All first-year applicants will be informed of our admission decisions by April 1st. Transfer applicants will receive either an admission decision or a request for their spring term grades by June 1st.

Students who have been formally admitted to USC but who wish to delay all undergraduate studies for one year should submit a USC Admission Deferral Request Form to the Admission Office. A deferral may be requested within one year of the original semester of application. (Example: You originally applied for the fall 2012 semester, and you wish to have your admission deferred to the fall 2013 semester.) Longer gaps required for religious reasons, or for compulsory military service, will also be considered.

Once you have been admitted, complete, sign and date the Admission Deferral Request Form and submit it to our office as soon as possible. Only students who have been formally admitted to USC may request a deferral.

Current application deadlines are listed on our Admission Deadlines page.

All deadlines are postmark deadlines unless otherwise stated by the department to which you are applying. We recommend that, whenever possible, you send all application materials in one packet.

Generally, for the purposes of admission into USC, we review an applicant's coursework from grades 9 through 11 for admission into our fall freshman class. We may, however, request 7th semester grades (12th grade, fall semester) before making a final decision. Those students from whom we require 7th semester grades will receive letter requesting this information if we need it, but we encourage all first-year applicants to submit their 7th semester grades when available. They may do so by going to usc.edu/midyeargrades.

Once admitted, all students are required to submit an official copy of their high school transcripts in order to verify their graduation dates. Students' transcripts will also be reviewed to ensure that they have maintained a continued level of academic achievement. A serious downturn in a student's senior year could result in the rescinding of an admission offer.

First-yearapplicants are evaluated on the rigor of their high school course work, their grades, scores on standardized tests, activities, essays and counselor/teacher recommendation.

When assessing grade point average, consideration is given to class rank and Advanced Placement/International Baccalaureate course work. Students are considered individually on the merits of their academic records, personal qualities and potential for success in their fields of interest. There are no absolute "cutoffs" or minimums for grades, rank in class, or test scores, as we are interested in the interplay of these elements and students' personal accomplishments.

USC awards 4 units of elective credit for most AP examinations with a score of 4 or higher. In addition, scores of 4 or 5 for certain exams will satisfy General Education requirements. For further information on AP exam credit at USC, please click here.

USC does not offer early decision or early action admission programs. All students who apply to the university by the appropriate deadline (December 1st for first-year scholarship applicants, January 10th for all other first-year applicants and February 1st for all transfer applicants) are given equal consideration in the application review process.

USC does not accept first-year or transfer applications for spring admission. However, a small number of fall applicants will be offered spaces in the spring semester.

Yes, it is possible for students who completed high school with a GED to be admitted to USC. However, such students will still need to meet all other transfer requirements (at least 30 transferable semester college units, strong academic record, etc.) and must also provide official transcripts of all high school coursework they attempted, in addition to providing an official copy of their GED.

We don't currently allow students to check their final admission decision online. If you would like to speak with a counselor about your application, you may call us at (213) 740-1111 (weekdays, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Pacific Time) or e-mail us.

Students who wish to withdraw their applications should e-mail us at admitusc@usc.edu (be sure to include your USC ID number in your message) or call our Telephone Counseling Center at (213) 740-1111 (weekdays, 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., Pacific Time).

We suggest that first-year applicants take all SAT and/or ACT exams by December of their senior year. Although we will accept scores from later sittings, we cannot guarantee that your results will reach us in time to be considered by our admission committee.

No, admission interviews are completely optional. With almost 35,000 applicants, we are not able to meet with everyone. Our experience has shown no appreciable difference in admission rates between those who do and those who do not interview.

An interview is just one of the many opportunities we provide for students to have contact with the university and the admission office.

Spaces are limited and fill quickly, so if you are interested in an interview, we urge you to reserve a time as soon as possible at www.usc.edu/admissioninterviews.