USC is a private research university in Los Angeles, California with about 20,000 undergraduate students. The acceptance rate for the class of 2024 was 16%.
USC’s supplement is comprised of both long and short questions. We’re breaking down the long prompts below:
Please respond to one of the prompts below. (250-word limit)
USC believes that one learns best when interacting with people of different background, experiences, and perspectives. Tell us about a time when you were exposed to a new idea or when your beliefs were challenged by another point of view. Please discuss the significance of the experience and its effect on you.
Of the three options, this prompt leaves the least room for creativity. With that being said, it is possible that this prompt might speak to you. A solid response to this question will show that you are open to viewpoints besides your own and that you are able to empathize with people who are different from you.
In order for this prompt to work, you need to have had a conversation or interaction with someone who is different from you. By that, we mean someone who has had a different life, upbringing, set of values, or perspective than you. This is a fairly common occurrence and hopefully something comes to mind. However, a lot of students get stuck because they try to think of something ~big~. Set aside the debates and fiery conversations for this one. Instead, focus on a small story. You do not need to have redefined your entire belief system, either. You don’t even need to have changed your mind. When you’re brainstorming, focus your energy on those moments during that conversation when you received new information, were able to reflect, and saw things from a viewpoint other than your own.
Storytelling is everything, always, but especially with this prompt. The last thing you should do is speak in platitudes or make grand statements. Take the admissions team through the experience by dropping them right into the scene. Explain who you were talking to, what you were talking about, and what happened after. Details will be key here, so start by writing down everything that you remember about the experience. If your memory is fading, either think of another example or choose one of the two prompts below.
USC faculty place an emphasis on interdisciplinary academic opportunities. Describe something outside of your intended academic focus about which you are interested in learning.
This is a great question with one major pitfall. If you’re going to answer this one, scroll down to the bottom of this blog post. Read through and complete your (mandatory) “Why USC” response before you answer this one. Every single aspect of your college application should introduce something new about you. A new interest, personality trait, passion, or skill. So, if you’re applying to USC to study Film, don’t write about it here as well.
There are two ways to go about this prompt:
Pick something that compliments your major, ideally in a unique way. The keyword here is interdisciplinary. Perhaps you wrote your “Why USC” essay on computer science, but you also want to study Biology so that you can create computer programs so that hospitals can catalogue data more efficiently. Because these two programs are not always traditionally linked, explain how studying both will inch you closer to your goals. Another example that comes to mind is a student who wants to study Environmental Science and Public Policy so that they can create climate change policies. Be careful that you’re not writing exclusively about the disciplines themselves. You’re being asked to describe why your chosen focus is of interest to you, not to write a book report on the meaning and goals of public policy.
Pick a hobby or interest that is completely unrelated to your major, but shows another side of you. This is likely the route that we’ll be choosing with our clients because we never miss an opportunity to add depth to an application. If you have passions and hobbies that did not make the cut ANYWHERE else on your application, this just might be the time to write about it. Just make sure that you’re not writing about something that is listed in your activities section. Passion is the most important prerequisite here, so don’t write about anything that you cared about for a week. If you have been fostering a skill or going deep on the internet to learn about something for years, it is probably something you can write about. Explain its importance by demonstrating what you’re already done in the field, and what you still want to learn, by writing a story with a beginning, middle, and end.
What is something about yourself that is essential to understanding you?
Second common app essay alert! If you are the kind of student who has a really hard time writing about yourself, this prompt might not be for you. But if you can swing it, this is an amazing opportunity for the admissions team at USC to get you to know another side of you. Students often forget that real people (with real feelings/lives/emotions!) are reading the applications.
We have written a lot of blog posts about starting your common app essay. Because you’ve probably already been brainstorming your actual common app essay, crowdsourcing topics for this one isn’t a bad idea. Go back to the beginning and ask your friends and family to describe you in a few adjectives. Read over everything that you’ve written and figure out what’s missing. What does USC not know about your personality yet? This is not the space to write about an accomplishment. If possible, go with humor. A 250-word maximum is the perfect amount of space to not take yourself too seriously, so think back to your soft skills and qualities and put pen to paper.
After you pick one of the questions above, you’ll move on to the mandatory prompt below.
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)
As is the case with all colleges located in sunny California, the weather comes to mind when someone asks you why you want to go to USC. If you were considering writing about this, stop right there. Full stop. There is a formula that you need to use when answering this prompt. USC is looking to admit **focused** students with a clearly defined academic plan. This is because they don’t want everyone to be majoring in the same thing, and they are also looking to protect their ranking by accepting a class of students who will graduate in four years.
Here are the steps:
Decide what you want to major in. If you don’t know, figure it out by looking through the list of majors until you find something that aligns closely with the classes that you’ve done well in thus far. You need to declare a major in writing for this supplement, but no one will hold you to that major if you get in.
Back up your decision to major in X with an origin story. How you choose to arrange your written supplement is up to you, but lately we’ve found it helpful to start by picking a major. This is because your origin story needs to align with the major that you choose, so spend time doing some deep thinking. If you want to major in computer science, you probably have a past experience that you can write about that hints at your interests. Whatever major you choose, make sure that you’re explaining how your passion for the field began.
Find one or two upper-level classes that you want to take. If this is taking you a long time, you’re doing it right. You should not choose introductory courses because those are offered everywhere, and are not specific to USC. Instead of just choosing the first two 200 level courses that you see, think about the importance of specificity. If you want to major in Political Science, History, or English you might consider if there is a sub-field you’re most interested in. The more specific you can be, the better. As for writing why you want to take a class, do not write that the subject matter sounds legit but you just haven’t gotten around to googling it yet. You should be at least slightly familiar with the majority of the course description. Being genuine goes a long way here, and it will be painfully obvious if you copy jargon directly from the website. Dig deep and find things that truly align.
A professor who you would like to do research with. USC has great research opportunities and competition can be stiff to secure them. Look through the professors who teach classes in the department of the major that you choose until you find someone whose work genuinely interests you. If you are interested in Irish Literature, find a professor who knows all things Joyce. If computer science if your thing and you just did a summer program, there might a machine learning research opportunity to be found. Demonstrate the link between your past and their project and detail why you’re qualified to help them out.
USC specific academic opportunities. If there is a special program that is offered at USC that you are interested in pursuing, you should include that here as well.
After the information gathering stage, close your Word document. Yes, really. Think about everything that you’ve gathered for a few minutes, or even overnight. The hard facts need to be in there, but you should get creative with structure and form. Find a way to weave the details into a story with a beginning, middle, and end. Make sure that your response doesn’t read like the abbreviated version of the English department at USC! With just 250 words to work with for this prompt, every word counts. Triple check for any redundant information and spelling errors. Gentle reminder: there is almost always a way to turn three sentences into two, and you should constantly be working towards streamlining your response.
More than 60,000 students applied to USC last year. Now that the school is test-optional, we’re expecting even more to apply. If you want to stand out among the crowd, start your supplements early and edit them until they are perfect.
If you’d like to work with someone one-on-one, contact us here.