国产第一福利影院草草

In the wake of the Varsity Blues scandal of 2019, it’s not hard to come up with a number of cynical, mocking responses on the topic of “How to get into USC.” Such a list would likely include: 1) Hire someone else to take the SATs for you. 2) Photoshop your way to becoming a rowing team recruit. 3) Pay 1.3 million dollars directly to a water polo coach. Okay, that鈥檚 enough for now. Despite these embarrassing and deplorable incidents of a few years ago, USC remains one of the elite private universities in the United States, with countless world-renowned academic programs. The overall trajectory at this school is in the increasingly selective direction. In the late ’90s, USC still accepted 45% of those who applied. The number of applications has tripled since that time and the USC acceptance rate is now in the single digits.

Given this meteoric rise in prestige, aspiring Trojans need to be well-informed and understand the level of competition at this university in 2025-26. Toward that aim, this article will cover:

• The USC acceptance rate (plus how to predict your chances with our free admissions calculator)
• SAT, ACT, and GPA of accepted USC applicants
• Admissions trends
• The demographics of current USC undergraduates
• USC鈥檚 yield rate
• How USC鈥檚 admissions officers evaluate candidates
• Tips for applying to USC
• The USC supplemental essays and short answer prompts
• How to assess whether applying to USC is even worth the $85 application fee (for you)
• Whether USC is transfer-friendly

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USC Acceptance Rate 鈥� Class of 2029

For the Class of 2029, USC received around 83,500 applications. Of those applicants, USC accepted about 8,700 students for the fall and approximately 2,200 for the spring. When spring admits are factored in, USC has a overall admissions rate of about 13%.

Historical USC acceptance rates are as follows:

This institution does not offer an Early Decision option. However, the university did add an EA option in 2023 for students applying to most majors.

USC Early Action Acceptance Rate – Class of 2028

For the Class of 2028 (the most recent data available), 40,953 applied Early Action. Of these applicants, 2,938 were admitted, which means the UCS early action acceptance rate was 7%.

What GPA do you need to get into USC?

According to the university, the median unweighted GPA for students entering as freshmen in fall 2024 was 3.85-4.0.

Those enrolled in the Class of 2027 had an average unweighted GPA of 3.86. 31% had a GPA of 4.0 or above; 49% had a GPA between 3.75 and 3.99. Have a GPA under 3.5? You won’t have much company鈥攋ust 3.4% of enrolled students sported similar statistics.

What class rank do you need to get accepted to USC?

Among enrolled 2023-2024 first-year students, an impressive 67% hailed from the top 10% of their class, while 91% earned a place in the top quarter.

What is the minimum SAT or ACT score for USC?

For the Class of 2028, the mid-50% SAT range for enrolled freshmen was 1460-1540. The mid-50% ACT is 32-35. Moreover, 41% enrolled students submitted test scores alongside their applications.

Admissions Trends & Notes 鈥� Class of 2028

• 17% of those accepted into the 2024-25 freshman class were international students.
• 14% of the Class of 2028 were “scions” (aka legacy students)
• The accepted Class of 2028 included 22% first-generation students, in line with the previous year.
• The total number of applicants held steady at just over 80,000.

Who Actually Gets Into USC?

Let鈥檚 now look at the demographics of the USC Class of 2028.

The states producing the greatest number of 2024-25 freshmen were:

• California
• New York
• Illinois
• Texas
• Washington
• Florida

The countries producing the greatest number of 2024-25 freshmen admits were:

• China
• India
• South Korea
• Canada
• Singapore

As at any highly selective university, competition is toughest among those residing in states with thousands of qualified applicants (the entire Northeast & the West Coast, especially SoCal). If you hail from a less populated state like Alaska, North Dakota, or Montana, your location is more likely to provide a boost to your admissions chances. USC does like to have a substantial percentage of students from its home state of California. Bear this in mind when you think about USC’s acceptance rate.

Within the state of California, there are a number of high schools that send a large number of students to USC each year. These are the public high schools that sent the most graduates to USC in 2024-25:

• Foshay Learning Center (Los Angeles)
• Mira Costa HS
• Palos Verdes HS

Looking at ethnic identity, the breakdown of the Class of 2027 was as follows:

• Asian American: 18%
• Hispanic: 19%
• Black or African American: 7%
• International: 17%
• White: 21%
• Multiple Ethnicities: 5%

The breakdown by gender favors women:

• Male: 46%
• Female: 53%
• Another Gender: 1%

The academic schools in which the Class of 2028 enrolled were distributed as follows:

• Dornslife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences: 40%
• Marshall School of Business: 18%
• USC鈥檚 Schools of Visual and Performing Arts: 17%
• Viterbi School of Engineering: 12%
• Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism: 5%

Yield Rate

USC鈥檚 yield rate鈥攖he percentage of accepted students who elect to enroll, divided by the total number of students who are admitted was 43.3% for the Class of 2028. For comparison, many other top private universities have superior yield rates such as Northwestern, Duke, and Georgetown University. Bear this in mind when you think about USC’s acceptance rate.

