The University of Southern California 2026 acceptance shows that there’s extreme competition at the University of Southern California as thousands of students apply each year.
Sadly, only a small fraction of the total applicants that apply to USC get accepted, making the University of Southern California admission rate very low.
Check out: class of 2026 RD notification dates for all schools
Is USC hard to Get Into for the Class of 2026?
Generally, USC is a very selective and competitive university. Statistics have it that fewer than 1 in 8 students get accepted at USC which makes the University pretty difficult to get into.
Check also: 4 early signs that shows USC has accepted you
Now, let’s check out the kind of applicants that get into USC:
The University of Southern California admits students that are at the top of their high school class and achieve good grades, accomplishments, create potential impact and contributions, engage in extracurricular activities, and have good proven characters.
Additional factors that USC uses for admission evaluation include recommendation letters, essays, and test scores (optional for the class of 2026).
Comparing USC to UCLA, which is easier to get in?
Statistically, both USC and UCLA are very competitive. Meanwhile, UCLA belongs to the UC schools while USC does not.
Check out: UC Schools acceptance rates here
Meanwhile, in terms of selectivity, it is harder to get into UCLA than USC as the UCLA acceptance rate falls about2% lower than the USC acceptance rate.
See Also: UCLA acceptance rate 2026 here
USC First Year (freshman) Acceptance Rate 2026
The University of Southern California (USC) average acceptance rate is 12%. USC in its history has also announced an acceptance rate as high as 13%.
mathematically, USC accepts about 12 applicants out of every 100 applicants. With Such statistics, you can conclude that the University of Southern California is extremely selective and competitive.
Meanwhile, USC does not offer early action (EA) or early decision (ED) admissions. All applications sent to USC are considered and evaluated equally.
USC Transfer Acceptance Rate 2026
The University of Southern California (USC) transfer acceptance rate is 24.57%. The transfer acceptance rate is a little higher than the regular acceptance rate.
Meanwhile, the university is relatively competitive for transfer admission. According to the USC admission board, transfer students must have at least a one-year full-time academic coursework with strong grades.
USC International Students Acceptance Rate 2026
The University of Southern California (USC) international students’ acceptance rate is 12%. Statistically, about 12% of the total number of international applicants at USC gets accepted.
Notwithstanding, USC is a very friendly university for international students applying for first-year or transfer admission, and all international applicants are treated the same.
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