USC Dornsife is the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences of the University of Southern California. USC is an iconic California university where you could study nearly anything, and Dornsife, the liberal arts college of the university, is widely respected as one of the best in the nation. There are about 7,800 undergraduate students, or 38% of the USC undergraduate population. The top five majors are Psychology, Economics, Human Biology, Political Science, and Biological Sciences. The acceptance rate is about .
USC is not, it is important to remember, part of the University of California system. It is a private university, and it does not give students from California preference in admissions. This means that students who are super strong, and who will have an easy time getting into UC schools, will not have a leg up in USC admissions based simply on their home address.
When a student comes to us with USC high on their list, their first question is normally, “can I even get in?” That is, however, the wrong question to be asking. Yes, you can get in. That is nearly always true. What you need to ask to make it possible, though, is “what do I need to do to get into USC?” And the answer is obvious to us. There are clear actions that you can take to increase your chances of admission to USC. It is in your power to make USC possible, and that’s where we can help.
We work with students, often starting as early as freshman and sophomore year, to chart impressive trajectories that clarify their interests, cement their passions, and build an applicant profile that supports them in being their best self. In this post, we’ll give you a peek at how we think about the pieces of an eventual application, and what goes into building it. If you want a winning approach, though, it’s important to make it personal.
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When we think about a future application, it helps to break it down into five big chunks. Each of these fits together, and you really can’t leave one out without the whole application falling apart. Like , application creation is holistic. You must address all parts of yourself for any hope of your message getting through to the admissions officers. Now, let’s get into them.
Step 1: Stellar Grades and Scores
USC received nearly 80,000 first-year applications for the Class of 2030. They accepted only a tad over 11% of applicants focused on Dornsife, which means that they were able to set their academic bar extremely high. This was not an outlier of an admissions round. Rather, it showed the continuation of a trend towards increased selectivity and exclusivity. Again, this means the academic bar is high. The first-year admittees across the university charted the highest combined grade point average (GPA) in USC history: 3.92.
So, you need to get exceptional grades throughout your high school career to add up to an average that measures up. Beyond the numbers, USC has distribution requirements when it comes to what you take. While many schools only recommend a certain course load, USC requires 4 years of English, 3 years of math, 2 years of language, .
Parallel to strengthening your grades, you need to be preparing for the SAT or ACT well in advance of taking either test. USC does not require that first-year applicants submit standardized test scores. As a result, most students don’t. That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t, though.
While only of applicants for 2024 admission submitted scores (the most recent data USC has released), strong test scores underline and further strengthen a strong application. The lack of requirement does, however, skew the scores that do get submitted higher than they would be otherwise.
| Test | 25th Percentile | 50th Percentile | 75th Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing | 710 | 740 | 760 |
| SAT Math | 740 | 780 | 790 |
| ACT Composite | 32 | 33 | 35 |
What the date shows on score distributions for accepted students fascinating to us, because it conflicts a fair bit. On the SAT, the scores are very high. If one were to be in the 50th percentile on both sections, you have a 1520, and we advise students to aim for the 75th percentile for a score to stand out and improve your chances of admission when paired with an otherwise impressive application.
When we look at the ACT numbers, the scores shown for the 25th and 50th percentile are significantly below what we would advise a student to submit to USC, and especially when it is test optional. That suggests to us that perhaps a certain group of students is being advised by the university to submit their scores. Since scores are optional for all applicants, including athletes, international, and homeschool applicants, we are curious as to whom these students are who are submitting lower scores — and getting in.
It is possible that this is a statistical artifact that lingers from prior to the NCAA removing their testing requirement and minimums for athletic eligibility in 2023. The requirements were quite low compared to what USC usually expects to see in an application, and it’s possible that recruited athletes who submitted scores following NCAA requirements of the time pulled down the averages. Now that the NCAA the requirements on testing, we are interested to see how the score reports for accepted applicants adjust.
Whatever your scores, you need to pursue exceptional grades. While test scores are optional, grades aren’t. They are looking for a remarkable academic track record that shows you thriving through a rigorous academic set of challenges.
Step 2: Develop a Passion
Alongside your academic successes, the most important piece of your USC Dornsife application is the specific passion that you make a centerpiece of your case for admission. This passion does not need to be purely academic, but it does need to be linked to what you hope to study.
Identifying a passion starts with pinpointing your deepest interests, and we work with our students to not only find a passion, but to filter through their current passions if they already have a collection to focus on what will serve them best in USC admissions. For example, if you are passionate about football but are not going to be a football recruit, there is some planning that needs to go into making football an asset on your application, not a distraction. Without care, a large portion of your time could be taken by something that actually works against your candidacy. With support, though, you can keep playing the game you love and make it a cornerstone of an exceptional application — but more on that later.
If you don’t have something you absolutely adore, we help you find it. The more time the better with this, but we have had outstanding results helping students closer to application deadlines pivot their application towards emphasizing a passion.
