<p>I applied on January 1st
and I dont get any news from them.
it seems like everyone got accepted letter, what’s wrong with my application?</p>
<p>Everyone who is getting letters right now applied prior to Dec 1 and have been likely considered for some type of scholarship. Either they have been invited to interview for the trustee/presidential or they may receive a smaller scholarship at a later time.</p>
<p>As racedad says, you will not hear in the early wave. Only 3% to 5% of all applicants hear with this early group, and ONLY those who applied by December 1st are eligible for this wave. Those who applied to the January 10th deadline do NOT receive packages with the early group - your notification will arrive in March, as will more than 95% of those who applied by December 1st.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>alamemom, does it mean that I am rejected if I applied to USC before the Dec 1st and didnt get the news?</p>
<p>^No, there’s still a chance you’ll get accepted in the next several days. Otherwise, your decision won’t be announced until all “regular” ones are released around late March.</p>
<p>
Please re-read my post #3:
</p>
<p>Again, 95% of applicants will hear their admissions decisions in March. More than 7,000 applicants will be accepted in March. I am honestly perplexed how you have come to the conclusion that I have in any way said that those who have not heard in this early wave are rejected. I have NOT said that. Ever.</p>
<p>No. It only means as of today you have not received notice of any scholarships. There are smaller scholarships still to be announced which do not require an interview. </p>
<p>All students who applied are still in the applicant pool. Letters of regret have traditionally been sent the last week of March.</p>
<p>^^just wondering, alamemom, do you have the historical numbers of acceptance rate/ # of applicants for the scholarship deadline?</p>
<p>No, because they are not considered as separate groups. After the scholarship candidates are pulled (3% to 5% of early applicants), the rest of the applications are considered for admission together - no distinction is made. After acceptance, those who applied by December 1st are considered for the hundreds of additional scholarships. I am expecting an admit rate of approximately 20% to 21% this year.</p>
<p>did these come certified mail? because I have a mysterious we missed you note at my door, which says it is a certified letter…and since it isn’t a package, should i expect to find out my decision in march/april?</p>
<p>regular mail… we didn’t have to sign for it</p>
<p>bananafreak, as ngongs says, domestic applicants have traditionally (and so far this year) received their acceptances by USPS Priority Mail with no signature required. International applicants, even those living in the US, have received DHL deliveries. I have not heard of certified, signature-required deliveries of acceptance packages. Did the note indicate the letter was from USC? Be sure to check your USConnect account to see if you have any missing documentation. If you are an International candidate (I see that you are in Southern California, so probably not), be sure you have submitted your Financial Statement of support - a letter of admission cannot be sent until that statement is submitted (this applies only to International applicants).</p>
<p>Seahawks, as alamemom noted, USC has not made available the # total students eventually ADMITTED who applied by early deadline (some portion of the 8000 fro all deadlines)/# who applied by the early scholarship deadline (there were approx 20,000 applying early last year and this year may be much higher). That would show an interesting admissions percentage for early appliers which could vary from the 22-24% of all applicants from the past few years.</p>
<p>However, even if the percent was significantly higher, it could be accounted for by the qualities found in the two pools. The fact remains there is no advantage (for ADMISSION) to those applying by the earlier deadline since after scholarship finalists (and this year the few others) are selected and pulled out of the pool, the rest of the applicants files go into the same pool with those arriving by the regular deadline. This is the most important fact, really. All students are being reviewed equally (meaning, their records are judged without bias for the 7000 or so spots left open).</p>
<p>OTOH, it could be surmised, however, that those who hustle to get their apps in by Dec 1 consider themselves to have a chance at the top scholarships. This would include those who have very strong gpas/ranks/scores etc early in the year. From such a pool, USC must find many attractive students–many many more than they have large scholarships but whom they would love to add to the incoming class. But that doesn’t mean those applying later are weaker in the end. Some excellent students choose to wait for the Jan 10 deadline, hoping to improve their SATs/ACTs or GPAs with one more semester and/or one more test sitting, and are wise to wait a bit. In addition, there are many NMFs each year who, when it comes down to the stretch, at the last moment decide to apply to USC for the great opportunity of the NMF Presidential scholarship. They may indeed have other schools at the top of their list at first, but when results come in, many of these excellent students end up choosing USC. Admissions must be quite complicated, right? But the best any one applicant can do is present themselves well (good authentic essays, show their passion and goals, explain all their ECs and interests and how well they fit USC) and have a very good school record. </p>
<p>There are at least 7000 or more open spots for the class of 2016, so keep the faith.</p>
<p>“There are at least 7000 or more open spots for the class of 2016”</p>
<p>USC has openings for approx 2900 freshman. They sent letters of acceptance to over 8500 students last year.
