2016-2017 University of Southern California (Keck) Application Thread

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Waitlisted today. Interviewed 9/13. Pretty bummed! Good luck to everyone and congratulations to those of you who were accepted 🙂
 
Just interviewed here and thought it was wonderful. I was really impressed by how personable and engaging the interviewers were.

I'd absolutely love to go here and hope to hear good news soon but we shall see!
 
Has anyone receive an II with dates only available in mid-Jan? With acceptances going out already it worries me that I have to wait till then to interview...


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Migs397 said:
Has anyone receive an II with dates only available in mid-Jan? With acceptances going out already it worries me that I have to wait till then to interview...


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Depends on the school, but many schools usually have a number of acceptances reserved for interview dates to make it fair, some more than others. Nothing you can do though except to do your best and hope for an acceptance.
 
Yorick said:
Depends on the school, but many schools usually have a number of acceptances reserved for interview dates to make it fair, some more than others. Nothing you can do though except to do your best and hope for an acceptance.
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Yeah no idea how it works here. All I know is Dr. Arias said because it's so early in the cycle (when I interviewed) that everyone could get in on my interview day, and that most probably will. They prob won't fill the class by January, but I don't think they are necessarily holding spots for the purpose of waiting for the later interviews.
 
Iwannaknow said:
Yeah no idea how it works here. All I know is Dr. Arias said because it's so early in the cycle (when I interviewed) that everyone could get in on my interview day, and that most probably will. They prob won't fill the class by January, but I don't think they are necessarily holding spots for the purpose of waiting for the later interviews.
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That's interesting. When did you interview?
 
Iwannaknow said:
Yeah no idea how it works here. All I know is Dr. Arias said because it's so early in the cycle (when I interviewed) that everyone could get in on my interview day, and that most probably will. They prob won't fill the class by January, but I don't think they are necessarily holding spots for the purpose of waiting for the later interviews.
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i think that according to the MSAR they only have a 60% acceptance rate post interview so "most" is relative
 
can anyone who's interviewed here tell me what the "group instruction" consists of?
 
eyedeegaffe said:
Waitlisted about an hour ago. Interviewed 9/13, LizzyM 70.5, in state. Haven't looked much into it but one person mentioned to me that only one person got off the wait list last year, anyone hear of a better outcome than that? If not, this is probably it for me this cycle, best of luck to everyone else
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This isn't exactly true. A few people got offered deferral into this year's class.
 
Wahoo! II! Definitely a top choice, super pumped! Earliest date was 1/31 when I scheduled

Edit: Complete in July, Early AF too, I think this was my first school I was complete at
 
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Ampharos said:
Does Keck have a second look?
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Not that I know of. Basically the impression I got at the interview was that they start pulling people from the waitlist only after April 30th and that if they do, it is pretty much whoever Dr. Arias wants. But obviously, that is just my impression, not fact so I don't know.


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Anyone know how much weight the interview has on the decision or any ideas about how they decide in general?
 
nylock10 said:
Anyone know how much weight the interview has on the decision or any ideas about how they decide in general?
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Dr. Arias writes down her thoughts on the applicant from reading their apps, the interviewers write down their thoughts, and it's all sent to an admissions committee that has never met the applicant. They use those notes as supplements to everything else on the app. The interviewers/Dr. Arias aren't on the actual committee. One of my interviewers told me that the interview was more to see if there are any red flags, but I'm not sure how true that is.
 
yungspleen said:
Dr. Arias writes down her thoughts on the applicant from reading their apps, the interviewers write down their thoughts, and it's all sent to an admissions committee that has never met the applicant. They use those notes as supplements to everything else on the app. The interviewers/Dr. Arias aren't on the actual committee. One of my interviewers told me that the interview was more to see if there are any red flags, but I'm not sure how true that is.
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Doesn't USC accept like 75% of its interviewees? That red flag thing would make sense.
 
I got offered an interview, but its super late in the cycle - first available date was Jan 24th. Is it worth going? I really like this school but I am afraid its a bit of a waste of time/money to fly out to CA that late in the cycle just to not get in anyway.
 
ChrisMack390 said:
I got offered an interview, but its super late in the cycle - first available date was Jan 24th. Is it worth going? I really like this school but I am afraid its a bit of a waste of time/money to fly out to CA that late in the cycle just to not get in anyway.
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I talked to a couple of current students when I interviewed who also interviewed in January and got accepted. Your post-interview chances are probably lower than if you interviewed earlier in the cycle but if you really like the school, might as well! Make a mini-vacay out of it too and stay an extra day or so to make the cross country trip worth it!
 
walloobi said:
Yeah I think it's 57%, still super high
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I feel like around the 50% mark is normal. UMich is at 65%. Anything less than 50% is a school that isn't being picky pre II and likes to have a huge selection. This is the top 10's and the smaller schools (although one top 10 school I went to is also at the 60's). Any school outside of top 10 with a realtively large class makes most of their cuts pre II, and just want to make sure the person is who they say they are. Looking at the US News (though not completely accurate), I think 40-60% is the norm.
 
For those who interviewed the week of 10/17- 10/21, was it definitely that we would hear back about admissions decisions by 11/1? Thank you in advance!
 
Ebayit said:
For those who interviewed the week of 10/17- 10/21, was it definitely that we would hear back about admissions decisions by 11/1? Thank you in advance!
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No she said marginal chance. Probably will be the 15th for most of us. But she may have just been saying that to not get our hopes up. People who interviewed around this time last year heard back after <2 weeks. Or at least some did. If the committee isn't unanimous I think you get pushed back 2 weeks until they can discuss your app again
 
On my interview day she did say we'd hear back on the 1st but maybe it's safer to assume that it'll be the 15th.
 
I'm applying next year and think USC will be one of my schools - can anyone tell me what the iterview was like? how long was it? was it more formal or casual

thanks!
 
The interview is split into two 30-45 minute sessions (one with a faculty member and another with a medical student). Both are closed file and casual. They're very conversational and I really enjoyed them. From what I can tell they're for the school to access your personality and whether you fit with the type of student they recruit.
 
She said the next admissions committee meeting will be on Monday (10/31) and she would send decisions by email the following day.
 
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nylock10 said:
She said the next admissions committee meeting will be on Monday (10/31) and she would send decisions by email the following day.
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On my day (which was before that) she said our chances of hearing on the 1st "were modest" and we were more likely to hear the 15th of Nov. But who knows!
 
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