Step 3: Niche Down
Once you have identified a passion that your USC application will be centered on, you need to make it more specific. Whether you are aiming towards a pre-med track or leaning towards a literature degree, simply being interested broadly in a field doesn’t make for a compelling application. So, you need to niche down.
When we say, “niche down,” we mean picking a specific area of your interest and then zooming in as far as you can. This will develop the unique angle of your application. You aren’t an aspiring pre-med, you are an aspiring future pediatrician. You aren’t obsessed with literature writ large, but have been devouring everything you can find from the New Journalism movement of the 1960s and 1970s.
This process of niching down comes naturally to some students, but for many a supportive guide and mentor is crucial. We work with our students to develop their passion towards a specific perspective, or niche, by using strategic extracurriculars and opportunities that go beyond the classes on offer.
Step 4: Develop Your Extracurriculars
Obviously, you are already doing extracurriculars. You may be in clubs, playing sports, and working during the summer, and it’s possible that your schedule is completely packed with little room for anything else. That’s a problem, though, because being busy is not the same as strategic application planning.
When we start working with a student, they are typically already fully booked with roles and responsibilities. We aren’t there to simply add more to an already full docket, but to recalibrate their commitments to stay true to who they are while strengthening their eventual argument for admission to USC. This can include things like moving from a volunteer role to a formal internship, streamlining your clubs to emphasize where a leadership role is most likely, and a lot more.
As we put together a new activities approach, we’re looking at a bunch of possibilities, including:
Research
Internships
Outside classes
Summer programs
Clubs at school
Sports
Jobs
Volunteer work
What we are really trying to address, though, are three main buckets:
Teamwork
Leadership
Service to Others
USC Dornsife cares a lot about you caring about others. This can be in a granular, daily way, like long term commitment to a service initiative, but what they really layered on top of regular volunteering is an interest in systemic solutions. “What problems do you want to solve?” is a favorite question at USC Dornsife, and they want to see an answer to this question clearly included in your application. Your activities are one place to do that, and your essays — or the stories you tell — are another powerful tool for communicating your care for others.
Step 5: Apply!
When junior year ends, it’s time to start writing. Supplements are released over the summer, and there is the main essay to do of course, too. You can to apply to USC Early Action, Early Decision, or Regular Decision. The Early Decision option , as they previously did not offer a binding early application avenue to admission.
Because Early Decision is new, we do not have statistical data on how it will play out — but we are excited for when it is released! For now, we can compare applicant outcomes between Early Action and Regular Decision.
| Regular Decision | Outcome |
|---|---|
| RD Applicants | 41,369 |
| Applicants including deferred | 76, 352 |
| RD Acceptance Rate (not previously deferred) | 9.20% |
| Overall RD Acceptance Rate | 7.60% |
| Early Action | Outcome |
|---|---|
| EA Applicants | 42,119 |
| EA Admits | 3,524 |
| EA Acceptance Rate | 8.40% |
The higher acceptance rate for RD applicants who were not previously deferred has led some to argue that applying EA is not an advantage. We disagree with that perspective for a few reasons. First, if the difference is only 1% or 2%, that is a blip on the radar. But applying EA offers more benefits than a simply difference in acceptance rate. Applying EA sets you up for a smoother college application experience overall, which is a key piece of what we offer to our students. Applying to college can make a dream come true, and be a far less than painful process. Some of our students even enjoy it!
The most important thing when USC evaluates your application, whichever route to admission you choose, is your academics: the rigor of your course load, your GPA, your test scores, your essays, and your recommendations, there are nonacademic factors that also matter. for you.
| Nonacademic Factors | Very Important | Important | Considered | Not Considered |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Interview | X | |||
| Extracurricular activities | X | |||
| Talent/ability | X | |||
| Character/personal qualities | X | |||
| First generation | X | |||
| Alumni/ae relation | X | |||
| Geographical residence | X | |||
| State residency | X | |||
| Religious affiliation/commitment | X | |||
| Volunteer work | X | |||
| Work experience | X | |||
| Level of applicant’s interest | X |
So now you know what USC Dornsife wants and you have the guidance to begin to put the pieces together, but turning a bunch of guidelines into a compelling application is actually a lot harder than simply having the right information.
From here, we can help. In the meantime, consider the USC Dornsife , which invites you to share something you care about.
Many of us have at least one issue or passion that we care deeply about – a topic on which we would love to share our opinions and insights in hopes of sparking intense interest and continued conversation. If you had ten minutes and the attention of a million people, what would your talk be about?
If you feel inspired, start writing. Putting ideas on paper is, at this stage, one of the most important things you can you do to spark new ideas and find fresh opportunities.
Conclusion
While we stand by the idea that applying to college can truly be enjoyable, it is unavoidable that it is hard work. There is the work that goes into writing your applications, but also the years of work before you can pull all of the pieces together and press submit. We guide our students through all of it, resulting in outcomes that defy the odds and offer exceptional outcomes, including many acceptances to USC Dornsife each year.
So, if USC is a dream, we can help.
If you want to craft the perfect application for USC Dornsife, reach out to us today.