fight on!
@idkhuhwait @foxham I suspect soon… by 12pm Eastern, 9am Pacific. It tends to be rather random as to how they are posted. I would not read anything in to the order of announcements.
@ElenaParent True. A # of legacies are offered TTP as an option, but in terms of admission today, it is a cruel #s game for legacies too. Over 10K apply each cycle. There tends to be around 600 in each freshman class. So, there is a higher yield rate among the 1000 or so admitted each year. But they could fill the entire freshman class more than three times over just with legacies. They aren’t willing to do so… so legacy applicants are also held to a very high standard these days.
@collegemomjam Likely true… to a degree. If candidates are comparable, the legacy may get the nod. But again, it is just one of many factors being considered. Other factors like geography, demographics URM status, FirstGen status, socio-economic status, etc., etc, enter into the equation too.
Good Luck everyone! It’s a BIG day around here and in your life. But remember, USC is fantastic but there are a lot of great schools out there - you make college what it is. Wishing ya’all a magical day!
If everyone could please try to update the chat when you notice an update to your portal that would be awesome!!! I would really appreciate it…Best of luck to everyone!!!
so we are thinking noon EST?
^^^ And if you are going to post a portal decision, you may want to just post the 3 key elements the first time: 1) the actual admission decision, 2) your hometown or region, 3) and your major or School you applied for. Otherwise, expect many follow-up questions.
Stats, etc. is optional or may be even better suited to a Decision Thread.
@zoom1234 That’s my guess. So soon hopefully.
But who will be the first to post? and when? 
Good luck to all of you…
YES YES YES as @WWWard said - please post:
ACCEPTED
CITY and/or STATE
MAJOR
@WWWard Why do you think noon EST? Just a random guess?
Do we have a decisions stats only thread? Also THANK YOU SO MUCH to @CADREAMIN and @WWWard for your expert guidance throughout this admissions cycle!!! You guys are the BEST! Best of luck for everyone! Aghhhh this is so nerve-racking… but I also have a great 2nd option soooo we’ll see!
should we also post our stats, etc if rejected?
@notmeohno Various hints from and/or birdies within admissions suggested starting this morning. Their day starts at 9am Pacific. They also suggested rolling them out throughout the day. So it just seems to make sense. But yes - it remains just my guess. My initial guess was 2pm PST / 5pm EST because it was the first time I heard as a rumor. But the earlier the better… clearly. Either way, I am quite sure that USC would likely want to beat out the Ivies in terms of the announcements today.
@Racingfan53 you’re welcome. We are just trying to be helpful. We went through this multiple times and know what you are all going through. Good luck.
Thank you for the good luck everyone! Good luck to you as well.