The University of Southern California has a well-deserved and hard-earned reputation as an outstanding U.S. college. USC has the distinction of being the oldest private research facility in California.
Located in Los Angeles, USC draws tens of thousands of applicants for admission every year. Competition for entry to the prestigious school is fierce, and the acceptance rate for USC is one of the lowest in the country.
If you’re determined to join other hopeful applicants on the USC campus, you’ll need to know how to get accepted into USC, what the admission committee looks for in applications, and how you stack up against students who have already been accepted.
The best admission advice is to learn how to get into USC and plan well in advance. Your journey to USC should begin early in your high school career. This way, you’ll be able to fulfill all recommendations and requirements during those important four years of secondary school.
USC Admission Help: Who Gets In?
The University of Southern California officially opened in 1880 with 10 teachers and 53 students. The young city of Los Angeles still had no telephones, fire system, electric lights, or paved streets.
Today, USC is a powerhouse university located in one of the world’s largest metropolises. The school has come a long way since its early days — it now has 4,674 full-time faculty members, 16,581 staff members, and 49,500 students. There are almost a half-million living alumni.
Consistently ranked as one of the top national universities in the U.S., the University of Southern California offers programs that are considered some of the best in the world.
USC is the ideal school for students who are pursuing creative majors — especially film. Because of its emphasis on creativity and expression, the university places significant weight on extracurricular experiences when reviewing applications.
How USC Evaluates Applications
According to the most recent data from USC admissions, the admissions committee considers certain factors to be “very important.” These include:
- Application essay
- Standardized test scores
- Letters of recommendation
- GPA
- Rigor of high school courses
The University of Southern California considers the following factors to be “important”:
- Talents and abilities
- Character traits and personal qualities
- Extracurricular activities
The following factors are “considered”:
- Legacy (whether a parent attended USC)
- First-generation student status
- Racial/ethnic status
- Work experience
- Volunteer status
Several factors are “not considered” at all, including:
- State of residence
- Class rank
- Demonstrated interest
- Religious commitment/affiliation
- Interviews
Understanding the factors that influence reviewers can help set you up for success when you’re seeking USC application help.
The USC Acceptance Rate
For its most recent incoming class, USC received 69,062 applications and admitted just 8,304 students, for an acceptance rate of just 12%. As you can see, it’s not easy to get invited to join the student body at this school. Of those students who were accepted, 3,420 ended up enrolling.
The USC admission process is clearly very selective. Your personal chances of success lie in the strength of your profile. How does your profile measure up against the students USC has already accepted?
To find out, you’ll need to look at the GPAs, test scores, and other factors that make up the overall student profile of USC’s most recent incoming class.
What GPA Do You Need to Get into USC?
The freshman class entering the university for the fall 2022 term had impressive GPAs. The school reports that the middle 50% average GPA range was 3.82–4.0 (unweighted). In other words, 50% of the incoming class had GPAs within this range.
Your GPA is a key component of what USC will use to determine whether you receive an invitation to attend or a “thank you for your interest” letter. Since 3.91 is the average GPA of the most recent class and more than a quarter of the students have GPAs of 4.0, you need to aim high. Very high.
Most of the top schools in the nation, including USC, use the Academic Index (AI) tool to streamline the process of selecting students for admission. This index takes into account the entire academic performance of a student and is represented by a single number.
USC uses the AI number to filter the applicants who are qualified from those who are not. This academic baseline is the first “hurdle” to pass when seeking admission to USC.
As your high school career advances, it becomes more difficult to improve your GPA if it’s low, so make sure to get an early start by doing your best and keeping your GPA up. It’s much more difficult to bring up your GPA than to start it off on a high note and maintain it.
What SAT or ACT Scores Do You Need for USC Admissions?
Test scores are “very important” to the admission team at the University of Southern California. Mid-range scores for students are 30–34 (ACT) and 1360–1510 (SAT). While any score within these ranges is good, the higher you score, the better your chances for admission.
USC takes the highest scores for each section of the ACT and the SAT, even if you achieved those scores during different sittings. Therefore, you should aim to take the tests (one or both of them) multiple times.
Over the last couple of admission rounds, USC made test scores optional due to the COVID-19 pandemic. If you are planning to apply during a time when testing is optional, you should still submit your test scores.
Applicants who submit their scores tend to be accepted at higher rates than those who skip this step. Of course, if you are applying during a time when testing is not optional, you must submit your scores no matter what.
If you score above the 25th percentile on your SAT or ACT, you should definitely submit your score, even if test scores are optional. These are test scores above 1360 on the SAT or above 30 on the ACT.
