USC vs. UCLA competitive admissions

curiousarthur
Mon, 15 Apr 2013 23:18:10 +0000

USC makes itself look more selective by simply moving 4500 admits to the spring and not reporting them. At USC, they admit for fall 9,200 students out of 46,000, show an admit rate of 20% and yield 1/3 or about 3000. Yet, they have 18,000 undergrads (18,000/4 years = 4500 students each year). The balance of the 4500 they need to enroll each year are admitted in the spring. Assuming a similar (and probably worse) yield USC really admits 13,700 students to yield 4500 and really has much lower avg gpa’s and 25th% scores. It also has a 30% admit rate, not 20%.

USC is not more holistic. It is doing its best to admit as few as possible and still meet its goals:
1)Appear most selective by admitting high scores who show the most interest.
2)Meet its enrollment by admitting anyone else who can pay and is most interested.
USC is very focused on yield.