Bachelor of Music

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Required items:

• USC Undergraduate Application
• Thornton Supplementary Application
• Three original compositions with recordings
• Statement of objectives
• Resume
• Transcripts

Additional Information

Admission to the BM in composition is highly competitive and limited to approximately eight new students per year. The program is a four-year program to which transfer students are rarely admitted.

Undergraduate applicants may be contacted for an on-campus interview before an admission decision is reached. Interviews would be held on the USC campus in Los Angeles in February or early March 2009. The composition faculty will reserve the right to make a final admission decision whether or not they have interviewed a particular applicant.

Admission to programs in composition is limited to fall semesters only.

Transcripts should be gathered by the applicant in a sealed envelope from the issuing school or university and submitted directly to the Thornton Admission Office.

Master of Music

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Required items:

• USC Graduate Application
• Thornton Supplementary Application
• Three compositions with recordings
• Statement of Objectives
• Resume
• 3 Letters of Recommendation
• Transcripts(gathered by the applicant from the appropriate school(s) or university(-ies) in a sealed envelope)
• TOEFL score report - required from all applicants for whom English is a second language, regardless of educational background or immigration status

Additional Information

In most cases, as determined by the composition faculty, graduate applicants under consideration for a scholarship or teaching assistantship will be called for an interview on the USC campus in Los Angeles. These interviews would be held on the USC campus in Los Angeles in February or early March 2009. The composition faculty will reserve the right to make a final decision whether or not they have interviewed a particular candidate.

Admission to graduate programs in composition is highly competitive and limited to approximately six new students per year.

Doctor of Musical Arts

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All of the materials listed below (with only two exceptions, as indicated below) must be prepared in one packet and mailed directly to the Thornton Admission Office. The full packet must be received by the Thornton Admission Office by December 1. Any application not complete by December 1 may be removed from consideration.

Required items:

• USC Graduate Application (submit online or directly to the USC Office of Admission)
• Thornton Supplementary Application
• Statement of Objectives
• Resume
• 3 Letters of Recommendation (gathered by the applicant from each recommender in a sealed envelope with the recommender’s signature across the seal)
• Transcripts(gathered by the applicant from the appropriate school(s) or university(-ies) in a sealed envelope)
• Three compositions with recordings
• GRE score report (general test only) – the applicant must submit a copy of his/her personal score report to the Thornton Admission office, as well as arrange for ETS to send an official score report directly to the USC Admission office
• TOEFL score report - required from all applicants for whom English is a second language, regardless of educational background or immigration status

Additional Information

In most cases, as determined by the composition faculty, graduate applicants under consideration for a scholarship or teaching assistantship will be called for an interview on the USC campus in Los Angeles. These interviews would be held on the USC campus in Los Angeles in February or early March 2009. The composition faculty will reserve the right to make a final decision whether or not they have interviewed a particular candidate.

Admission to graduate programs in composition is highly competitive and limited to approximately six new students per year.