There is no way to gauge how many acceptance letters will go out this year, nor what the yield will be this year. USC has yet to release the total # of applications received. I imagine the number of applications this year will be much higher than last year, and the acceptance rate will plummet, based on what has happened at other U’s the first year they start to accept the Common App.</p>
<p>menloparkmom, the question here is how many students can hope to get an admissions packet to USC this year. In the recent past, USC has sent approx 8000 such packets–last year it was 8566. We hear they invite approx 1000 for scholar interviews, so subtracting that number (plus a few more for those who have been notified of admission by received no interview) there should be approx 7000 (or even 7500?) spots left to be filled. While you are right, the acceptance rate is expected to drop due to increased apps this year, the number of acceptances (approx 8000-8500) should remain exactly the same.</p>
<p>This is not reliant on how many applications are received. Unless USC makes the decision to increase its freshman class (they have in the past tried to matriculate 2600, and as you mention, they often get many more–last year it was 2931) the number of students they admit should remain pretty stable. </p>
<p>That is why I think it is possible to predict the general number (within 500 or so) of admissions still to be awarded. Of course, if any of those givens are changed, it’s a whole new ballgame.</p>
<p>So given that there is an expected increase in applicants this year, does this mean that it will be much more difficult this year for applicants to get in?</p>
<p>For those of us still waiting to hear, Im thinking back on responses weve seen when some have called admissions for info. One that stands out in my mind, if I remember correctly was that admissions is behind and hoped to send letters out end of this past week (around January 28th). Even though we know they sent out some letters earlier, lets assume for a moment that is a correct statement. Maybe many more letters will arrive this week and those of us waiting will have the good news soon!</p>
<p>kp, we’ve seen in recent years as other colleges have changed policy to use the Common Ap that their numbers of applicants rose tremendously in just that first year, and as long as the college keeps their freshman class size the same as before, the admission rates do go down significantly. Look at UChicago as a prime example. With increased applicants, the result is greater competition for the same number of spots and yes, many colleges see higher average gpas, scores, etc for their incoming class. This isn’t all that surprising, but it is a very good thing that many selective schools do place considerable weight on ECs, essays, LoRs, hardship, URM, awards and talent etc to balance their class. It’s not only a numbers game, but as competition increases, numbers do seem to go up.</p>
<p>racedad, your theory has been true in recent years so no reason to think it has changed this year. It’s not so easy to wait and see, I’m sure. But we’re pulling for you.</p>
<p>so since ~20,000 applicants applied last year and only 1000-1500 get admitted, is it safe to say that while <10% get scholarship notice, ~20% (or the regular admit rate) will be accepted total? (Or possibly higher, but those stats aren’t released)</p>
<p>^ USC had over 37,000 applicants last year, with approximately 22,000 applying by the scholarship deadline.</p>
<p>Only 3% to 5% are admitted in the early round (last year, 22,000 X 4.5% = 1,000. This year 30,000 X 3.5% = 1050)</p>
<p>My personal estimates for this year (based on pure guesswork) is that approximately 30,000 applied by the scholarship deadline and that we will have 43,000+ overall (not counting the 10,000-12,000 transfer applicants, which would bring the overall total to 55,000-ish).</p>
<p>The admit rate last year was ~24% (37,000 X 24% = ~8,800)</p>
<p>My guestimate for this year’s admit rate is 21% (43,000 X 21% = 9030 to allow for a slightly lower yield)</p>