USC and demonstrated interest

[Anonymous]

USC says they don't track demonstrated interest. So what is important to them? What have successful candidates had in their apps? Outreach to AO? Anything else?

https://oir.usc.edu/common-data-set-archive/common-data-set-2024-2025/

[Anonymous]

My kid was accepted to USC EA with a 4.0uw, 1530, NMSF (now NMF), 13 APs/DEs, sports captain, two club presidents, part-time job all four years with promotion, and a few major-related ECs but no research/publications, no non-profits, no national awards, and no internships. Also never visited USC nor contacted our regional AOs.

[Anonymous]

My kid also got in EA with no demonstrated interest. Very high stats. Like all these schools, it’s something of a crapshoot.

[Anonymous]

My kid goes to a feeder, friendly email exchanges with AO, lots of other DI.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid goes to a feeder, friendly email exchanges with AO, lots of other DI.

What kind of DI?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid was accepted to USC EA with a 4.0uw, 1530, NMSF (now NMF), 13 APs/DEs, sports captain, two club presidents, part-time job all four years with promotion, and a few major-related ECs but no research/publications, no non-profits, no national awards, and no internships. Also never visited USC nor contacted our regional AOs.

How can you work at age 14?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid was accepted to USC EA with a 4.0uw, 1530, NMSF (now NMF), 13 APs/DEs, sports captain, two club presidents, part-time job all four years with promotion, and a few major-related ECs but no research/publications, no non-profits, no national awards, and no internships. Also never visited USC nor contacted our regional AOs.

How can you work at age 14?

Scooping ice cream making hot dogs at fun fair kinda job.

[Anonymous]

USC needs cash ... badly.

They will take people full pay with sub-par stats in RD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:USC says they don't track demonstrated interest. So what is important to them? What have successful candidates had in their apps? Outreach to AO? Anything else?

https://oir.usc.edu/common-data-set-archive/common-data-set-2024-2025/

My DS did nothing special other than a visit a year or two prior when we were in LA area for vacation. The AO never visited his school. He never emailed or reached out. He did apply non-binding EA to Dornsife and was deferred. He was accepted later to Dornsife in RD to his top choice major.

Since he applied EA, I think his essays were on the weaker side. There was a question on a class you'd teach and he showed it to me after and it was very stream of consciousness and had a typo, but hey, he got in so it doesn't matter. FWIW, his grades were solid, ECs standard strong and he had 1500+ SAT, so his fundamentals were great he just didn't do anything above and beyond that.

[Anonymous]

You can work at that age in California.

[Anonymous]

My kid just graduated. From the friend group it seems USC likes the really strong kids just short of the tippy top. 1500+ 3.8+ GPAs but not the kids going to MIT or Ivy, or Oxbridge for that matter, but stronger than the BC kids. So like top 10ish percent of the school (depends on the school).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid was accepted to USC EA with a 4.0uw, 1530, NMSF (now NMF), 13 APs/DEs, sports captain, two club presidents, part-time job all four years with promotion, and a few major-related ECs but no research/publications, no non-profits, no national awards, and no internships. Also never visited USC nor contacted our regional AOs.

Same stats for my accepted DC; same EC profile + research/no publications, +internship.