The Letters are in the Mail: USC Releases Fall Admission Stats

#Trojan2019: USC welcomes diverse and accomplished class, of which one in eight would be the first in their family to attend college

Contact: Merrill Balassone at (213) 509-7805 or balasson@usc.edu

March 25, 2015 — Students, keep your eyes peeled for those thick envelopes: USC yesterday mailed acceptance letters to 9,050 high school students vying for a place in the class of 2019.

Students receiving acceptance letters come from all 50 U.S. states and 77 other countries. Twenty-nine percent have perfect GPAs of 4.0. One in eight would be the first in their families to attend college.

The admitted pool of students was selected from a highly competitive and diverse group of 51,800 applicants with broad geographic, ethnic and socioeconomic representation. This year’s admission rate, 17.5 percent, is the lowest in USC’s history.

“The students who have just been invited to join the Trojan Family have it all: fantastic academic preparation, impressive patterns of involvement and leadership, incredible diversity — in every sense of the word — sincere academic curiosity and an eager willingness to tackle the world’s toughest problems,” said Timothy Brunold, USC’s dean of admission. “I know that our faculty can’t wait to meet them.”

Interest in the inaugural class of the USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance was high, with more than 350 applicants for what will become a highly selective class of about 20 bachelor’s of fine arts students.

“It is clear that our program at USC Kaufman is one of the most progressive and attractive dance programs in the country. The faculty collectively represents the highest caliber of educators and choreographers in the world, students want to be mentored by them,” said Jodie Gates, vice dean and director of the Kaufman School of Dance.

Most students who enroll at USC will be beneficiaries of the university’s strong commitment to financial aid for undergraduates. USC admits students without regard to ability to pay, and meets the full demonstrated need of admitted students.

Two-thirds of USC undergraduates will receive some form of financial aid, and the university continues to increase the amount of funding available each year. This fall, the university will offer more than $300 million from all university sources to currently enrolled undergraduates.

In addition, USC is among the top elite private schools based on its enrollment of Pell Grant-eligible freshmen: the university enrolled more than 23 percent low-income undergraduate students in fall 2014. Importantly, 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 following points provide a broad academic and demographic overview of the fall 2015 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, 77 percent have standardized test scores at or above the 95th percentile, and their average un-weighted high school GPA is 3.83 (on a 4-point scale)

• Half of admitted freshmen enrolled in eight or more AP courses in high school

• 3,200 high schools are represented in the admitted freshman class

• Overall, 44 percent of admitted students are from California, with 14 percent representing 77 foreign countries. The remaining 42 percent come from the other 49 states and U.S. territories.

• Eight percent of admitted students are Black, 13 percent Latino, 2 percent Native American/Pacific Islander and 26 percent Asian. Overall, 23 percent are from under-represented minority populations (Black, Latino or Native American). In addition, 13 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: 4,300 as of fall 2014.

• Outside California, the leading U.S. states for students admitted to USC are, in order: Texas, New York, Illinois, Washington, Florida, New Jersey and Arizona. The most-represented foreign countries are China, India, South Korea, Canada, Singapore and Taiwan.

Information on USC Admissions is available at: www.usc.edu/admission.