We have expert writers with degrees from the University of Southern California who can help you get in.
High school graduates have high hopes and dreams when it comes to attending college. That’s why they work hard in high school, learn and master skills, and score higher than their peers to pave their way to college.
The college admissions process has its twists and turns. One of the biggest trade-offs is choosing college between a more prestigious one and a reachable one. University of Southern California (USC) sits right at the interjection. It has an acceptance rate of around 16%, almost double when compared to other prestigious ivy league schools. Still, USC believes diverse environment with people from all around the world gathered at one campus.
USC employs different tools to make admissions decisions for the fall or spring term, including educational history. One of the tools involves around asking applicants to write USC application essays. Most of the time, this can either make or break the game for the aspirants.
The “Why USC” Essay Prompt
The current USC supplemental essay prompt for applicants is as follows:
Describe how you plan to pursue your academic interests at USC. Please feel free to address your first- and second-choice major selections. (250 word limit)
This is a classic instance of a “Why [This College]” essay example. The admissions officers at USC want to learn what is driving the decisions and ambitions of applicants when sending applications to the college.
This is where some research and excellent writing skills can take applicants so far. When college aspirants apply to any college, they often have a specific advantage or virtue of that college in mind; sometimes the range of courses; other times a meeting with an influential alumnus, and so on. The force behind applying to USC can be channeled and highlighted in this essay.
Since it is only 250 words, applicants have to be aware of what they are writing about and how they are writing about it.
What USC believes to learn is simple:
- What are the academic interests of applicants who want to pursue at the University of Southern California?
- What could be their first and second major subjects?
These revelations were no secret as they were specifically written in the body of the prompt. This is where this “Why USC” becomes truly “Why Us[applicant+USC]
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What Makes A “Why USC” Essay Stellar
Since writing is subjective, there is no way we can predict the effects some words and phrases have on their listeners. But when an experienced writer combines these words and phrases and assigns them a proper spot through a holistic approach, the sum of the things becomes much more than that.
If aspirants take a quick look at the essay prompt, there is not even a single hint for them to sing praises of the college or to share trivial information about it in their USC supplement essays.
For years, USC believes that the admissions officers have expressed the rationale to put this question in the admissions form to know about the academic interests of students.
That’s why applicants who spend some of their time researching and going through multiple drafts of their answers can secure admission to one of the best colleges the country has to offer.
How To Write A Stellar “Why USC” Essay
Again, there is no hard and fast rule for writing the why USC essay example, but aspirants can learn from previous examples.
In the past few years, the supplemental essays that have managed to secure admissions for their writers have the following things in common:
1. They were more about a personal story than an essay or any form of academic writing
2. They were written with clear purpose while addressing the issues hinted in the question
3. They were free of grammatical errors or structural inconsistencies
Apart from these abstract common things, supplemental essays employed the following aspects of USC and incorporated them into their stories:
- Academic programs, departments, and schools at USC will help them in furthering their career ambitions. For instance, if someone wants to become a doctor and fight diseases and pandemics, he or she can show interest in the Keck School of Medicine
- USC holds an exceptional faculty to shape the young minds of today for tomorrow. These include major award winners, astronauts, and so on
- Countless professional opportunities for students and alumni to work home and abroad and broaden their horizons in terms of experience and exposure. Anyone can land a dream job after attending USC
- A chance to live and breathe a vibrant community on campus composed of young and energetic student bodies that become a partner in learning and innovation. Be it a fall or spring term, students enjoy a fruitful collaboration
These are some of the aspects that USC specifically is famous for. The best way to make them work for USC supplemental essay is by integrating one or many into their personal stories. Otherwise, it just won’t work.
What Makes A “Why USC” Essay Atrocious
There are so many ways applicants can go wrong in the USC supplemental essays. Many times, they pick the wrong topic and do all the right treatment with it. Other times, a subpar topic gets a stellar treatment but the results come out short of getting admission.
Still, there are many parallels that experts have drawn among rejected supplemental essays. In this section, we will discuss some of the things that make a University of Southern California essay atrocious. These points will also serve as a checklist that applicants can consult while writing their essays.
