5 Takeaways from the USC Information Session

Missed the USC Information Session in the CollegeCore office on April 19^th?  

Unsure if you would have the chance to go visit USC? 

Not sure what the most important thing is on the website virtual tour?

This post is meant to give you the quick and dirty update on important things you may have missed!

1. An Alternative Business Program: The World Bachelor in Business

More than just a buzzword, International Business comes to USC in the form of a partnership with The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and Bocconi University (Italy) where a student studies in 3 different countries in four years and graduates with 3 degrees, one from each of the universities, gaining a truly global experience! Learn more – http://www.marshall.usc.edu/undergrad/wbb

2. Dre cares about what you study

Through the Iovine-Young Academy for Arts, Technology and the Business of Innovation students can bring together a love of the arts and an opportunity to apply it to business. This is great for students who can’t seem to choose between Music and Math or Screenwriting and the Social Sciences. Learn more – https://news.usc.edu/50816/jimmy-iovine-and-dr-dre-give-70-million-to-create-new-academy-at-usc/ 

3. Prospective Talent Majors, put your Talent first!

For students who truly can’t choose between Music and Math but aren’t interested in Business, advice from the USC admissions officer to put your Talent-Oriented Major first in the major options. This is because the opportunity to submit a portfolio only appears in the application if you indicate it as a first choice. Additionally, if you are a TOM applicant (music, art, dance, theater, filmmaking etc.) your application would be evaluated first on the basis of academic requirements and then would be passed on to the respective departments for a second evaluation on the strength of the portfolio or the audition.

4. Are you as good as Sharma Uncle’s son?

Admissions offices don’t evaluate applications randomly. First, they evaluate you in a pool of applicants from your school. Second, from the city. Then, the country, the pool of international students and lastly, in an overall pool of 54,000 students. This process takes into consideration the peculiarities of an institution in terms of grading and other activities. And it is competitive, so make sure you are up to the mark. The Class of 2020 had 10,000 applicants for 400 seats at Viterbi School of Engineering.

5. The AP Factor

APs do not result in an assured college acceptance letter but they do assure credits. APs allow students to complete General Education Requirements and test out of basic level courses. For IB students, APs (when offered by the school) allow the admissions officer to see that the student pushed themselves. For CBSE and ICSE students, the APs don’t allow for the same but, they do allow the USC admissions officers to compare students across the diverse education systems.

Want to know more on APs? We have more on that coming out in May!

Here are the #5Takeaways for USC Admissions. We’ll be right here with new ones through the year.