Humanizing the Admission Process
There are some mysteries surrounding the admissions process, especially with the surge of artificial intelligence (AI) in all parts of our lives. We know that some of you may be wondering if our admissions office incorporates elements of AI into our review process. For example, do we use AI to calculate GPAs from transcripts? Do we use ChatGPT to summarize sections of applications? The answer to these questions is no; we do NOT use any of those advanced tech options to aid us in our review process. I’m here to explain why USC does not use AI and the value we get from our team members reading the entirety of your application.
USC’s application review process is entirely human. We take a holistic approach. We want to understand every student’s whole story - their experiences, voice, passions - and the best way to do this is by considering ALL parts of their application. With every application we read, our team tries to get the best sense of each student and ways that they could contribute to USC’s community. These elements really shine through the qualitative sections of the Common Application (activities, essay, short answers), and our team thoroughly goes through and values each section of every application we come across.
Our team consists of approximately 45 admission counselors who collaborate to put together the incoming class each year. There is not a “formula” that determines admission decisions, and context is important in our process. We all bring different perspectives and backgrounds to the review process. For example, a few members of our team attended USC for their undergraduate studies, but there are also many of us who did not go to USC. Lots of our team members are originally from LA, but there are many who are from other parts of California and from all over the country. Some of us have also worked as admission counselors at other schools. In essence, we share those perspectives and backgrounds with each other when building the next cohort of USC’s student body.
All of this to say that USC is dedicated to keeping admission for our university a human process absent of AI or other technology. We are humans reading your applications, trying to get the entire picture of each and every applicant’s story. In a world that’s rapidly changing, we remain true to our values in maintaining a humanistic process.
Written by: Jaelin Robin, Assistant Director, USC Office of Admission