Making the Most of the USC Short Answer
Applying to college can be a journey. It can be a roller coaster of emotions with late-night thoughts, such as “Am I doing all that I can to show that this is the school where I want to be? How do I show my interest?” Well, USC makes it a bit easier by giving you a specific section of the application to tell us just that! The USC Short Answer gives you the opportunity to share why you’re interested in coming to USC–and in only 250 words. 250 words!? I know, but you can do it! Here are a few tips to help guide you.
Do Your Research
Perhaps you’ve heard this from a teacher or your college counselor, but I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to learn about the college you’re applying to. Sure, you might hear that USC is a great school, you have friends and maybe family who’ve attended, and it’s in Los Angeles. I mean, who doesn’t want to be in LA (I’m biased). That’s all great, but we want you to understand how USC is going to be a great fit for you and the best way to do that is by learning about our programs, experiences, opportunities, resources and more. You’re going to spend a handful of years at USC (or wherever you attend), and we want to make sure you’ll be happy here! USC offers a lot of different ways for students to learn more about its undergraduate experience. I recommend starting with our website and your department’s website. Of course, if you’re on social media, you can learn more on Instagram or X by checking out @uscadmission. You might even find some good stuff from the USC Undergraduate Admission Blog. Wink wink!
Tell Us About Your Major—at USC
Some students know exactly what they want to study when they get to college, others might have an idea, and some students have no clue and that’s okay! I know it might be hard to know exactly what you want to study in college as a high school student, but we try to make it just a tad bit easier. USC requires all applicants to pick a 1st choice major and an optional 2nd choice major. Regardless of your interests or the combination you choose, we want to learn more about how you became interested in your major(s) and, more importantly, why USC’s specific program(s) is important to you. How will it help you fulfill your academic goals? Is it the classes? The professors? Essentially, it shouldn’t be a copy and paste short answer for several schools you might be applying to!
Be Genuine
At the end of the day, we hope you’re applying to USC because it truly interests you as a school, a learning environment, and a community. We hope that you’re excited to find one or multiple communities that interest you on our campus be it academic, professional or just for fun. It’s always refreshing when we also continue to hear your voice and learn more about you, our students, in this section.
I hope this helps you make the most out of your USC short answer. Don’t forget to do your research, tell us why you want to pursue your major here, and be YOU!
Written by: Jennifer Donis Gonzalez, Senior Assistant Director - USC Office of Admission