- Many applicants beat around the bush or simply go about discussing their ambitions without their intended academic focus, such as securing a dream job. In either case, this puts the admissions committee at USC in a sour mood and they care less about what the applicant has achieved in terms of academic grades and extracurricular activities
- Only writing emotional content with statements like “it just felt right to be at USC on my recent visit” or “it feels like a perfect match” does not cut it. Applicants have to go into nitty-gritty details of academic interests and educational history to ensure their admission
- Copying marketing material from the university website or misnaming the school’s mascot, and traditions, are clear red flags. First, these should not be written because these are often well-known things. When they do need to be written, applicants should do their research and recheck spelling and names before submitting the essay.
- Only ambitious people apply for college who want a dream job. Aspirants who want to attend undergraduate classes at USC need to show more specific ambitions and goals, such as being partial toward interdisciplinary academic opportunities. They must write and go into detail about their potential stay at USC or what they would do as its alumni
These were some of the things that when found in University of Southern California supplement essays make them atrocious. While writing and during editing, applicants must take a note of them to avoid rejection.
Exceptional Tips That Work For “Why USC” Essay
To help aspirants in improving their odds of admission, the following are some exceptional tips that will work every time for the USC supplemental essay:
- Be Specific About Goals
- Make A Detailed Account
- Don’t Wait To Make A Point
- Proofread & Edit
Be Specific About Goals
The admissions officers at USC specifically go through thousands of these applications each year. It depends on what they like and deem worthy of admission or not. Applicants can easily get their message through when they become transparent about their intended academic focus in USC supplemental essays. Things like what they want to become and how they plan to achieve that while at USC.
Make A Detailed Account
Simply mentioning what they want to become will not suffice in the USC essays. Applicants should research USC in-depth and check the faculties there. These include programs, professors, seminars, interdisciplinary academic opportunities, etc, that can help them in materializing their dreams. By mixing these aspects with a personal story, applicants will have a better chance at acing the essay.
Don’t Wait To Make A Point
The current word limit for the USC essay prompt is only 250 words. These can be too few or too many depending on how you want to tackle the problem. Since there is no harm in making a point earlier on, applicants should be cautious about adding too many introductory lines or rhetorical content.
Proofread & Edit
First drafts can never be perfect. That’s why they are called first drafts. Applicants should make a clear outline and road map before attempting to write the essay. It is best to do all the research beforehand and then compose the first draft.
After that, they should go through multiple rounds of editing and proofreading before turning it in for submission.
Example of A Stellar “Why USC” Essay & Why It Is So
To help applicants further understand the nuances of the question and how to write why USC essay, here is a stellar example. Later, we’ll discuss the reasons why it is one of the stellar USC supplemental essay prompts and check all the boxes:
Before researching and going through the programs and possibilities at USC, I did not know that I can pursue two fields that were supposed to be poles apart. As a budding writer with a deep interest in Medicine, I want to be a writer doctor who changes rooms and tools by day rise, and nightfall. Thinking about being a chameleon with hidden layers and surprising people with my prose and surgery skills still induces giggles.
At USC, I aim to attend the Keck School of Medicine. This is a school that has produced leaders and Nobel laureates. I will learn more about the interdisciplinary academic opportunities of medicine through courses like Health Communication, Public Health, and Addiction Science. A campus that fosters a record number of members in the top academies and foundations around the globe will certainly help me in following the footsteps of the greats who came before me.
Being a vibrant and colorful campus in the heart of LA, I will be able to enjoy the culture and meet new exciting students. People who will become my partners in either prose or medicine. We will be tackling complex procedures by day and addressing deeper human issues by night.
In the end, having two majors at USC, such as Creative Writing and Medicine, will have their benefits. If I wouldn’t be able to win a Nobel in one, the window for the second one will always be open!
Why It Is A Stellar Essay
- The emotions and rationality are in complete sync with each other
- The writer specifies his intended academic focus at USC and how the college will help him
- He mentions specific programs, majors, and minors he wants to pursue at USC
- The prose is clear and makes a point early on
- The writer closes the essay on a bitter-sweet note, between wishful thinking about something achievable
