The University of Southern California

“It's getting harder to get USC's big red acceptanceNov 30 2007Chemical Engineering
It's getting harder to get USC's big red acceptance letter; the bar has been raised! You need to maintain a high unweighted GPA, score well on standarized tests, participate in sports/music groups, and take additional classes at a community college. Do all that while maintaining an awesome social life, and you'll probably get in!
ACT: 32 SAT: 2200 Female

“This school is not easy to get in, butNov 24 2007Journalism
This school is not easy to get in, but if you work hard in high school you'll be fine.

Gear your activities toward your major.
SAT: 2080 Female

“USC has evolved to become one of the mostMay 09 2007Other
USC has evolved to become one of the most selective schools in the nation, and it receives more applications than any other private university. Throughout high school I was very involved in extracurricular activities including Key Club, ASB, and Orchestra. It is common to find many students at USC who were involved in student government or as presidents of clubs. In addition, grades are very important. I received a 4.81 GPA. USC does look at many factors in evaluating potential students for admission.
Male

“I feel like many people think that USC isApr 27 2007Philosophy
I feel like many people think that USC is a back-up school but this is certainly not the case. The university is revamping its educational program and is becoming a highly competitive school with sights set on becoming the Stanford of southern California - and it is certainly on its way. I am a Trustee Scholar at USC meaning that I am on a full academic scholarship. I turned down Princeton for USC and do not regret my decision for a second. I worked my butt off in high school and took every AP available to me (10 to be exact) and scored 2280 on my SAT, but USC is NO breeze for me at all. This school challenges me every single day and even my GE courses pose a huge challenge. I graduated high school with an unweighted GPA of 3.7 and weighted 4.3. I did 100s of hours of community service, played two varsity sports, and regularly performed concerts with both the classical bass and piano. The point I'm trying to get at is that this is the sort of resume USC begs to come into their admissions office on an application. As I said before, USC is really trying to bolster the academic reputation of the school, and the core of that resides in the type of students who attend. If you want to go to USC and, even more, want to be on academic scholarship, it is absolutely necessary that you challenge yourself in every way possible, get involved in everything you can, and, most importantly, EXCEL in everything you do!

“For regular applicantsFeb 12 2007Architecture
for regular applicants...

the application is pretty standard, but the portion that gives the application commitee a personal look at you is very important. take some time to fill ths stuff out becasue USC isn't just looking for a straight A student who has good tests score (but these are good). USC wants diversity and a vibrant student body, so show them who you tuely are in this application!

For Architecture applicants...

the portfolio is the sole thing that gets you into this program as long as you are a decent student to start off with. USC doesn't want the student that has a lot of experience in architecture, they are more interested in your ability to be creative and believe it or not, your ability to be molded into what they believe is a "good" architecture student. This means that you want to show everything that you can do, the good pieces or work and the bad. Have as much variety as possible and dont worry about not being good enough, you would be suprised the types of kids and their styles that get admitted.

GOOD LUCK!