USC Releases Admission Statistics for Fall 2013
Contact: Merrill Balassone at (213) 740-6156 or balasson@usc.edu
April 15, 2013 – More than 47,000 accomplished high school seniors from all 50 U.S. states and 144 other countries applied for an estimated 2,650 places in the fall 2013 entering class of USC, reflecting continued strong interest from international students and U.S. applicants alike.
Timothy Brunold, USC’s dean of admission, said: “USC’s fall 2013 entering freshman class is shaping up to be the most impressive in the university’s 133-year history. The group of students we have selected is characterized by unprecedented levels of diversity: ethnic, geographic and socio-economic. I am confident that our faculty will be pleased to teach this incredibly bright, talented and impressive group of young adults. “
The university maintains a strong commitment to financial aid for undergraduate students and continues to increase the amount of funding available. The university offers what it believes is the largest pool of university-funded financial aid of any private university in the country.
Two-thirds of USC undergraduates receive some form of financial aid. USC admits students without regard to ability to pay, and meets the full demonstrated need of admitted students. USC enrolled 23 percent low-income undergraduate students in fall 2012, as defined by Pell Grant eligibility. Students’ socioeconomic status has no impact on their graduation rate.
More facts about USC’s financial aid program are available here.
USC Admission by the Numbers
The admitted pool of 9,304 was selected from a highly competitive and diverse group of 47,279 applicants with broad geographic, ethnic and socioeconomic representation. This year’s admission rate, 19.7 percent, is slightly lower than last year’s final admission rate and is the lowest in USC’s history.
The following points provide a broad academic and demographic overview of the fall 2013 pool of students admitted to USC (enrollment commitments are due May 1, and these numbers may change):
• The vast majority of admitted freshmen rank in the top 10 percent of their high school’s graduating class, 75 percent have standardized test scores at or above the 95th percentile, and their average un-weighted high school GPA is 3.82 (on a 4-point scale)
• The average admitted freshman completed six to eight AP or IB courses in high school
• More than 3,100 high schools are represented in the admitted freshman class
• Overall, 45 percent of admitted students are from California, with 17 percent representing 79 foreign countries. The remaining 38 percent come from the other 49 states and U.S. territories.
• Seven percent of admitted students are Black, 12 percent Latino, 2 percent Native American/Pacific Islander and 26 percent Asian. Overall, 21 percent are from under-represented minority populations (Black, Latino or Native American). In addition, 11 percent of admitted students would be the first in their family to attend college. USC enrolls more under-represented minority undergraduates than most private research universities in the country: 3,398 as of fall 2012, or 19 percent of all undergraduates.
• Outside California, the leading U.S. metropolitan areas for students admitted to USC are, in order: New York City, Chicago, Seattle, Dallas, Boston, and Washington, D.C.. The most-represented foreign countries are China, South Korea, India, Canada and Singapore.
Information on USC Admissions is available at: www.usc.edu/admission.