How USC Rates Applicants

This school gives a genuinely comprehensive and holistic review of each application. They pay close attention to an applicant鈥檚 鈥減erformance in school, the rigor of your program, writing skills and test scores鈥� and 鈥渁lso consider personal qualities, as revealed in community involvement, leadership and achievements.鈥� They are looking for people who are ambitious intellectually and professionally but also bring a global perspective, show a history of getting involved in their community, and 鈥渁re willing to venture outside of their comfort zones.鈥�

There are four factors that USC officially ranks as being 鈥渧ery important鈥� to their admissions process: rigor of secondary school record, GPA, essays, and recommendations. The three factors that rate as 鈥渋mportant鈥� are standardized test scores, extracurricular activities, talent/ability, and character/personal characteristics. 鈥淐onsidered鈥� factors include class rank, first-generation status, legacy status, volunteer work, and paid work.

It definitely helps if you are recruited as an athlete to join one of . USC recruits (particularly non-Photoshopped ones) are given preference, as the school has the best (or at least, one of the best) athletic programs in the entire country. Bear this in mind when you think about USC’s acceptance rate.

Tips for Applying to USC

If you plan on joining the 80,000+ Trojan hopefuls for the next admissions cycle, you should know the following:

• USC expects to see evidence of advanced coursework in high school. Taking multiple advanced classes, particularly within your area of academic interest is a must. A minimum of 7-8 AP courses is a good target to aim for.
• You must list your 鈥渇irst-choice major鈥� on the Common App, and have the option of selecting a second-choice major or pre-professional emphasis.
• USC does not conduct admissions interviews of any kind so your best way to connect with an admissions officer on a personal level is via your Common App and supplemental essays/short answers.
• USC does not weigh 鈥�demonstrated interest鈥� in the admissions process. Therefore, you will not be judged on whether or not you made a campus visit, contacted an admissions officer, etc.
• Make sure to dedicate sufficient time and effort to the supplemental essays required by USC.

USC Essays

In the 2025-26 cycle, the USC essays were as follows:

• Describe how you plan to pursue your academic interests and why you want to explore them at USC specifically. Please feel free to address your first- and second-choice major selections. (Approximately 250 words)

Short Answers

• Describe yourself in three words (25 characters per word).
  • First Word
  • Second Word
  • Third Word

The following have a 100-character limit:

• What is your favorite snack?
• Best movie of all time:
• Dream job:
• If your life had a theme song, what would it be?
• Dream trip:
• What TV show will you binge watch next?聽
• Which well-known person or fictional character would be your ideal roommate?
• Favorite book:
• If you could teach a class on any topic, what would it be?

Additional essays are required depending on which school or college you are applying to within USC.

For detailed advice on how to approach each USC prompt, visit our blog: USC Supplemental Essay Prompts and Tips.

Should I apply to USC?

With admit rates hovering around 10%, USC is a school that is looking for students who sit among the very top of their high school class and have posted SAT/ACT scores in at least the 90th percentile. Moreover, it’s important that you’ve taken the most rigorous curriculum possible, with a range of AP, IB, honors, and/or dual enrollment classes.

Do I have a better chance of acceptance as a transfer student?

Yes. The USC acceptance rate for transfers is much higher than it is for freshmen. For students entering in the fall of 2023, 24% of transfer students were accepted鈥攁lmost two-and-a-half times the current freshman rate. Here is a sampling of past transfer acceptance rates:

Read more about the USC transfer rate and requirements here.聽

USC Acceptance Rate – Final Thoughts

With such a competitive admissions process, all students need to make sure that they, in conjunction with a counselor, formulate an appropriate college list, containing a complement of 鈥渢arget鈥� and 鈥渟afety鈥� schools. Hopefully, your dream of becoming a Trojan becomes a reality, but, in the event that things don鈥檛 unfold as hoped, you鈥檒l still end up at an institution with comparable attributes and opportunities.

Looking for additional resources? Consider checking out the following:

• Should You Start College Applications in the Summer?
• What is Demonstrated Interest?
• Do Colleges Look at Social Media?
• College Fair Advice for High School Students
• How to Complete the Common App Activities List
• Common App Essay Prompts