USC Application Help: What Classes Do You Need to Take in High School?
Throughout your high school career, whenever you have the opportunity to take higher-level courses, do it. Enroll in as many AP, IB, and honors courses as you can, because the USC admissions team looks at course difficulty as one of the main factors for admissions consideration.
It doesn’t matter which type of courses they are; colleges like USC want to see that you accept challenges and that you don’t take the easy way when a more challenging one is available.
Make sure you do well in these courses. It won’t help if you sign up for six different honors courses in a year only to struggle to get Cs in them all. You will need to earn mostly As in all of your classes.
High school students who are invited to attend elite schools such as USC usually complete between five and eight AP classes during their high school career.
While there is no list of specific classes required for admission to USC, the school does recommend that students take the following:
- Four years of literature and English
- At least three years of math
- Two to four years of a foreign language
- Two to four years of laboratory science
- Two years of history and social science
- Three years of academic electives
The university expects you to have earned a grade of at least a C in your math classes, including advanced algebra. When it comes to how to get into USC, keep in mind that the school strongly recommends that students take math beyond advanced algebra when possible.
How to Get Accepted into USC: Do You Need Teacher or Counselor Letters of Recommendation?
Another important part of your USC application is the recommendation letter. This letter is meant to highlight your contributions to the classroom as well as your academic success, which will predict to a certain degree how well you’d fit in at USC.
Your letter should be written by a teacher or counselor who can attest to your attributes, skills, academic prowess, and innovative spirit both in and outside of school.
USC recommends that you submit only one letter of recommendation. The exception to this is if you are applying to the School of Cinematic Arts, in which case you will need two letters of recommendation.
What Extracurricular Activities Should You Do to Prep for USC?
Extracurricular activities can carry significant weight in your application, but it’s not enough to just “do something.” The admissions committee wants to see that you have earned achievements or taken on a leadership role within those activities. Leadership roles can seriously boost your chances.
Focus on a spirit of volunteerism and community service, and don’t be afraid to seek opportunities to improve your neighborhood.
It’s not the number of activities you participate in that will impress USC; the quality of activities and the difference you make in them has a much larger impact. Join a few high-quality groups and focus on those that pertain to your specific interests and/or area of study.
USC Application Help: The Essays
Your academic application essays need to be engaging because they are one of the best ways to separate yourself from the rest of the applicants. There are two required essays and one optional essay included on USC’s admission application.
Remember that USC considers these essays to be “very important.” The admissions committee is searching for applicants who have unique perspectives and stories. You need a captivating group of essays written in your voice that describe your experiences while highlighting why you’d be an excellent choice for attending USC.
It would be a mistake to rehash information that is already included in other sections of your application, so don’t waste your time (or theirs) repeating yourself. Instead, use the opportunity to show that you’ve done some research on the school and know what it’s about. Convince the committee that you’d make great contributions to the university.
Does USC Require Admission Interviews or Track Demonstrated Interest?
USC does not track demonstrated interest. This means your application is neither helped nor hindered if you have (or haven’t) visited the campus, taken virtual tours, or connected with USC through social media.
In addition, while many other universities either require interviews or offer them on an optional basis, USC does not conduct alumni interviews as part of the admissions journey.
However, the school encourages all potential students to visit the campus, meet with admission counselors, participate in an official tour program, or go on a self-guided tour of the campus.
There are many opportunities throughout the year to discover USC, and these can provide immeasurable benefits to applicants.
USC Application Help: Should You Apply Early Action or Regular Decision?
USC offers two application options: Early Action and Regular Decision.
Early Action
The application deadline for the Early Action (EA) option is November 1, and applicants will receive a decision in mid-to-late January. This option is non-restrictive and non-binding; however, it’s not available to students who will major in something that requires the submission of an audition or portfolio.
If you want to be considered for USC Merit Scholarships, you need to apply for Early Action unless the major you are interested in pursuing doesn’t participate in the EA option.
Regular Decision
The deadline for applicants who are using the Regular Decision option is January 15. However, majors that require an audition or portfolio have a deadline of December 1.
There are also some additional requirements for various programs, and applicants who submit their applications by December 1, regardless of their majors, will be considered for USC Merit Scholarships.
Therefore, it’s strongly recommended that, unless you are applying Early Decision, you have everything submitted to the university before that December 1 deadline.
USC has innumerable opportunities for students who are a great fit for the campus. Make sure you know everything there is to know about how to get accepted into USC so you can make your dreams of becoming a Trojan come true!
Sophia Minhas
Madeleine Karydes