Here’s the relevant text from the admissions update email to counselors, including an update on the merit situation:
1. Early Action First-Year Application Numbers
We received approximately 40,600 applications for Early Action admission and merit scholarship consideration. On Friday, January 20, we will electronically release our EA decisions via the students’ USC applicant portal. We will offer admission to approximately 2,400 students. All remaining students will be deferred to Regular Decision. An additional 40,400 students applied for the Regular Decision deadline last weekend. Our plan is to release another 5,500 first-year admission offers of fall admission, or about 70% of the total, in late March.
The deferral notification will include instructions on what students should (and should not) do next. Students who wish to be considered in Regular Decision can submit an Early Action Deferral form in their portal. We also remind students to submit mid-year grades if they have not already done so. These are the only things students need to do to continue being considered for admission. To ensure equity in the process, we will not consider any new materials (resumes, essays, updates), and we specifically ask students not to request additional recommendations or submit letters of continued interest. Please invite your students to submit the EA Deferral form only, and feel free to assure them they will receive full consideration.
2. Merit Scholarship Process
Our merit scholarship program is a bit complicated. We considered EA applicants for merit scholarships. The deferral notification also informs students that they will not be moving forward in the competition for our Trustee, Presidential, Deans, and Leadership scholarship funding (see the exception below for National Merit).
In early February, we will release additional information about merit scholarships to EA admitted students.
- Roughly 900 students will be invited to proceed to the next phase of consideration for our top awards: the Trustee and Presidential (full- and half-tuition) scholarships. Their next step is to schedule their scholarship interview via their applicant portal. After interviews, final scholarship decisions will be released in late March.
- 200 students will be notified of the receipt of a smaller scholarship like our Deans Scholarship and Leadership Scholarship.
- All other admitted students will be notified that they are no longer being considered for the above mentioned awards. Students can still apply for other scholarships found on our Scholarships page.
- Any applicant who is named a National Merit Finalist, offered admission and selects USC as their first-choice institution, will receive a USC Presidential Scholarship worth one-half tuition. This cannot be stacked with other merit scholarships awarded by the Office of Admission.
- Scholarship decisions are final and not subject to appeal.
3. Portfolio Based Programs
Students who applied for a program that required a portfolio or audition, which are RD-only programs, will be notified by their academic area of interest regarding next steps in the process and merit scholarships. Decisions on admission and merit scholarships for these programs will be sent in late March.
